Everything has changed.

BesTest indicators, the pride of Swiss gages, are now made in China. Compac indicators — our best sellers since 1960 — are discontinued [and then rebranded by TESA as "P-Line"]. Starrett managed to create an impressive catalog. Mitutoyo completely revamped all of their test indicators in 2017. Mahr bought Federal and promises to give Brown & Sharpe some heady competition.

I retired from 40 years of repairing indicators. My brother and his team now run Long Island Indicator Service. I have completely redesigned our web site and, since Spring 2020, I have been living just a stone’s throw from Waikiki Beach. It was time to update the original Companion Reference Guide. We trust that it will still prove useful in many ways.

René Urs Meyer

Reprint of the Original 2015 Reference Book
for Dial and Test Indicators

Shortly after this original reference book was published in 2015, all the manufacturers decided to either redesign their gages or stop making them. As a result we published a Second Edition. Further changes ensued and a Third Edition was required in 2020. Since then, we still receive requests for information on gages which are no longer in production and no longer in the catalogs. What size contact point did they take? What were the specs? Is there still a parts list? Can I get it repaired? etc. It became clear that a reprint of the original book was in order. After all, most of us are still using gages older than just a few years. This is particularly true of some of the finest and most robust gages ever made. Swiss indicators can easily last for someone’s entire career, for example. When referring to information in this book, keep this in mind. But, please do not assume that anyone still has access to any of these older models, or that spare parts are still available. That's why this book is "for reference only."