So ive been learning a few things and one thing i finally got to learn was how to read one of these sum bitches. Short and sweet here we go..
Take your micrometer and whatever you are measuring and move the dial until the two ends of the mic are snug with the object.
I chose to use a yuengling bottle i just finished.
Now is the tricky part. The more you hold the mic, the hotter it is going to get and the more screwed your readings are going to get. So be as fast and as accurate as possible. Typically, in our situations, the part we are measuring will be round so you cant exactly have two flat pieces of the mic sit flat with a round surface. Key here is to make sure that the middle of the flat pieces (anvil and spindle) are sitting on the round object on both sides. You will have achieved this if you have an even gap all the way around the anvil and spindle end piece and the round thing you are measuring.
You want to be able to slide the mic off without force, but not so easily to where the mic is sloppy. It needs to be snug. Lock the mic and pull it off.
Now how do you read what you got?
This is a 2-3" mic so all your readings will be from 2.0001 to 3.0001
The horizontal "ruler" (sleeve) is X. 2.X001. Each dash mark represent .25.
The numbers on the thimble (the thing that spins) are 2.0XX1.
As you can see, the line on the sleeve is between 12 and 13 and the thimble is lined up beyond the 3. So as of right now, our number is 2.3XXX. Each small line is .25 so add .25 and .12 and you get .37 and the next two numbers in the measurement, 2.337X
For the last number in the measurement, look at the last picture. You want to find the line that matches best with the other and that will be your last number. in this case it is 5 and gives us a final measurement of the yuengling bottle of 2.3375"
beer ftw