I bought one last year at Harbor Freight after years looking at $100.00 price tags for similar tools. I have not regretted the purchase and find it very accurate for leader building and fly tying proportions.
The micrometer is by Cen-Tech. Accurate to .0001". Item#00895. Go to your local Harbor Freight store or the web www.HarborFreight.com for more information.
Enjoy!
Could one be used for guaging tip top sizes and slip joints for rod building? Jim
Jim,
Absolutely! all the rod builders deal with tolerances of thousands of an inch.
hairwing
Hey Jim, if I was going to build a rod, I would recomend dial or digital calipers. I am a Quality Assurance Inspector for Lockheed/Martin Aeronautics and I deal with these kinds of measurements all day long. Calipers are not quite as accurate4 but they are more versatile as far as measureing the inside and outside of a tube or a tip-top. Just my 2 cents.
A word of caution about the Harbor Freight Micrometer…Check it often to make sure that it “holds” it’s tolerances and zero. I had one that I used for racing that went bad pretty fast. YMMV!
rusty gates offers one for tippets that is about 49.00. also in reply to daves post, i agree. i use alot of machinist tools in woodworking and there are some real cheap and some very expensive. the cheap ones are never accurate. some are accurate to one, one hundredth of an inch and some are to one ten thousandth of an inch. starret also makes some very good tools.
Usually overtightening a mike when checking things is what springs them. If you are careful an inexpensive set will last quite a while and maintain decent accuracy for the average user.
Reloading catalogs have good quality mic’s…mostly middle of the road prices.
My wife got me the one from Rusty a couple of years back for Christmas. It is just fine. I had a Starrett for years. 
I picked up a digital micrometer on sale from harbor freight 2 years ago. It’s still working fine. I got it for rod building, started using on fly lines and leaders, and keep finding new uses for it. It’s really worth the investment.
Only got one thing from Harbor Freight…and it got sent back very quickly.
hairwing - Thanks for the tip! I remembered that a Harbor Freight opened not far from my house and decided to stop in. I was looking for a pair of digital calipers - I use one made by Mitutoyo at work and love them, but they’re like $150 for those. Look what I found for TEN BUCKS!
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47257&Submit=Go
The quality is every bit as good as the Mitutoyo calipers I use every day, and the specs say it is even more accurate than the Mitutoyo calipers. Unbelievable.
Heritage Angler,
We’re even. Just picked up my 6 inch calipers. I’m happy! You know that’s cheaper than a Pepperoni pizza and you can’t build a rod or a leader with the Pepperoni pizza.
I’m a big fan of spun dubbing loops for fly bodies. If a guy uses his regular short tying scissors for trimming the hair or material in the loop he’s missing the boat. A snip with these 8 inchers makes it a piece of cake. They’re sharp and cost a whopping $.99 cents. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47877&Submit=Going.
Can’t get the top off your bottle of Pliobond or head cement? These scissors have an opener in the handle. Try em you’ll like em. I gaur-rone-tee em.
hairwing
hairwing - Thanks for another tip, and right back atcha:
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Category.taf?CategoryID=778
There’s a bunch of cool stuff there that can be applied to fly tying. That photo tent just might have to follow me home!
The flip down magnifiers look promising, too.
This place is like browsing a craft store for fly tying stuff. Yeah, there’s a lot of cheap junk, but there’s also some legitimate bargains there. Its like a super “dollar store” for guys.
I got a “reel e good line winder” there the other day for 29.99 - 44.99 everywhere else.