Feeler gauge for brewing, specifically?

user 246304 · Nov 6, 2017

I've looked up feeler gauges from various places and most of them top out at the lower end or tighter of mill gap settings for brewing purposes. I do see HF goes up to .035, but that's the broadest I've seen. Is there a gauge that better matches the range we use in setting mills, or do people just parse it by joining two blades together?

triethylborane · Nov 6, 2017

Gadjobrinus said:
I've looked up feeler gauges from various places and most of them top out at the lower end or tighter of mill gap settings for brewing purposes. I do see HF goes up to .035, but that's the broadest I've seen. Is there a gauge that better matches the range we use in setting mills, or do people just parse it by joining two blades together?

Ive never used a feeler gauge for measuring the gap between the rollers, but often for valve adjustments on engines . . . I just put two gauges to reach the desired gap if need be. That will work for your mill, guaranteed.

LLBeanJ · Nov 6, 2017

Common practice when using a feeler gage is to use multiple blades together if a greater thickness is needed.

schematix · Nov 6, 2017

The HF feeler gauges are not worth free.

In HF math, 0.015 + 0.016 does not equal 0.031. I also found 0.016 + 0.017 does not equal 0.033.

Confirmed with digital calipers. Odd too... some combinations were too large and others were too small. For example, stacking 0.016 and 0.17 measured smaller than the single supplied 0.032.

They are in the ballpark, but they are only as good as about +/- 0.003 for any given pair i tried.

user 246304 · Nov 6, 2017

Alright thanks guys. I was just planning on the old credit card thing, but thought I'd query on the gauges. My one card is .034. I can't recall what my old JSP fixed is set at, but I think it's a lot wider than .034, and I was happy with extraction then. Will be interesting to see here.

beermanpete · Nov 6, 2017

You can use the cover of a matchbook. They are usually 0.016" thick. Not super precise but two layers should get you close.

DurtyChemist · Nov 9, 2017

Two business cards will get you in the ballpark too but for $10 I went with a feeler gauge from an auto parts store. If you need bigger than 0.035 you start adding a second feeler gauge.