WEN 6 in. x 1/4 in. Precision-Ground Parallel Gauge Sets with Case (18-Piece)

Very nice set of parallels that is absolutely suitable for my mill at home. I have a high quality bench mill at home and these parallels are nicer than the parts I have been using to elevate work in the vise. These parallels are ground and sit flat against the base of the vise, no indications of rocking. Each of the items in the pairs appear to be identical, as they should be. The product comes in a case that will help keep the matched pairs in good working order. The parallels arrived wrapped and protected from corrosion and I did not see any hints of rust from shipping and storing.

Spot on accurate in my testing. When you pick up on of these parallel sets you can tell they are well made. I tested the accuracy of the milling across a number of different dimensions with my digital calipers. Each dimension I tested was within a thousand of an inch and that very well could be outside the accuracy of my calipers. It’s not often you find things so well milled.

These are a great addition to any collection of setup tools. All of them are 1/4″ thick by 6″ long and come in nine different widths. The grinding appears to be very consistent on each bar, at least as far as I can tell with my vernier calipers. Each bar has two countersunk holes so you can attach them rigidly with machine screws if you need to make repeated cuts or glue-ups or what-have-you. I mostly do woodworking, so I will be using them to gauge different parts of setups, e.g., evenly spacing different parallel dowels. They come in a nice plastic box to keep everything together and out of the way when not in use.

Comprising nine (9) sets of (nominal) ¼ inch thick by 6 inch long parallel bars (1-3/4 in., 1-5/8 in., 1-1/2 in., 1-3/8 in., 1-1/4 in., 1-1/8 in., 1 in., 7/8 in., ¾ in.) contained in a thermoplastic carrying case. The carrying case has molded slots for each pair of bars and has the height of each molded into the case below the appropriate slots, although the lack of contrast and depth of the numbers makes it difficult to read. The size of each bar is etched onto the face of each bar for quick identification. The cover of the carrying case has an integral hinge section (flexible plastic) and a friction type molded latch flap. As received, each pair of bars is coated with oil and wrapped with an impregnated paper to inhibit rust. The coating can be easily removed with acetone (to be replaced by your favored anti-rust coating after each use).All of the component bars were measured with a dial caliper and all except for the 7/8 and ¾ in pairs were spot on with respect to the height dimension. The nominal 6 inch length of the set of bars varied from 6.005 in. to 6.16in.; while the thickness of the bars (nominal 0.25 inch) ranged from 0.241 in. to 0.254 in. Depending upon the tolerances you are working to, the above may or may not be a show stopper. If it is, it is likely that you also have the wherewithal and resources to normalize the bar pairs to be exactly the same (if, perhaps, different than the stated dimension).

The WEN 10349 18 pcs. precision ground ¼” wide parallel set with case is a great addition to any workshop and certainly can be used by professional machinist. Great price point, excellent workmanship and fairly accurate in size. The whole object with parallel’s is that they be in pairs and match in size in the height direction and the WEN are good to with in 0.0002″ or two ten thousand of an inch on the working surface. Each pair comes coated with rust inhibitor, wrapped in oil paper, the finish is 32 RMS or better and each parallel has two ½” mounting holes. I did a file test and the hardness is 60 HRC or better perfect for its intended usage. The sizes for the nine pairs start at ¾” and go up in size in 1/8″ increments ending at 1-3/4″. Things I did not like. While not the working surface the width of my parallels changed 0.005″ from top to bottom (see photos) on the same parallel. This just tells me someone was just not paying attention as I would expect no more than 0.001″ difference especially if you’re on a surface grinder. So other than my opinion on a non-working surface these are a great product, at a good price point with excellent quality. Recommended.