The fitting passed every measurement the workshop could make.
Juno watched the builder turn it beneath the gauge, checking the outer shoulder, the bore and the distance between the mounting faces. Numbers went onto the inspection sheet. The builder looked at the delegate who had paid for the metal, and the delegate finally allowed himself to smile.
Then Juno asked for the seat reading.
The builder adjusted the gauge. Its scale gave him a value on either side of the permitted interval depending on how he held the jaws.
“It’s within that much,” he said, separating finger and thumb.
“That much spans the whole tolerance.”
“I can see the edge.”
“You can see an edge. We need to know which side of the limit it’s on.”
