# Calipers



## Nitroz (Sep 17, 2005)

Which one do you think would be better? Digital or just the plain dial?


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## rdshores (Sep 17, 2005)

Go with the digital. I got these...they work great....
http://cgi.ebay.com/6-Inch-Electron...itemZ7547121373QQcategoryZ25269QQcmdZViewItem


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## gadget_lover (Sep 17, 2005)

I have about 7 thumbs and only 3 fingers, so I drop things alot. The dial calipers that I've had have NOT fared well afer dropping a few times. One has a dead spot where the needle does not move for a few thousands of the travel, another has a needle that does not always come back to the same spot.

The digital calipers, on the other hand have survived dropping, dropping things on them, cutting them down, etc. The calipers I've purchased from Harbor Freight have been cheap (under $20) and all have worked properly.

The interesting thing about a dial caliper is that you can see the difference beteen .001 and a smidge VS .001 and a smidge more. In other words you can estimate the .0012 and .0014 . The cheap digital calipers will show you .0010 or .0015 with nothing in-between. They are accurate to the nearest .0005.

I could, of course, be totally wrong.

Daniel


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## Rothrandir (Sep 17, 2005)

i'd highly recommend brown and sharpe dial calipers. at one point they were $80 from enco, and might still be that price. compared to as much as 150 from other places.

with a dial, you can watch the needle go up and down, so you know exacty where the middle is. with digital, you just try to squeeze and wiggle until the number stops.
as gadget said, dial calipers can also be read to tighter tolerances.

one thing about digital calipers is that they don't necessarily read accurately at all points of measure. for instance, if you close them and set the zero at face, you could then compare them against jo blocks at 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 etc inches, and may not get a good reading.

i use calipers probably a hundred times a day during the weekdays, and feel more confident about readings i get from a dial. 

whatever you get, you should be able to hold within .002 in most cases, but from personal experience with both, i'd recommend a nice set of dial calipers.


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## attowatt (Sep 17, 2005)

I have the mechanical dial caliper, and like it more than my friends digital. Thats my preference to see the face plate and get to within a smidgeon, etc.

If you do go with the digital... keeps spare batt's


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## McGizmo (Sep 17, 2005)

The real advantage to digital is the ability to get relative dimensions by setting zero where you want it.


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## Nitroz (Sep 17, 2005)

McGizmo said:


> The real advantage to digital is the ability to get relative dimensions by setting zero where you want it.


Thanks everyone! I think I will get both.


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## ABTOMAT (Sep 18, 2005)

Doesn't anyone use plain verniers any more?


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## Rothrandir (Sep 18, 2005)

if you want to get good digitals, i'd recommend something from mitutoyo. they're the best as far as digi is concerned.

if you're not looking for the cream of the crop, the chinese ones work pretty well in most cases as well.


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## savumaki (Sep 18, 2005)

ABTOMAT said:


> Doesn't anyone use plain verniers any more?



I have probably 4-5 laying around but I can't see as well anymore and find a dial unit I've been using for ten years or so has been a real blessing. I have been meaning to get a set of digital ones but have never felt I really needed them anymore.

I am going to look at ebay and probably get one.:huh:

Karl


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## McGizmo (Sep 18, 2005)

Here's a couple for instances that show the merit of a digital:

Want to measure thickness of O-ring: Take two windows larger in diameter than O-ring and put them together, clamp down with digital and set at zero. Put the O-ring in the "sandwich" and measure thickness. 

You want to turn a bar down to 15 mm on the lathe. Put calipers on metric and open to 15 mm and zero. Switch back to inch measurements and measure bar stock in lathe. The number you see is the amount the current diameter is oversize from yout target diameter of 15 mm. 

A digital caliper can do simple math and conversions for you without mistakes. I use my calipers for inch to metric conversions all the time!


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## wquiles (Sep 18, 2005)

The real question is - are these $10-20 digital calipers (at least the metal/steel ones) really worth using at this price range? I still have a 15 year old set of "Fowler & NSK" MAX-CAL digital calipers (stainless steel) and these were $200-300 back then (if I recall correctly). Just hard to believe that $10 calipers can do as good job today  

Will


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## yaesumofo (Sep 18, 2005)

I use a fowler Ultra-Cal IV,

These work under most any conditions.
If your machine spits out coolant these calipers will handle it with a IP65 rating.

I love these they are accurate. That is the point.

Given the opportunity I may have got the mitutoyo unit but it came out after my ultra cal unit.
At the machine shop that I use if it is a digital caliper it is a mitutoyo. They are a busy iso9000 shop.
They also have many dial calipers there in use often. 
I say beware cheap low grade calipers.
When somebody's life may depend on what you you are doing, you may not have any room for error. 
If you have room for error go ahead and get the cheap ones and check your work often. If the error tolerances are small get a mitutoyo or Fowler set.
These do cost more. The simple truth to this is you get what you pay for. This is especially true when it comes to precision measuring equipment
JMHO
Yaesumofo

BTW get them calibrated once in a while too. I just checked my calibration sticker is over a year old.


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## NelsonFlashlites (Sep 19, 2005)

I like the digital because right now I do a lot of inch stuff, but in the future I forsee doing more metric work. The salesman lied to me and said it was made in taiwan, but really it was made in china. Sorry to hijack the thread, but don't do business with these guys. I won't post their name, but if you want it, PM me. (It's not a major dealer) The sales guy also said it was made by the people who make mitutoyo, but I'm not sure about that.


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