Digital Vernier calipers ~£3 on Amazon

[AES]

I'm also in favour of cheapo digital calipers for "everyday use". And I've not had a particular problem with battery life though, as someone has said above, I do use the manual shut off every time, rather than relying on the auto shut off.

I have several, inc both Aldi and Lidl, plus at least one another unknown. In all cases I use just one of them for a time, with the others stored in a drawer with the battery removed - just change over to another for regular everyday use after 6 months or so.

However I do not use calipers for real precision use - a micrometer or an accurate steel rule clamped to a Vee block and a scribing block (VERY old fashioned!) working off a plate glass "surface plate" work best for me.

Very often, an actual measurement number doesn't matter all that much, it's a matter of using them as a comparator between a relevant "test piece" and the job.

However, if you do find yourself having to work with both metric and imperial dimensions sometimes, having the mm/inch multi read out button (on all the digital calipers I have) is very useful.

I don't think any of mine were as cheap as the OP quoted, but I'd say that at that price it's definitely worth a punt. What have you lost even if the tool doesn't work at all? (You could still use it as a comparator).

 

[Harbo]

Mine don’t eat batteries because I take the battery out when not in use.

Rod

 

[Gerry]

Lock the slides after use and the batteries will last a lot longer.

Gerry

 

[novocaine]

I've got 2 sets of these cheap plastic digital calipers, one lives on the bench the other lives in the house. for quick dirty measurements of stuff they are perfect and more than accurate. for everything that needs to be dead nuts, there's a set of mits (digital and analogue) and a collection of micrometers.

I find them more than useful.

also get a good year out of a battery, they tend to die in the winter.

 

[whiskywill]

I'd like to know where there's a £2.84 pint. :lol:

In my local the one "guest" real ale is £2.60 a pint with an extra 20p off for me and other over 65's. John Smith's, Coors, Fosters and Carling lager are £2.90. Stella, Guinness and Strongbow are £3.00. All less the 20p off.

The only downside is that I have to travel 11 miles to get to a beach.

 

[Fergal]

Wetherspoons do various beers and ciders for £1.99 a pint.

 

[marcros]

These arrived today. Ok for the purposes I want them for- adapting to make a tailstock from, and roughish measuring.

They are a step below the Aldi ones in quality, these ones being all plastic but they zero back to the same point. Time will tell with the battery life.

For £3 a set I am happy enough. If it were my only pair, I would spend more for better quality.

 

[John Brown]

I'd like to know where there's a £2.84 pint. :lol:

In my local the one "guest" real ale is £2.60 a pint with an extra 20p off for me and other over 65's. John Smith's, Coors, Fosters and Carling lager are £2.90. Stella, Guinness and Strongbow are £3.00. All less the 20p off.

The only downside is that I have to travel 11 miles to get to a beach.

There's a Wetherspoons near me that sells a fantasteic Exmoor Beast stout at £1.99.
I won't go there because I think Tim Martin is an @r53h013, and I don't approve of his policy of covering all the tables with political propaganda.

 

[GrahamRounce]

don't expect a 'Vernier Caliper' to rival the £100 models.

I don't know. Mine were from Lidl, about £7.99 I think, and seem fine. (Dunno about the 2nd and 3rd decimal places, of mm.)
What issues should I look out for?

 

[Gerry]

Make sure it zeros repeatably. If it doesn't there is probably a tiny burr on the tip of one of the anvils which can be stoned off.
usually verniers are only accurate to +/-0.02mm (20 microns) so they are probably a magnitude more than accurate for woodwork.
The electronics will probably not be as quick to register the change in capacitance as you operate the slide so you may get errors if you slide it too quickly. Just be steady away and you will be fine.

Gerry

 

[Trainee neophyte]

I'd like to know where there's a £2.84 pint. :lol:

In my local the one "guest" real ale is £2.60 a pint with an extra 20p off for me and other over 65's. John Smith's, Coors, Fosters and Carling lager are £2.90. Stella, Guinness and Strongbow are £3.00. All less the 20p off.

The only downside is that I have to travel 11 miles to get to a beach.

My 8% cider averages at about 30 pence a litre. Admittedly it involves a little bit of work, but hey ho. A couple of years ago, it was 12% ABH. I don't remember much, that year...