What digital caliper?

[thetyreman]

I have the cheapo aldi one, got it when it was last on offer a month or so ago, good for the price! can't say how it compares to a high end one though, but it's good enough for me.

 

[dzj]

No flak from me Deema.

It's true that people doing commercial type work using window/ door tooling sets
often resort to the methods you speak of. If a larger run is in question, from time to
time they also stop and check if the resulting dimensions are correct or check it against a test piece...
No point in wasting a large amount of stock if something goes off-kilter, as no system is perfect.

This is not the kind of work I do, though. Usually it's one offs, small runs...
Over the years I have gotten very precise when sneaking up to a required height.
Spacers I use to get the cutter in 'the ballpark'. After the first test cut, I measure how much
I'm off the mark. In most cases one alteration of the height is enough.
I find this much faster than removing the tooling, adding/removing spacers and so on.

Apologies to the OP for straying from the subject.

 

[yetloh]

I bought a Mitutoyo about 15 yeears ago when there were no cheap ones. It cost nearly £100 but the batteries last for a very long time, it's still going strong and I use it most days. One advantage of the Mitutoyos (some may call it a disadvantage) is that they never turn themselves off so you never lose a reading or setting. A friend bought one recently for that very reason having got fed up with his cheap one turning itself off and eating batteries despite this feature.

I have a Gemred angle box which turns itself off and also eats batteries. I try to remember to take the battery out of it when not in use which does help but is a bit of a faff and would be even more of one with a caliper.

Personally, I have never regretted buying professional quality tools. Cheap tools are generally cheap for good reason.

Jim

 

[Deadeye]

OK - enough people have said Mitutoyo. There seems to be floods of chinese fakes. How do I know a real one? Where should I buy?

 

[beechman]

Great question. Simple answer. Buy only from a recognised and reputable supplier. This is common sense but not always common practice! Suppliers like, for example, Dieter Schmidt. Ok he's in Germany but the transport costs are highly reasonable, top quality top brands. As a bonus you always get the sales receipt in an envelope and an accompanying sweetie! By the way, In answer to the original question, my choice was the igaging Absolute digital caliper. Extraordinarily excellent and I think cheaper than the Mitsubishi ( sorry - can't remember the correct name).

 

[Peter Sefton]

Peter Parfitt just posted a video explaining how to read scale vernier calipers if your eyes are good enough :lol: and shows a circular version which I have never seen before.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9sI0N59SYM

Cheers Peter

 

[Eric The Viking]

I'v just had a quick go at trying to improve my Lidl ("Powerfix") 150mm caliper. It was very sticky and not re-zeroing when closed up.

I've just "stoned" the bar along both edges (where the jib strip rubs), and front and back, cleaned off the filings and rubbed it with paraffin wax, as you'd do with a plane sole. It seems to have worked - it now moves smoothly and returns to zero consistently. I wouldn't trust it for small measurements, as the jaws don't look parallel (there's a wedge of light). That might be adjustable with the two grub screws. But it will be easily good enough for measuring anything over about 3mm for woodwork.

I used my finest diamond plate, which usually lives in the kitchen for the knives. It's only a cheapie and it's concave and not at all flat, but being well-used it does cut fairly smoothly (there aren't any very sticky-out diamonds any more).

It's not ideal, the thing is definitely B-grade, but it is usable now, when previously it wasn't.

 

[Gerry]

The anvils not being parallel will be the reason that it doesn't zero consistently. This is usually caused by a burr on the tips of the anvil. The slightest knock on a hard surface can raise a burr and it's usually part of every calibration to clean this up with a diamond file. You can check for this if you place something like a washer or nut on the inside of the jaws (I use a slip gauge), Hold the caliper shut against it using normal measuring force then slide the item down the jaws and out of the tip. If it sticks as it reaches the tip it has a burr. It should slide out with no resistance at all. If there is a burr a couple of strokes of the finest wet & dry you have with some thin oil should remove it.

Gerry

 

[Gerry]

I meant to add that the little screws on the top are not for squaring it up they are to remove play from the slides.

Gerry