Digital Calipers

I've had for over half my life, 35+ years, a Kanon Japanese made Vernier caliper and a Brazilian made Mitutoyo dial caliper then 4 years ago bought a Mastercrap digital on sale for $20 that I tend to pick up first when I need to measure more accurately than I can with a steel machinist's ruler and I have a few of those up to a meter long.

Just for ####s and giggles I used the first two to measure a screwdriver shaft to check the digital. All three gave the same 0.109" reading so I'd call that good enuf. I could go pay a lot more for a lifetime warranty but when you're already in your low 70s what's a lifetime warranty really worth eh. lol
 
Jahnj0584 said:
Jaw parallelism + flex
Force of measuring
Temperature/Environment/Cleanliness
Absolute resolution of the tool
Cosine error
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Whoa...that's a lot of words there, fella.
Do you actually understand anything about precision and tools?

It is widely acknowledged that dial calipers cannot be expected to measure more accurately than +/- .001.
In the hands of experienced users, +/- .001 is easy. If one has even a fraction of a brain one can detect if their caliper is damaged and needs to be taken out of service.
 
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I find the mastercraft blue ones constantly lose their zero. They are fine for a measurement or two if you can check your zero between each one and move the slide slow and steady.

When trying to measure a couple of thou with a comparator for shoulder bump I lose all confidence in them as quite often, I find that they have lost thier zero.

Just two weeks ago I broke down and bought some Mitutoyo digitals and they are fantastic. A couple hundred dollars and I can have confidence in them.

Go to a machine shop supply store and you will get better pricing. Greg's and the like want $400 or more for the same ones I paid $210. Unless you have a large corporate account is not worth darkening their door. They price everything double or more for walk ins. Basically they don't want your service.

They are also available online for about $185 but I was impatient and 100% sure I was getting the real thing.

I can't remember regretting buying any quality tool.
 
Hurtin North Albertan said:
I've had for over half my life, 35+ years, a Kanon Japanese made Vernier caliper and a Brazilian made Mitutoyo dial caliper then 4 years ago bought a Mastercrap digital on sale for $20 that I tend to pick up first when I need to measure more accurately than I can with a steel machinist's ruler and I have a few of those up to a meter long.

Just for ####s and giggles I used the first two to measure a screwdriver shaft to check the digital. All three gave the same 0.109" reading so I'd call that good enuf. I could go pay a lot more for a lifetime warranty but when you're already in your low 70s what's a lifetime warranty really worth eh. lol
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I guess not much if you’re using them twice a year
 
xPrairie said:
I remove my batteries after each use for any tools that don't see daily use. I have a Mitu Dial and MC Digital. Both do well.
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I use mine multiple times weekly so I just leave the battery in.
The spare battery I bought 3 years ago is probably dead lol

Sometimes I forget to turn them off, but they still keep on ticking
 
45C said:
I use mine multiple times weekly so I just leave the battery in.
The spare battery I bought 3 years ago is probably dead lol

Sometimes I forget to turn them off, but they still keep on ticking
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My top end Mitutoyo automatically times out and shuts down if not being used. As I said, it went years before a battery change with regular usage. Years ago I had a Master-Crap electronic; two or three battery's each year were not uncommon. BTW, I had the MC for years also, and it passed certification by our metrologist every year, just like the expensive Mitu and my Chinese dial caliper.
 
OMFG, I had absolutely NO idea that tool prices, at least for quality ones, have gone so completely insane! 35 years ago, I bought a set of Mitutoyo digital caliper [6"] & 0-1" electronic micrometer for $250.00 from a long-gone machinist store in Winnipeg [Luke's Machinery] & had to think long & hard about the cost, but wanted quality. And remember, like some of the other folks on here with little, or at least gray [if not white] hair, I oft heard my Dad vent about the P!$$-poor quality of J.A.Pan tools. He had a Mauser vernier caliper & a Starrett micrometer; I still have the latter, my brother got the former. While I did buy some Snap-On tools back in the day, I was lucky enough to inherit his S-K socket sets & Gray-Bonney wrenches, paid for via Veteran's benefits when he came back from WW2.
 
jamesharrison said:
OMFG, I had absolutely NO idea that tool prices, at least for quality ones, have gone so completely insane! 35 years ago, I bought a set of Mitutoyo digital caliper [6"] & 0-1" electronic micrometer for $250.00 from a long-gone machinist store in Winnipeg [Luke's Machinery] & had to think long & hard about the cost, but wanted quality.
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$250 in 1995 is $550 now. The calipers actually got a whole lot cheaper ;)
Cocked&Locked said:
Whoa...that's a lot of words there, fella.
Do you actually understand anything about precision and tools?
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Unfortunately the parts I made today are only accurate to .0004" but I've gone down to less than a third of that on a few occasions. Im sure I don't understand anything though after my 11 years!

Where on the dunning kruger chart are you?
 
QUOTE>>>>>$250 in 1995 is $550 now. The calipers actually got a whole lot cheaper ;)<<<<<ENDQUOTE

Today, an equivalent [& there really isn't any, because my Mitutoyo 6" Digimatic caliper has engraved [stamped?] numbers on a stainless steel body, as their line of vernier calipers still do, whereas nowadays, it appears to be a sticker [black & yellow] on the face of an ABS arm/blade. The closest that I could find now is their Series 500, which goes for ~$300.00. The closest that I can find for my Series 293-725-10 Digimatic mic., with data output & calibration certificate goes for ~$350.00 on sale. Mine also came with a Mitutoyo 156-101-10 Stand which now sells for ~$200.00. That totals $850.00; I paid $250.00 for everything. Using your numbers, the $250.00 should work out to ~$550.00; it doesn't.
 
There is something to be said about attempting to read a vernier caliper as one gets past age 70. So, a few days ago, maybe triggered by this thread - I ordered a dial readout Accusize caliper - 4" - to be seen what shows up - at least no batteries used, I think ...
 
I bought a Mitutoyo dial caliper from Luke's Machinery back in 1986 for a course I took at Red River C.C. and it's been going strong ever since. No batteries, and no illusion of accuracy beyond +/- .001"
 
45C said:
I guess not much if you’re using them twice a year
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More like twice a day on average I'd bet. My form of ADHD demands perfection and often gets in the way of 'Good enough'. Was an asset when I worked 4 years in a small 2 to 4 man machine shop under the watchful eye of a German master machinist. Then again when I spent 3 years in my 30s taking uni level chemical sciences for a diploma in environmental chemistry after the boss at the shop had a serious stroke and the shop shut down.

My current hobbies besides learning precision long distance shooting are tying flies and jigs, building custom fishing rods and maintaining my home and acreage. All that demands a wide range of skills, high levels of accuracy and the manual dexterity with numerous hand and power tools to get all the needed jobs done to at least 'good enuf' levels. I enjoy learning new things especially if they will help me overcome a challenging project. Continuing education helps keep the synapses firing and the oldtimerz disease at bay. In a little over three years I'll be the same age as my birth mother when she died of dementia and there's no way I'm going out like that. A fortune teller at the Calgary Stampede in 1977 told me I would die at age 99, shot by a jealous husband so I have a lot of years left before I sleep. ;)

I've been thinking hard about starting a local Mr. Fixit side gig to help pay off what I've been spending on my not inexpensive hobbies. An awful lot of low income seniors and young families, single parents and others that put up with little annoying things like leaky taps, leaky roofs, plumbing problems, computer issues etc etc that would cost too much to fix if they call in a pro that I could handle for gas money and a few bucks in comparison. Even take stuff in trade to cover the bill if it's something I want or could sell for a few bucks. Like a lot of people my FB got cancelled for no reason but the wife could put up ads for me in the local groups. Worth a shot.

Still have my spotless Class 3 license so could find casual hauling jobs that aren't too physically demanding. No way I'm loading big square bales or 100lb sacks of feed all day but know how to run an auger to load up a 5-ton grain truck and take it to the elevators or seed cleaning plant. I'll be 72 soon but can still get around better than most 60 year olds. Was out pushing my string mower around the yard cutting the heavy stuff for 3 hours until it got to dark last night at 10. Seemed like it was only a couple weeks ago I could stay out until 11:30 but the days are getting shorter faster now up north here. About 15 hours of light now and photoperiod pot plants would just be starting to flower. lol
 
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