Caliper (Vernier or dial) (what is good brand / model for the money??

[Kyle_in_Tex]

Be wary of used dial calipers. Good chance they have been dropped and tweaked the ID measuring tangs. Don't ask me how I know. I recently (for the 1st time in my career) dropped my new Mitutoyo 4" digitals and tweaked the ID tangs. They sure were handy for getting into tight spaces.

Get a thumb wheel. You can use a ruby or similar stone to polish the edges of the rail to make them smoother than stock.

If I had to trust a measurement to get me to the moon and back, I'd use my old (but like new never dropped) Mitutoyo dial 12" model.

I would say the old B & Sharp dials are very "creamy". Mine got stolen by an Austin Electric lineman or contractor in our shop on a weekend upgrading our electrical capacity.

I also own Mitutoyo digital 4", 6", metric dial 8", Peacock 6".

I have a brand new B&S digital set which is waterproof. One thing in particular I like about them is the rod/stem is a relatively small diameter and good for checking small hole depths. I think the rod is about .050 or so in diameter.
MSC Item Detail

I would recommend a middle of the road set for home use, which will set you back about $65 or so.
Enco - Guaranteed Lowest Prices on Machinery, Tools and Shop Supplies

 

[JB4310]

This was the only one I had for years, made of wood

Now I have a $5.00 HF digital, not sure if that is even moving up :laughing:

I work for alot of widows of old machinists, They are happy to give me their old tools, I've got 20 Micrometers, as well as other precision tools and a nice machinist's tool chest, but no quality calipers.
JB

 

[5030]

This was the only one I had for years, made of wood

Now I have a $5.00 HF digital, not sure if that is even moving up :laughing:

I work for alot of widows of old machinists, They are happy to give me their old tools, I've got 20 Micrometers, as well as other precision tools and a nice machinist's tool chest, but no quality calipers.
JB

I just happen to have a caliper just like yours. It's fine for checking fractional diameters....and it's collectable.

 

[SPYDERLK]

Bang For Buck Id go HF digital. Dial is a bit easier to operate due to being analog, but a fast digital with thumb wheel is as good as well as having superior accuracy, no rack and pinion to skip teeth from a piece of grit either -- as low as $10 on sale. Yeah, gotta change batteries. :confused3:
larry

 

[Little_Grizzly]

Just FYI....they now make the digital ones with a little solar cell like on a calculator. No battery to run out ever.

 

[Gem99ultra]

I have a Starrett dial and a HF digital. Wow! The digital sure made reading so much more accurate to my bad eyes. But, sorry to say, the HF digital was worth less than I paid for it, and that wasn't much; $29.

The HF digital went crazy, giving all sorts of readings and switching from mm to in, back and forth. New battery made no difference. So, after only a few uses spread out over a few months, it holds it's place in the bottom of my tool box - with all of the other HF junk that I've bought.

Digital is the way to go, but get a reliable brand.

 

[k0ua]

My old Hornady (bought from Midway USA) has been my go to for about 25 years. But I also have a Chinese Digital, don't remember where I got it. It works well also, just got to change batteries, it is handy as it does metric as well.. Also you can zero on one piece and measure another and it will "calculate" how much bigger the second one is than the first. But I still usually reach for the mechanical dial caliper first.

James K0UA

 

[SPYDERLK]

I have a Starrett dial and a HF digital. Wow! The digital sure made reading so much more accurate to my bad eyes. But, sorry to say, the HF digital was worth less than I paid for it, and that wasn't much; $29.

The HF digital went crazy, giving all sorts of readings and switching from mm to in, back and forth. New battery made no difference. So, after only a few uses spread out over a few months, it holds it's place in the bottom of my tool box - with all of the other HF junk that I've bought.

Digital is the way to go, but get a reliable brand.

Happens, but not a usual thing. I have several [3 I think] in service and more spare that I paid $10 on sale for. One failure out of 4 in use in 8yrs. Ill deal with it. Solar sounds nice - batts go a yr or less. Be sure whatever brand, to get the ones with the thumb wheel. Much easier to move gradually.:thumbsup:
larry

 

[RoyJackson]

I've been in the Quality field since 1977 (mostly machining)...so there's my credentials.
Mitutoyo is, IMHO, the best of the bunch for basic measuring. Most folks don't need features QA or QC personnel would use (such as a Gagetalker port, which would add to the cost).
As a few others wrote, go digital...much easier to maintain (dial calipers are the worst). And calipers are good for about .001" for inch of length...plus the variability of operator "feel", so don't expect to measure tenths (.0001") with any caliper.

I've had a 6" Mitutoyo digital caliper for at least 10-12 years. Still works great and has always passed calibration (I do this myself with a gage bock set). It cost me about 80 bucks back then...expect to pay about $100-$120 now.

 

[5030]

Basically, what we have here is they are all good so long as you stick with brand names, Mitutoyo, Brown & Sharpe, Fred Fowler, LS Starett or a few others and you can catch the major players on sale from time to time.

Digital or analog is user preference and no caliper is good for less than 0.001.

For less than 0.001, you'll need a C Frame micrometer. Those aren't all, that much either, at least the 0-1 variety.

I read a comment about dial calipers jumping from dirt on the rack. Myself, I don't use mine in dirty situations but my LSS has a covered rack. I believe Mitutoyo and B&S do as well.

Slide calipers make dandy depth gages with the addition of a clamp on foot, something I have with mine.