reading a dial caliper

[MH8675309]

The calipers that offer a display in fractions have always made me scratch my head. I have nothing against fractions, but I have a hard time quickly visualizing if 23/64th is larger or smaller than 3/8th of an inch.

You might know this you might not. To convert a fraction to a decimal you divide the numerator (top number) by the denominator ( bottom number)
Ex - 3/4 3 divided by 4 = .75

Also to find half of a fraction you double the denominator
Ex half of 3/4 is 3/8
half of 3/8 is 3/16
half of 3/16 is 3/32
I figured this out when I was working construction

 

[Gord Baker]

Does your thermometer have decimal points?

 

[Agvg]

Does your thermometer have decimal points?

Well, my digital does and I can see if it's between numbers.

F is a scale that only makes sense if you are force-fed it from childhood.
A 0 point of that has no real connection with any form of logic.

 

[Agvg]

Proof.

 

[Gord Baker]

I will Try to Educate You. Fahrenheit divides Freezing at Sea Level to Boiling into 180 increments. Celsius only 100 increments.
Note the finer divisions? End of discussion.

 

[rScotty]

Dial caliper reads 1.866" or 47.39 mm.

Yes, agree. 47.39 is technically correct.

although with the caveat that without looking straight down at the dial it is hard to know if the needle is pointing directly at 1.866 or a little past that. Still, it is a +- .001" dial caliper, so you have to estimate that last digit from the closest whole integer.
Being an optimist... and fond of simple numbers....I'd call it 47.40 mm even though I cannot really defend that.
rScotty, YMMV

 

[Agvg]

I will Try to Educate You. Fahrenheit divides Freezing at Sea Level to Boiling into 180 increments. Celsius only 100 increments.
Note the finer divisions? End of discussion.

Yes, the discussion is ended, the world has made its choice.

 

[Grumpycat]

I will Try to Educate You. Fahrenheit divides Freezing at Sea Level to Boiling into 180 increments.

Yes, boiling water and frozen water are 180 degrees apart. So in Fahrenheit one can heat beyond boiling to complete the circle back to frozen again. Clearly frozen at 32°F, boiling at 212°F, and frozen again at 392°F. This is why we cook frozen Christmas turkey at 400°F, because that is the 2nd freeze temperature!

Science is fun and so logical!

 

[jgmo]

Well
Warner von Braun converted to the United States $1 BILL (and above) pretty easily I'm told.
IRONICALLY, it's a very "metric-like" set of numbers and WAAAAY easier to break down than the Deutchmark, Franc or Pound.
Don't even get me started about Rials, Rubles or Yen;>)

 

[Cougsfan]

Hmmm. My dial caliper doesn't read in either celsius of fahrenheit.

 

[bcp]

I've read that the calipers that have batteries that die often never turn off the measuring function, only the display.

Bruce

 

[ArlyA]

I've read that the calipers that have batteries that die often never turn off the measuring function, only the display.

Bruce

That is why if I can, I avoid battery powered tools. Every time i need it, battery's are old and it doesn't work.

 

[mrmikey]

I've read that the calipers that have batteries that die often never turn off the measuring function, only the display.

Mine does that, a cheap set. I don't use them a lot and have to remember to take the battery out when I put it away.

 

[Grumpycat]

I've read that the calipers that have batteries that die often never turn off the measuring function, only the display.

Harbor Freight digital dial calipers eat a battery every month whether used or not.

A Mitutoyo will go for years of heavy use on a single battery.

 

[ArlyA]

I have three (or so) calipers and all are manual.

 

[Alan W.]

I have two of the HF calipers. The older one still has its original battery. Probably 5 years or better. The newer one eats them like candy.

 

[5030]

You think a dial caliper is old school? How about a vernier caliper?

read my post number 63... I still have and use my dad's K&E slide rule quite a bit. Has Ivory overlaid on Mahogany wood. I even have the hard case for it. No batteries needed.

 

[MH8675309]

You think a dial caliper is old school? How about a vernier caliper?

Still a valuable instrument. We had a digital height gage when I worked at the shop and people were constantly borrowing it. I requested a new one but with the vernier scale. Problem solved