Digital Caliper Purchase Help Please

[Roger Bullock]

I'm looking to buy a digital caliper for general use in the woodshop. What do you use, pros and cons, and price points please.

[Lee Schierer]

I'm not a pro and haven't slept in a Holiday Inn Express either. I purchased a $20 digital caliper from Harbor Freight after my dial caliper died due to sawdust poisoning (dust in the rack gear). It has worked fine for several years and provides more than sufficient accuracy and repeatability for woodworking. Remember it is wood and it can change a few thou from one day to the next just due to humidity change.

[Jordan Lane]

i highly recommend these .... http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PMAKA=TK610-0045

[Dave Sweeney]

+1 on the Harbor Freight. I've used one for many years and its never gotten me into any trouble.

[james glenn]

I have both the HF digital caliper (the fraction one) and the one from Rockler.

I recommend the HF one if you don't want to spend a ton. I do not like the Rockler at all. Heck, the HF one
at least came with a case to protect it.

[Cary Falk]

I also have the HF fractional digital caliper. I am still happy with it after about 3 years. I don't remember what I paid for it but I think it was just under $20.

[Mark Ashmeade]

+1 on HF Fractional. I originally bought the other slightly cheaper caliper, only to find out when I got home that it is decimal only. The fractional one was a whole $3 more expensive. I think it was $15 on sale.

These are like pocket calculators and multimeters. They are so inexpensive and sufficiently featured and accurate for most tasks. I don't see how a much more expensive caliper would function any better. Or calculator or multimeter.

[Rich Engelhardt]

+whatever on the HF ones. I have a fractional, one of the better metal ones - both of these have a case - and one of the real cheap plastic ones.
They all work as expected and are accurate.

They do eat batteries though....

[Victor Robinson]

I bought one on Amazon for $11. It works fantastically, no problems. The only thing I wish I had paid attention to was having a fractional inches display - make sure you get one that does!

[Richard Wolf]

I don't like using them, even the factional ones. I always use a factional dial caliper. The problem with the digital are. 1) they use batteries fast, and 2) is 25/64 larger or smaller than 3/8", if you have to think about it for more than 2 seconds, get a dial.

[Roger Jensen]

I agree with Richard that they are too difficult to use due to the changing denominator in the fraction. Doing the math between 8ths, 16ths, 32nds, 64ths and 128ths introduces too many opportunities for error.

I recommend a good quality dial caliper.

Roger

[David Hawxhurst]

seems that we should just change to decimal measuring devices or metric. machinists use decimal its much easier.

[Brad Shipton]

I have bought several of the cheap versions. Some of the plastic stuff can break if you drop the cheapos. They all functioned reasonably, but one set did not have an auto off feature. That made it really hard on batteries. Another set did not have the little wheel for microadjusting. That feature is handy for setups or dovetail layouts.

The next set I buy will say Starrett or Multito...

Brad

[Neil Brooks]

Count me in. Happy HF dig caliper owner, too !

[Jerome Stanek]

I buy from this company anf they go have some good prices Production Tool here is a web page of their flyer with the Mitutoyo

http://www.pts-tools.com/cgi/CGPTSRF...TR&PMPAGE=0020