Page 3 of 7 FirstFirst 1234567 LastLast
Results 31 to 45 of 92

Thread: Calipers, Digital Dial?

  1. #31
    Quote Originally Posted by Hilton Ralphs View Post
    My $46 iGaging rounds up to the next ten thousands of an inch (1/10000). I really hate that, puts all my work out.
    And if you're working to ten thousands of an inch, that's good. But I mostly work in units that I can see on a rule, which is about a sixteenth. I use a fractional caliper so I like to be able to see that something is, for example, a bit shy of 3/16, or a fat 3/16. If I set a digital to read fractions, and set it for sixteenths, I lose the ability to see the difference.

    Mike

    [I don't want to set the caliper to 128th, for example, and then have to try to convert those readings into something I can see on a rule.]
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  2. #32
    Join Date
    Aug 2013
    Location
    Princeton, NJ
    Posts
    7,235
    Blog Entries
    7
    Quote Originally Posted by Marko Milisavljevic View Post
    Haha, excellent question Pat. When I started woodworking I needed a lot of items quickly and I couldn't stomach prices of quality tools. That was before I knew this was an endless pit. I don't completely regret it, they served a purpose for a while.

    At first I thought they were pretty good tools. I mean, it is square. I can mark with it. It slides up and down, etc. I used them and learned with them and wondered why someone would pay 5 times more for a fancy tool. Over time you get more sophisticated and demand more. The same reason we eat steak if we can afford it and not spam.
    Agreed, of all of my tools some of the ones I thought I was going over-board on are the ones I enjoy the most.
    Bumbling forward into the unknown.

  3. #33
    Quote Originally Posted by Mike Henderson View Post
    And if you're working to ten thousands of an inch, that's good. But I mostly work in units that I can see on a rule, which is about a sixteenth. I use a fractional caliper so I like to be able to see that something is, for example, a bit shy of 3/16, or a fat 3/16. If I set a digital to read fractions, and set it for sixteenths, I lose the ability to see the difference.

    Mike

    [I don't want to set the caliper to 128th, for example, and then have to try to convert those readings into something I can see on a rule.]
    Mike, this is exactly what I'm struggling with while deciding on what calliper to buy. I have some no-name digital calliper that has served me well enough, but I keep wishing for fractions. On the other hand, digital fractions are a pain because of the issue you mention - it is hard to tell if you are above or below a fraction, and if you are aiming for 3/16 and your digital caliper tells you that you are at 23/128 can you quickly tell me if you are above or below your target?

    I am reluctant to buy $30-40 Chinese dial calliper, because of hit-and-miss nature of those products, but don't want to spend $100 for Starrett without being sure that Starrett is really good, and iGaging or similar is not quite good enough. Decisions, decisions...

    (edit: Starrett dial caliper is also made in China)
    Last edited by Marko Milisavljevic; 03-29-2015 at 5:27 PM.

  4. #34
    Marko, I bought a Starrett fractional some years ago and it's been a good tool. You might look on eBay and see if you can find one - if you're not excited about the one they're selling now.

    Mike
    Go into the world and do well. But more importantly, go into the world and do good.

  5. #35
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Wild Wild West USA
    Posts
    1,542
    What the heck . . . I may as well add to the over abundance here and make it even "more".
    I just bought this for my main birthday extravagance.
    I checked it for accuracy with one of these which comes with a 25 mm carbide tipped precision test standard.
    Then I used those to check this guy which I use at work for quick checks to sort drill bits and to determine wrench size/bolt head sizes . . . whether what I am working with is a fractional inch or metric. It shows the size in fractions of an inch and has a very large display.
    The last caliper is surprisingly accurate (both inside and outside measurement jaws) for the price and I am very pleased; especially since I have been using it hard every day for years so it has held up. I went through a few batteries in that time. It lets you know well in advance when the battery is going dead and has never let me down flat. In other words even though the display is flashing I can use it all day before I replacing the battery.

    For home use I bought the dial because of the battery issues Hilton referred to and my particular situation : not near as frequent of use and cold shop temps. Also use mostly metric in my home projects . . . I have coveted an all metric dial my whole life so now was the time to pounce.

    I can't tell you how many times I have reached for my battery powered food thermometer that I use in the hide glue and it has had a dead battery. The micrometer I listed above is not so happy with a low battery and cold temps. All of my other micrometers are mechanical (not battery). I just wanted one ultra precise one and I sure am happy with the Mitutoyo in that respect.

    So there you have it.
    Sharpening is Facetating.
    Good enough is good enough
    But
    Better is Better.

  6. #36
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Wild Wild West USA
    Posts
    1,542

    You don't know what you're asking.

    As far as buying on eBay that can get dicy with precision tools.
    There is an old saying among machinists . . .
    . . . when the newb asks the old guy if he can borrow a caliper or micrometer . . . and the old guy just grunts but doesn't answer.
    The young guy asks one of the other guys "is he hard of hearing?"
    Answer : no . . . it's just that you would have better luck asking to borrow his wife than one of his precision measuring tools.

    the good ones are hung onto and the dropped ones get unloaded.
    Last edited by Winton Applegate; 03-29-2015 at 6:56 PM.
    Sharpening is Facetating.
    Good enough is good enough
    But
    Better is Better.

  7. #37
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    'over here' - Ireland
    Posts
    2,532
    Zingy colour scheme apart Winton, did you go for the 100mm version for any particular reason?

  8. #38
    Join Date
    Apr 2013
    Location
    Wild Wild West USA
    Posts
    1,542
    Hi Ian,

    Yes, I wanted a more compact version. I really didn't need the more precise, .01mm, calibration but that was a bonus.
    Mostly I wanted one that did not stick up as far out of , or across, my shop apron.
    Turns out the depth of the jaws is a bit less to. I'm perfectly pleased with that.

    The draw back I discovered is, while using the caliper one handed, there is less bar length to grip with the smaller fingers side of one's hand while moving the slide with the index finger and thumb. I have small hands so not much of a problem for me but some may find it a two handed tool only.
    Sharpening is Facetating.
    Good enough is good enough
    But
    Better is Better.

  9. #39
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Johannesburg, South Africa
    Posts
    1,076
    Quote Originally Posted by Marko Milisavljevic View Post
    digital fractions are a pain because of the issue you mention - it is hard to tell if you are above or below a fraction, and if you are aiming for 3/16 and your digital caliper tells you that you are at 23/128 can you quickly tell me if you are above or below your target?
    That's why Decimal should be used in that situation as it will give you the nearest 1/10000. Fractions are designed only for dividing up the chocolate bar with your siblings.

    When you guys finally enter the 21st century and use a proper measuring system all this trouble will magically vanish and all you'll have to worry about is remember tens (10s). Dead simple.
    "If you have all your fingers, you can convert to Metric"

  10. #40
    Join Date
    Mar 2007
    Location
    Fort Collins, Colorado
    Posts
    327
    Digital calipers make great Imperial to metric converters, and vice-versa. Try to do that on a dial caliper.

  11. #41
    Quote Originally Posted by Hilton Ralphs View Post
    That's why Decimal should be used in that situation as it will give you the nearest 1/10000. Fractions are designed only for dividing up the chocolate bar with your siblings.

    When you guys finally enter the 21st century and use a proper measuring system all this trouble will magically vanish and all you'll have to worry about is remember tens (10s). Dead simple.
    It is not as easy as you make it sound. There are 10ths, 100ths, 1000ths, and then you also have to worry x10, x100 etc. That's a lot of numbers.

    Kidding aside, I lived my whole life in metric+decimal, until I took up woodworking a few years ago. Imperial is default for woodworking in north america so I went along. It is simultaneously really stupid (21/64 is... what?) and liberating because it is easy to fractions of 2, 4 or 8 and pretty easy to calculate if you keep it in 16ths.
    Last edited by Marko Milisavljevic; 03-30-2015 at 2:13 AM.

  12. #42
    Join Date
    Aug 2010
    Location
    USA
    Posts
    5,582
    Quote Originally Posted by Hilton Ralphs View Post
    That's why Decimal should be used in that situation as it will give you the nearest 1/10000. Fractions are designed only for dividing up the chocolate bar with your siblings.

    When you guys finally enter the 21st century and use a proper measuring system all this trouble will magically vanish and all you'll have to worry about is remember tens (10s). Dead simple.
    I love the 10's aspect Hilton, its just those hard to understand cm, mm, kg, km, C that are all foreign to me. Yes foreign. Not saying anything bad about that of course, just that for us in the inch world, the benefit has gone to the tool makers and not really evident to the consumer. Listen, I work in both unit styles everyday in my day job and have for longer than you folks care to hear about. My first metric exposure in the real world was my Honda 350 finding out I needed an 8mm wrench and that's why I was stripping the heads of my bolts with my closest inch size socket wrench. Even then I thought "made in Japan ...". Now though, even my Chevy's have kinda converted - enough that I need two complete tool sets. That ain't helping me a bit. So when I do woodworking, I use what I prefer and that's inches. As Jim K says, YMMV.

  13. #43
    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Location
    'over here' - Ireland
    Posts
    2,532
    I was brought up on both systems, and even worked for a couple of years way back as a machinist using both. There's situations where i'm much happier with mm (as in drawing/laying out work), and others where i'm more intuitive with inches.(household sized measurements and believe it or not thou based fits etc in engineering) Inch fractions i understand, but they really cause me problems in that other than very simple addition or whatever requires a pencil and paper.

    What i'm maybe saying is that there's no definitive answer - that it's mostly a matetr of what we learn and become proficient enough in that it's intuitive. Trouble is as we get older it's harder to change/learn new stuff in the deeply embedded way we do when younger...

  14. #44
    I use mechanical both mechanical calipers (mostly for turning) and dial or vernier for all other tight tolerance work, I have a 1" micrometer that sees little and specific use.

    Like George, I dislike the digital because they all seem to go through batteries too quickly, and I never seem to have a spare around. When I buy most tools, I don't want a recurring cost to allow it to function.
    Trevor Walsh
    TWDesignShop

  15. #45
    Join Date
    May 2013
    Location
    Johannesburg, South Africa
    Posts
    1,076
    So Mike Holbrook, why not get both the Dial and Digital Callipers and see which one you prefer? Then sell off the other or keep it as a spare. Some of the digitals eat batteries like there's no tomorrow and then some don't. I guess you could invest in some of the rechargeable LIR2032s and then a suitable charger but it all depends on how quickly you go through batteries.
    "If you have all your fingers, you can convert to Metric"

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •