Caliper suggestions needed

[whitetailhntr]

Getting ready to purchase a caliper, anyone have a recommendation on a good brand to go with? Also should I consider digital display?

 

[Wanna Ride]

I prefer old school, standard dial calipers. Browne & Sharpe or Starret if you're dealing with tight tolerances and lots of machining. But for general DIY stuff that isn't super critical, Mitutoyo is more than adequate. Personally, I don't care for digitals.

 

[bob15]

Older Starretts or Swiss made Etalon, if you want the thunmbwheel. B&S if you don't want or care about the thumbwheel. I find reading the the dials on the Starretts much easier over the Etalon (I prefer the thumbwheel type caliper)

Dial vs digital is personal preference. As for myself, I am not a huge fan of digital. But, they have their place if you know you will be using both inches and metric, they do go both ways.

 

[Bondo]

Ayuh,.... The battery never goes dead on an mechanical gauge/ rotary dial,....

 

[WhiffySpark]

Depends on what you're doing.

 

[L.Cheapo]

I'm interested in this too, as I'm looking at calipers as well. There is a plethora available. I think I'd prefer digital for simplicity and ease of use between metric and inch. I'm not building a space shuttle here, but I do want something quality. From what I've read on here and elsewhere, I believe Mitutoyo appears to be the preferred brand for digital, Starrett USA for dial?

 

[JJThrasher]

Kinda good to know what your use is for a caliper. HF sells digital ones that are under $20, and they are plenty accurate for low tolerance home hobby use.

 

[hautpot]

Mitutoyo.

You want a digital caliper that never needs batteries? Mitutoyo has that too

 

[zendriver]

My eyesight is not what it was, so a digital is easier to use.

I have an HF, but I'm not really doing any critical measuring, not that it might even matter, any more.

 

[fnieto]

iGaging would be worth a look.
I recently purchased a 12" iGaging for under $70 and it works awesome. Nice large display with absolute feature,data port for usb cad work and accurate as hell.
I used it in increment and basically used zero math to achieve a register cut on a new back plate for a new Bison 8" 4 jaw scroll chuck. I plan on purchasing a 6" to replace my Mitutoyo dial calipers. It uses a very commonly found battery.

 

[Adam.C]

You'll never hear this from me again, but I recommend buying the cheapest digital calipers you can find. Replace the Chinese battery with a good quality model.

The accuracy of these tools is largely based on the user. I have Mitutoyo and Starrett calipers and they are both outstanding tools. But they are expensive.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Unless you are already used to using a dial caliper, go digital.

iGaging makes some decent 6" calipers for about $30.

 

[Ign]

If you're going to be in any sort of a dirty, dusty or gritty environment (this includes general wrenching) digital is the only way to go.

I guess the cheap ones are fine as long as you don't mind stock-piling batteries or removing them after each use. The cheap digis place a similar draw on the battery whether on or off w no display. As a machinist constantly taking batteries in and out is clearly not an option for me as I use my calipers every day. With daily use I maybe replace the battery in my Mitutoyo 6" once a year.

But be warned: the rack and pinion in a set of analogs is extremely sensitive to intrusion, IOW very prone to sand in its t***.

 

[bmwpowere36m3]

Mitutoyo has a nice digital caliper, 6" sells for ~$100. Battery lasts a LONG time if you remember to turn it off. Display can be switched between metric and inch. It also "remembers" the origin (zero in most cases). Some digital calipers if you leave the jaws open and turn the unit off, wherever you left them will be the "new" zero when its turned on again. This can get annoying having to "zero" them out with each use.

 

[A_Pmech]

Dial calipers have too much mouse motion to go wrong. I much prefer digital. Mitutoyo is probably the leader in digital calipers.

 

[T45]

what is mouse motion?

the main purpose of these things is as a comparator, IMHO

that and fairly basic uses of determining bolt size

I'm not sure that absolute accuracy is needed per-se...for that a micrometer is better

agree that the digital runs out of battery, which makes is $$ and inconvenient over time

The dial seems to need a separate unit for each system, another PITA and $$ adder

curious to here more inputs/suggestions on the way to go with this ...

 

[WhiffySpark]

I have a blue point one. First battery lasted 5 years I used it everyday to measure rotors

 

[davethorik]

For general shop use, I'd go with digital as others have said. Nothing worse than feeling a dial caliper, especially an expensive one, munch a metal chip while you're closing them.

I have a pair of newer Starrett 6" digital and they have been a workhorse. Mitutoyo digital are very nice as well, and they make a solar powered version that requires no batteries, but I've never personally used one of those.

If you have your heart set on a dial, I'd recommend Mitutoyo or Brown & Sharpe/Etalon.

I have a pair of Starrett USA 12" dial calipers I bought new 8 years ago. They've never been a favorite. They feel a little on the tight side and the action feels gritty. I only keep them around because unlike every other 12" caliper out there, they don't have an attached depth rod. This can be handy for measuring in tight spots.

Starrett sells the depth attachment separately for these, which I also bought with the calipers. No pics at the moment, but it's basically a short thin piece of ground stock that has a C shape at one end, with one side of the C having a tiny tapped hole for a little thumb screw to tighten it onto the caliper, which mars the surface. In addition to being a flimsy piece of junk that doesn't want to stay in place. $40 down the tube. Don't make the mistake I did with these.

 

[davethorik]

In addition, I don't know who the caliper oem is for all the truck brands. I do know that a coworker has a set of 6" digital he bought off the Matco truck for god knows how much, and they are identical to the HF digitals. Which work and are accurate enough, but feel like they're made of chunks of sandstone, lol.

 

[Vvmvbb]

The IN/MM button is reason enough to choose a digital caliper.
I've bought a lot of mitutoyos for my guys over the years. Never any issues.

 

[Bruce57]

My Mitutoyo dial has served me well for several years.

 

[notlob]

Best choice for someone who doesn't know much about calipers.

http://www.harborfreight.com/6-inch-digital-caliper-47257.html

 

[WhiffySpark]

https://store.snapon.com/Calipers-B...ectronic-U-S-Metric-0-6-0-150mm--P647455.aspx

That's what I have. The HF ones seem to be hit or miss if they even work. The OEM brand at autostores was dead out of the box I tried two and gave up

 

[anndel]

I have an old Starrett, Mitutoyo and Central tools. Both the Central Tools and Starrett are USA made and Mitutoyo made in Japan. Check Ebay for used ones as I bought mine there.

 

[Mr. T]

I like digitalis for in/mm selection and zero function (very handy). I use both my Mitutoyos and HFs at work. I'd trust the HF to .001. Every time I've double checked with my Mitutoyos or a mic they've been bang on. That being said the HF aren't even in the same ball park as far as fit and finish go. It's a sandpaper vs silk comparison. But if you only want to pay for sandpaper they're pretty decent considering.

Also I'm going on 4 years with the original HF battery so I have no idea how people are killing them so fast. Maybe I just got lucky?

 

[Jim Johnstone]

A quality digital doesn't eat batteries nearly as fast as people think. I use my mitutoyos day in and day out at work, and I'm probably pushing 18 months since my last battery change.

 

[L.Cheapo]

A quality digital doesn't eat batteries nearly as fast as people think. I use my mitutoyos day in and day out at work, and I'm probably pushing 18 months since my last battery change.

Mitutoyo says 3.5 years with average use.

Cheapies eat batteries faster, as measured by aVe here:

 

[bsaint]

Digital is way better than mechanical. Especially the kind that read a glass scale. A lot more accurate.

I like Mitutoyo. Don't buy fowler, they ****. My mitutoyo battery lasted 7 years. Our machine shop guy uses B&S IP67 ones and he loves them. Auto off and auto on.

 

[1982fxr]

Digital is way better than mechanical. Especially the kind that read a glass scale. A lot more accurate.

I like Mitutoyo. Don't buy fowler, they ****. My mitutoyo battery lasted 7 years. Our machine shop guy uses B&S IP67 ones and he loves them. Auto off and auto on.

?? what's that mean?

 

[sberry]

I got to agree with the old fart and a couple of the HF guys here,,, screw all that old school fussy ****, get a 30$ digital for general work and call it a day.

 

[txvwnut]

I've got a digital Mitutoyo caliper, it loses calibration after about 2 inches, the battery got pulled and it got tossed to the back of the drawer. My main use caliper is a venier Hellios caliper. I check it with my standards and it's spot on to max measurement. If your needing a caliper for measuring don't cheep out on this tool spend some bucks and get a good quality caliper.

Oh and for grins I bought an HF digital caliper. That things not even close to staying calibrated as it spreads. I don't even think it knows what the definition of calibration is.

 

[hautpot]

You might have bought a fake Mitutoyo digital. Mitutoyo is pretty much the gold standard for electronic measuring equipment, so I am a little skeptical about you claiming it

loses calibration after about 2 inches,

 

[2oolhound]

I've heard from machinists - buy cheap micrometers but spend some serious money on your callipers.

If you use them much you'll end up with several pairs. I like the dial type because they are easy to read and don't use batteries. I have some digital sets for when I want to convert to metric and I have some old regular types I use for down and dirty comparing, inside/outside or go/nogo because nowadays I need a magnifying glass to read them.

 

[Jim Diesel]

Whats your intended use? Proffesional, hobbiest?

 

[Maximum404]

I'm bringing this one back from the dead as it was the most recent caliper thread and I am looking for a caliper for hobbyist machinist work. I'll be rebuilding a Subaru EJ205 and a EJ207 over the next couple years and want to make sure I am buying the correct tool.

From reading the shop manual they show pictures of both a spreading dial gauge caliper and a micrometer. Would one of the mitutoyo digital calipers work for this purpose? It looks like it would work... Just want to be sure before I drop $150 for a 6" set.

This will be my first of what I hope to be a long string of engine/auto projects. Thanks for your thoughts!

PS - I will need accuracy to the 0.001mm

 

[mikegt4]

I have a Mitutoyo digital. I have knocked it off the workbench more times than I care to admit. Now the inside blade tips are bent rendering them useless. The next caliper is going to be a HF or something under $50 and I will replace as needed.

 

[Maximum404]

Seems like the iGauge may be the next best thing and less than $40...?

 

[Adam.C]

PS - I will need accuracy to the 0.001mm

I'm guessing that was a typo. I think you meant .001". Accuracy for a good digi cal like Mitutoyo is +/- .001". I think I agree that you might need better than that for cylinder honing etc.

Also, using a caliper to that accuracy requires skill and practice. I use gage blocks to practice on and to calibrate my new calipers with. Not so easy to get .001" accuracy. +/- .001 is a little more realistic.

Digital calipers are essential tools for the workshop. And they do things dials can't do (using zero button e.g.). You can go back and read my advice on that subject.

But for engines, they aren't good enough. The best tool is a bore gauge. You can buy import models for under $100. You should probably do that.

Another alternative is the use of telescoping gauges, which you then measure with micrometers. Both tools require skill to obtain accurate readings.

 

[Adam.C]

Seems like the iGauge may be the next best thing and less than $40...?

I never saw much value in the mid range digi calipers. They really do the same job, often with the same electronics as the cheapies. You need either Swiss or Japanese heads to make a real difference in performance, but you won't get either for less than $100 new.

 

[Citation]

I never saw much value in the mid range digi calipers. They really do the same job, often with the same electronics as the cheapies. You need either Swiss or Japanese heads to make a real difference in performance, but you won't get either for less than $100 new.

The Igaging calipers are really good values. I've used a number of different calipers including Tesa/B&S, Mitutoyos, and many Chinese brands. Some of the earlier generic calipers I messed with were actually quite well made in terms of sliding precision and giving the same reading no mater where you measured on the jaws. They also had reasonably well machined measuring surfaces. Battery life seemed to be the only failing as they often were "on with a blank display" when they were turned off. The more recent HF types (at least for the last 5 years) are junk in that regard. They are simply machined so poorly that you can't count on different parts of the jaw to deliver the same readings. They also had bad battery life.

The Igaging stuff is different. While the slides aren't Mitutoyo smooth they are about as good as my Tesa calipers. I've used two models from Igaging and found the battery life to be good. It helps that they are using much bigger batteries vs Mitutoyo. So most of the Igagings I've used are this kind.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B001AQEZ2W/?tag=atomicindus08-20

They work really well, have good accuracy and the fractional scale can be handy.

Recently I tried their origin model. Like a Mitutoyo this one uses an absolute position sensor (likely a copy of Mitutoyo's design, presumably off patent). Yes, they really are just a nice pair of calipers. I would take them over my Tesa's but not the Mitutoyo if the price was even. Given the big cost break, this is a clear winner for most DIY type applications.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00INL0BTS/?tag=atomicindus08-20

BTW, Igaging does offer independent calibration certification for their products. I think they use a metrology lab in Ohio. That should offer a reasonably level of confidence. Unless the smoothest slide is your top criteria I see no reason to pay for Mitutoyos vs the Igaging origin cals.