Tesa dial caliper - quality comparison (video and images)

[perkabrod]

Hi there!
I bought a used 0,01 mm/rev Tesa dial caliper. Not sure of mfg year. Nowdays they are assembled in China I’ve heard, even though they’re marked ”Swiss made”.

The 0,01 mm one I got is noisy and doesn’t feel near as high end as the 0,02 mm I’ve borrowed. The 0,02 mm/rev one is really old, at least 20-30 years I’d guess. It has a brown sticker from my work.

It’s not direct comparison since they are not the same model number. I have tried to document the differencies I’ve spotted. Change of font, chamfer instead of radius on the jaw etc.

I’m no expert on steel but I’ve noticed the steel grain/texture on the depth rod looks different too. Here’s a video and photps for all you nerds Is there anything to make my 0,01 mm one feel better?

Old Tesa 0,02 mm/rev to the left, unknown year Tesa 0,01 mm/rev to the right

 

[perkabrod]

Long video:

Short video just demoing the sloppiness of the depth rod on the 0,01 mm

 

[californiaHank]

I'd expect the new one to feel different from the old one. The new dial spins ten times as fast as the other one: The dial on the old one turns one revolution for every 2mm you move the jaws to give you 0.02mm resolution. The dial on the new one turns one revolution for every 1mm to give you 0.01mm resolution.

 

[Dave455]

I share your frustration. A colleague dropped my old (30 years plus) Tesa dial vernier, damaging the inside jaws.

He replaced it with new, but like yourself, the new Tesa doesn’t have quite the feel of the old.

I’m not sure about being assembled in China. Swiss law requires, I think, 85% (by value) of a product to originate in the Swiss Federation in order to be able to mark it “Swiss Made”, and they are pretty strict about this. I don’t think the Chinese could get them even this good either!

Somethings not right though, and I’m not sure where to go. Problem is, I like dial callipers. I don’t mind paying out for a decent one, but Tesa were about the last hope. Starrett seem to have sold out to China (correct me if they still offer a U.S. made line AND it’s as good as they used to be) and I’ve never liked the much touted Mituyoyo. For other tools maybe, but dial calipers (especially the imperial graduated ones, which are worse than the metric) no!

I think Tesa are still about the best out there. I hope it wears in!

 

[Rabid Badger]

Comparing two used examples isn't really a fair way to judge the quality of a product.

The rack on your unit looks like it might need cleaning. Maybe look into sending your unit in for service, or if you're competent you could do it yourself. Mr. Pete has a few good videos on YouTube about servicing dial calipers.

 

[perkabrod]

I hope that my Tesa is a newer unit and that there are 0,01 mm/rev Tesa versions with the feel as the 0,02 mm/rev one in the video. Even though the dial gear mechanism is different I would hope the feel could be the same.

Does anyone know when this quality drop occured? And if there’s some way to determine from photos if it’s the good old one or a newer version? I would guess that the font would be the same across the range for old units. And also I’m mot sure why my model has an ”A” beside the 15 cm mark.

I will probably sell this and look for another used one, paying more attention to the font for example. I’ve looked into Mitutoyo ones but have never tried their dial calipers, I hoped that you couldn’t go wrong with a Tesa – unfortunately it seems I was wrong!

Etalon is equivalent and built by Tesa. Only differency on their 0,1 mm/rev is that the tick marks onthe dial face are 0,02 mm

Good info here:
http://www.longislandindicator.com/p11.html

Quotes from long island indicators
”...TESA dial calipers are labeled "Switzerland" but are assembled in China, of exactly the same parts used for Brown & Sharpe and Etalon calipers. If you're used to the top quality of old TESA calipers, you may be disappointed in the new models. And, if you can get hold of an old model on eBay, grab it. ...”

”... if the item is of hybrid origin with at least 60% Swiss stock, it will be labeled as "made in Switzerland...”

Would be great if we found out how to distinguish the new and old ones

 

[perkabrod]

I asked a seller on ebay of a close up photo ok ”Swiss made”. This caliper has the A mark and the font is like the old one I borrowed from work. More space between letters (more tracking).

Not sure what the A means, but at least I have now his photos to compare with mine and the fonts are different. I hope the font can be a giveaway new VS old...