Electronic calipers opinions

macguy

macguy

AzB Silver Member
Silver Member
I just broke my good Mitutoyo dial caliper. I had it in my hand and let it get in the way of a spinning chuck. It won't work at all now it bent the heck out of it. I am going to order a new one today and I am wondering about an electronic one, never had one.

In fact for years all I used was a micrometer. Not really looking to spend 100 plus dollars again maybe even get one of the cheaper ones I see in the Enco cat. They have an import electronic caliper for as low as $21.00.
Waste of money?

Are the electronic ones reliable as far as readings?
I know my dial caliper sometimes does not zero out and I have to check it before using. Will wait for opinions before ordering, I hate returning stuff.
 
I brought some of those Kim, they are junk compared to the Mitutoyo.

To keep calipers in good order, you really have to look after them , and never drop them.
I like to place mine onto a scrap piece of carpet, or back in the box it came in.

If you want to rely on the dimension from the calipers, I suggest getting the best you can afford.
The cheap ones, do not repeat very well and do not slide or have as nice a feel. Lets face it, if you save 5 hours in a year using a really good set, it has payed for itself and some from that alone.

I still have my original digital caliper I brought in 1987 and is better to use than the cheapy I have from HF.

Neil
 
Well, I probably have about 10 sets of the cheap digital ones all over the place. We use them for the less critical measurements. They also make it really easy to convert from metric to english or vice versa.

For anything where I need a good solid measurement, I go to a dial caliper. I have one, I don't know the brand and it was fairly inexpensive, that I use most of the time, but we have a couple of good ones too.

They make all the difference in the world!


Royce
 
I have several digital calipers, but the one I use is my Mitutoyo Absolute that I got used on eBay. I test my calipers with a couple of verified standards - 0.3" and 0.5" that a machinist (of 30 years) friend gave me. That way I know I'm accurate as well as repeatable, though I wish I had a .750" or 1.000" standard.
I have also found the Wixey (from Woodcraft)to be accurate and repeatable, but I find the Mitutoyo easier to work with for whatever reason.
The others are off by 2-3 thou, but they are repeatable.
I/we get a little hung up on 2-3 thousands of an inch, which is still less than than the width of a human hair (.003-.004"), but unfortunately, our fingers can feel it and if the shaft collar and the butt collar are off that much, our customers can feel it.
So I guess my point is, if your calipers are repeatable and you use the same caliper from beginning to end of a cue build or repair, you should be good. It's when a customer from afar orders a shaft or a butt with a certain collar dimension, you don't know if your caliper is the same has his/hers or not.
My 2 cents,
Gary
 
The best inexpensive digital caliper I've found is one by iGaging, available from Amazon. It's not such a battery hog as the other cheap ones and is much smoother and more repeatable than others I've tried. It's around $25...worth it.

Robin Snyder
 
I have had several digital, hate them. About the only thing I use them for is to convert standard to metric. I have found the dial calipers to be easier on the eyes and brain. It is easier to look at the dial and say I need to take another .0287 off than to look at the digital and add and subtract to figure you are at 0.6538 and need to get to 0.625.

Just my 2 cents.

AB
 
I'll take 'dial' over 'digital' in a heartbeat.
I trust my dial calipers and rely on them, they are accurate and repeatable.
When a digital's battery starts to get weak it can give a bad reading.
Yeah, batteries are cheap but it's an ongoing expense and they always go bad
at just the wrong time; like when you want to use them.

KJ
 
Hi,

I use digital calipers for everything until I taper turn butts and shafts for the last two passes. Then I use a one inch micrometer.

Rick
 
Brickcues said:
I have had several digital, hate them. About the only thing I use them for is to convert standard to metric. I have found the dial calipers to be easier on the eyes and brain. It is easier to look at the dial and say I need to take another .0287 off than to look at the digital and add and subtract to figure you are at 0.6538 and need to get to 0.625.

Just my 2 cents.

AB
Click to expand...

I would hope you're kidding... but I suspect not. If you keep a few different sizes of drill rod (bearing balls work for this too) you can simple squeeze a digital caliper down on your target size - say a .625 drill rod - and hit the "zero" button. Now, measure your existing piece of stock and you'll instantly get the amount of diameter you need to remove to get to target size.

I have a set of bronze plugs turned to various "custom" sizes that I use every day. For example, one is exactly 0.725" diameter. When I want this tenon size I follow the above method and never have to do any adding or subtracting at all. Same trick can be use for internal diameters as well.

And, as someone else mentioned above, if I use the same caliper for mating operations (tenon and socket, for example) I get as accurate results as I ever have with a high quality dial calipers.

TW
 
I have a pair of Starrett dial calipers that belonged to my late grandfather. They are accurate as it gets,but because of where they came from I don't take them out in public.

The pair I use are Mitutoyo Absolute digitals. They are also accurate as you can get,and didn't cost me SHIT. This is the story.

LONG before I went to machine shop school,I was working at an injection molding place that made buckets. I was a team leader,and had to go take samples from all the machines on my line to Quality Control every 2 hours,or as needed.

One night,I took my last samples in,and waited on the report. I was looking around and saw a pair of these Mitutoyos on a shelf. I also saw the QC supervisor using a pair that still had stickers on them they were so new.

As she finished up the report I needed,I picked up the ones on the shelf,and asked what was wrong with them,and she said they were BROKE and I could have them. As I was walking towards the door,I pushed the button on the readout,and they LIT UP. I put them in my pocket and never even broke stride on my way to clock out.

I got home and found out they must have gotten dropped on the concrete floor,and got dinged,but without ever resetting the zero,they repeatedly closed to .002. A jeweler's loupe and a diamond grit nail fixed that,and I got them to zero eventually. They never get out of whack more than .0005 now,so I don't reset it unless they've been off for a while.

Just starting out in machine shop school,I wasn't allowed to use digitals in the shop until I could accurately read both VERNIER and dial calipers,due to the instructor's personal beliefs. It worked too. I got consistent with my pressure,and trust my measurements even with dials.

Now,maybe the quality is still the same,but maybe not,but these Mitus I have are the least battery-sucking devices I've ever encountered except nice watches. I've had these for 13 years or so,and even after leaving them on for weeks at a time,and I just recently changed the 357 (common watch battery) for just the 2nd time.

They can be had for under 100 now,but when I got mine they were still 179.00 on sale at Enco. Tommy D.
 
I like the digitalis because I can zero them at any size to measure differential dimensions without worrying about math errors, and I once tutored college math.
 
measuring diamonds

i have a few expensive and cheap. i use my mitutouo to measure diamonds at my jewelry store, if they are good enough for diamonds then they should do the job on cues.

not just calipers, but i think its hard to build quality items, using crappy tools. i have always bought the best i could afford
 
Stick with Mitutoyo. Buy a good used one on e-bay. You will be happier for it. The cheapies will work but they are rough. Now if you sell your work cheap then buy cheap. IMO this is not the area to be cheap. However if others are using then then yes buy the cheap ones.
 
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I've been through expensive Swiss dial calipers, cheap Chinese dial calipers, 4 Mitutoyo digimatics and am now using a few Enco digital calipers that were around $30 apiece and am as happy as I can be. What they lack is a way to plug the caliper into a device I don't have, can't identify and don't need.
 
Mc2 said:
Stick with Mitutoyo. Buy a good used one on e-bay. You will be happier for it. The cheapies will work but they are rough. Now if you sell your work cheap then buy cheap. IMO this is not the area to be cheap. However if others are using then then yes buy the cheap ones.
Click to expand...

I agree, I am going to get another top of the line dial caliper, it is what I am used to. The one I broke I must have had for like 15 years so I certainly got my moneys worth out of it.. I think I am going to order Digital also just to try it out, I never had one.

I can actually get along with a micrometer for a while but my wife can't use one at all. She can't seem to read it and It is a trick to handle and adjust it with one hand as you hold what you are measuring with the other. I am glad I posted the question, I was going to go cheap and I know I would not have been happy.
 
macguy said:
I agree, I am going to get another top of the line dial caliper, it is what I am used to. The one I broke I must have had for like 15 years so I certainly got my moneys worth out of it.. I think I am going to order Digital also just to try it out, I never had one.

I can actually get along with a micrometer for a while but my wife can't use one at all. She can't seem to read it and It is a trick to handle and adjust it with one hand as you hold what you are measuring with the other. I am glad I posted the question, I was going to go cheap and I know I would not have been happy.
Click to expand...



This is how you hold mics. Do it a few time and it becomes natural. Basically the pinky and palm are the only thing holding the mic. When you get in to large items to measure, there usually stationary and you can "two hand it"

3_fig12.jpg
 
YES, but buy a NEW one!

macguy said:
I agree, I am going to get another top of the line dial caliper, it is what I am used to. The one I broke I must have had for like 15 years so I certainly got my moneys worth out of it.. I think I am going to order Digital also just to try it out, I never had one.

I can actually get along with a micrometer for a while but my wife can't use one at all. She can't seem to read it and It is a trick to handle and adjust it with one hand as you hold what you are measuring with the other. I am glad I posted the question, I was going to go cheap and I know I would not have been happy.
Click to expand...

IMO and with my "few" years of experiences I've made as a salesman of proffesional tools, I absolutely agree that you should buy a digital caliper only from MITUTOYO! But I sugest you for 2 good reasons to buy a NEW one!
1. If you buy a used one you can't know how the preowner handled it. If it felt down to floor once or even a few times. If he took care of it and especially if he can't give you the facture/receipt with the original life long lasting warranty! So you wont get no warranty at all! Do you realy want to risk all that, just to save maybe 20 - max. 40$...
2. Buy a new one & you get no risk at all. You get an absolut new precision instrument with a life long warranty! And if you take a little care of it and keep it free from dust it willl also last a life long!
P.S. Even some of our best Swiss Watch Brands are using MITUTOYO measuring instruments in their End controlling!!
 
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