Dial Calipers

[old iron]

Did a little video on dial calipers comparing the cheap to the expensive and a look at my sons guitar building shop ,hope you enjoy,

 

[ZUG]

Good video and information. For the average muzzle loading home shop work any Chinese made caliper will do. Harbor Freight has them for under $20 and when you drop one you don't cry - you just replace it. I have a few HF ones spread about the shop. If I want accuracy, I grab the Starett 4-place mike. For Christmas I bought myself a new digital 6" caliper sold by Shars <Home> - Aventor 6" DPS IP54 Electronic Caliper. They are rated very good for the price and will not break the bank. The DPS models have a neat function compared to the non-DPS models.

 

[Sam squanch]

If you want a digital, get the best. And treat it gently. Cheap digitals don’t measure correctly after a long time or being dropped.

 

[DOUBLEDEUCE 1]

Interesting video !

 

[The Crisco Kid]

I have a 20 year old Chinese dial caliper that still is nearly as accurate as as expensive micrometer. I've had another that fell apart not long after I bought it. My neighbor had a Starrett caliper that failed but Starrett replaced it. I guess you just take your chances.

 

[TechMoron]

My Brown & Sharpe is rugged enough and more accurate than the Mitutoyo I had before it.

 

[ZUG]

For general "Joe Blow" garage work those budget digital calipers are fine. Most of you will only need something that will measure to a three-place decimal. If you are making parts that require something in the area of four place decimal then get a GOOD mic and be good to it

 

[chawbeef]

I have experienced the pain of dropping my Starrett on the shop floor. I could not afford another so bought a cheap digital caliper from Canadian Tire store and found it to be a reliable tool for my shop...........................Chawbeef

 

[Rifleman1776]

My 25 year old Draper caliper has been doing well all this time and is spot on with my expensive micrometers. However, not being a machinist I note the comment about reading more than three decimal points. Dunno. Never been there and probably never will.

 

[BJHabermehl]

Did a little video on dial calipers comparing the cheap to the expensive and a look at my sons guitar building shop ,hope you enjoy,

I use dial calipers very often in my shop building guns. Any time I pick up a drill bit before drilling a hole for tapping I check size with calipers. Lots of other uses too. I’m a machinist by background and early training. I use then often for precision lay out work on breech tangs etc. lay out for barrel lug pins too. I’m certain I’d miss a lot more lugs if I didn’t have them for the lay out work. BJH

 

[user 34300]

I have nice verneirs and dial calipers I never use. Now I use Mitutoyo digital calipers with the carbide inserts. The ability to zero them at any point on the dial is a big help when working toward some size. The carbide inserts make them useful as a marking gauge. Having accurate OD, ID and depth measurements in one tool is excellent. I bought mine at a sale from a machine shop that was closing. I like them so much that I got the Mitutoyo digital micrometer. Both are work the retail cost. With all measurement tools it is important to know if they are accurate. A few gauge blocks is a good addition to you kit.

 

[Capt. Jas.]

I use a Starrett and also have some vernier tools which i.csn hardly see. Most all those calipers will be accurate enough for government work that calipers should be used for. For precision I go to my mics.

 

[Johnny Tremain]

About 20 years ago I bought 3 of Harbor freight's calibers. (imported)
I am using the first one I took out of the box, the other two are in a box of tools somewhere, still in their original packaging.

One thing I did learn is to remove the battery after use. They seem to die a lot faster when left in.
I also have an RCBS analog caliber from the 70s. It stays in the collectors box.

 

[bud in pa]

I have a dial caliper from Midway that I've been using for about 20 years and a Proto micrometer that I bought in the early 80's. I have used them for reloading unmentionables with no problems.

 

[Jungle Dave]

Mine was made in Switzerland, but I'll never know by who. Going on more than 30 years with them now. It's like a part of me. I actually wanted to look for new, and did, but am so scared of anything new giving me a hard time, especially with the guns I do. I trust these, and if I got new I would have to get used to them, and that might hinder for a time how I work, it's a brain thing when you have a 5-figure gun in front of you. Going to digital or anything like that would definitely throw me for a loop, I'd be wondering if the numbers were right, all of that kind of nightmarish scenario.

 

[billraby]

I have found that for gun building my calipers work just as good if they have the battery in or not most of the time. There is only a few times where I even care about a specific measurement. I usually use calipers more like dividers instead of actually measuring anything.