Dial caliper (digital)

[Don Y]

Recommendations for a "quality" digital dial caliper? Not looking for something gold-plated. But, also not looking for something that WON'T be working 20+ years hence!

[Don Wiss]

If you want quality, then Mitutoyo is the brand:

Add dial to the search to remove the digital ones.

Don.

(e-mail link at home page bottom).

[mike]

The lifetime of a precision device is critically dependent on how you treat it.

I've had good service from a cheap Harbor Freight caliper. Problem is that the battery is always dead. Reviews suggest that's a problem with many of the "less than top tier" devices. I have to take out the battery when I'm not using it. I have more than one, so it's not a single defective unit. I wouldn't call it a serious problem if I used it a lot. I don't, so it's always dead.

I can buy a lot of batteries for the $100 difference in price. I'm far more likely to drop it than it failing because of bad design/workmanship.

My Mitutoyo has an extra half-digit of readout. And the battery is always working.

I like to verify what I say, so I turned on the Mitutoyo. Battery dead! But I've had it three years. No idea how old the battery was. Good enough.

[notbob]

There are 3 basic types of direct-read calipers. Vernier, dial, and digital. Vernier calipers use a vernier scale and have NO dial.

Digital calipers use an electronic digital readout and require batteries. It also has NO dial. A dial caliper is completely mechanical (NO battery), like the vernier, and the measurement is converted, mechanically, to a dial with a rotating needle to indicate measurements.

The only folks still making professional quality dial calipers are Starrett, Mititoyo, and Brown & Sharp. None are cheap. My best dial caliper is an old B&S. I was not aware they were still being made, but:

....you might also look for Scherr-Tumico brand. Not sure they still exist.

Vernier and digital calipers have NO dial, but are usually much cheaper. My first set of calipers were vernier. Accurate enough, but almost impossible to read when one's eyesight starts to go. I've also seen all-plastic vernier and digital calipers. I'd avoid these. Quality dial calipers can still be had, but they are not cheap. I've seen cheapo (specially plastic) digital and vernier calipers for under $10!

You might look at General Tool. They can be found in most US store chains, like True Value, Walmart, etc. Relatively inexpensive tools, but usually of decent usable quality. I think my first vernier calipers might have been General Tool. They were fine when I had 20-something eyes. ;)

Good luck, nb --geezer mechanic/machinist

[Frank]

Makes you wonder, are there folks that can't tell time on a clock with a dial?

[Tony Hwang]

Ditto, I got one from Amazon for ~$20.00 takes one SR44 Battery which does not seem to last long. Came in a sturdy hard plastic case, accuracy is very good. If I don't drop it, it should last my life time.

[Don Y]

Thanks!

[Jon Danniken]

I keep a set of the cheap plastic ones in the car, and in the shop; they come in handy for quick measurements, or for going to the yard to buy stock.

Of course I have a digital set (accurate to 0.0005) in the shop for when I need the accuracy, and for layout.

Jon

[Stormin Mormon]

But, of course. Rotary phones are good for blank looks.

I'll paraphrase a joke someone on this list wrote: I hollered at a bunch of misbehaved kids and told em to stop. They just stood there and kept blinking.

[Micky]

Check out Calipers-R-Us. They have the cheap plastic ones, as well as cotton and rayon ones.