Vernier Calipers | GTAMotorcycle.com

Vernier Calipers

N

nobbie48

Well-known member
Site Supporter
Not M/C specific but digital electronic calipers are easy to use. However the cheapie ones I've gone through have reliability issues. Mitutoyo are 10X the price of PA or CTC branded. The off brands seem to last a year or two and then act up or eat batteries.

Batteries are cheap but one must remember to have them on hand. I'm not doing engine rebuilds or life sustaining operations.

Thoughts?
 
nobbie48 said:
Not M/C specific but digital electronic calipers are easy to use. However the cheapie ones I've gone through have reliability issues. Mitutoyo are 10X the price of PA or CTC branded. The off brands seem to last a year or two and then act up or eat batteries.

Batteries are cheap but one must remember to have them on hand. I'm not doing engine rebuilds or life sustaining operations.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
I like these as a middle ground. No batteries to die. Reliable and fast to use. If I was making my living with them, I would use something better but I haven't had any issues. Some slight weirdness to accommodate metric and imperial (metric advances 2mm/rev).

Lots of things these days are designed in metric so having both scales helps when trying to draw existing parts.

6" Combination Dial Caliper - Lee Valley Tools

Discover the 6" Combination Dial Caliper. Buy this product now on our Lee Valley online store.
www.leevalley.com www.leevalley.com

88N6205-6-inch-combination-dial-caliper-i-01-r.jpg


I've used verniers in the past but I am slower with them and more likely to make a mistake. Mainly they came up when I was working at a machine shop and we needed to measure something large. A 24" vernier was very helpful at the time. I don't even know if a 24" digital was available then but if it was it would have been many thousands.
 
Last edited:
Way back when I serviced industrial compressors and vacuum pumps it was dial only, I had digital ones as they were "high tech" back then but of course when I needed them the battery was always dead.. If I had to use a dial one today, I'm not 100% confident in my abilities to read it correctly.
I always used Mitutoyo and used to buy directly from Mitutoyo Canada Inc. in Mississauga.
 
I use my calipers pretty infrequently so plain vernier is good enough for me. They will always work when I pick them up
 
These are the Bronze Standard in my garage, I probably have one in every tool drawer and on every bench. Unless you're machining stuff, they are pretty good for my measuring needs +/- 0.25mm. New they are good to about .05mm.


images

FIL was an engineer, he left me his 60s-era Starret vernier caliper and thickness micrometers. I used them years ago to measure film and yarn thicknesses when I made textiles, last time I remember using them is years ago.
 

Mitutoyo 500-196-30 AOS Absolute Digimatic Caliper, 0 to 6"

Mitutoyo 500-196-30 AOS Absolute Digimatic Caliper, 0 to 6". Great savings PLUS Free Shipping when you order online at ITM.com. In stock, fast shipping!
www.itm.com www.itm.com
This is not expensive. A dinner for two cost more, these days.

Mitutoyo 530-104 Series 530 Vernier Scale Caliper, 0 to 6", imperial/metric

Mitutoyo 530-104 Series 530 Vernier Scale Caliper, 0 to 6", imperial/metric. Great savings and get fast delivery when you buy now from ITM.com.
www.itm.com www.itm.com
I rely on those for a long time... 90 bucks
 
Just to be THAT guy... the only VERNIER caliper here is Mike's. The "Vernier" is the scale printed on the caliper. A slide rule has a Vernier.
The others are dial calipers and digital calipers.

I have a bunch of calipers. Dial, digital and vernier... and they all have their virtues, and you get used to what you have. For general all round use the easiest to use is digital, with the added bonus of doing SAE to metric conversion by flipping the switch.
Doesn't matter what type you have, they're all pretty accurate. The Mitutoyo Absolute does/maps "ZERO" differently which is a pretty cool feature (which makes repeatability better), and the batteries last FOREVER... which is good because they don't time out and turn themselves off like every other one does
I use SAE dial calipers more than the others... cuz that's what I am used to... and they don't need batteries and I can fix them when I drop them. Expensive calipers break just as good as cheap ones when you drop them.
 
For the last 20+ years I've used a Mitutoyo 12" dial caliper at work, high end CNC tool & die shop. Never dropped and calibrated once a month. Good choice for me.
Some of the new guys have bought Insize which the boss seems happy with. A good choice for home imo.
 
just-me said:
For the last 20+ years I've used a Mitutoyo 12" dial caliper at work, high end CNC tool & die shop. Never dropped and calibrated once a month. Good choice for me.
Some of the new guys have bought Insize which the boss seems happy with. A good choice for home imo.
Click to expand...
Calibrated as in in-house spot check or full certificate every month?
 
My latest (Mastercraft) was acting up, switching to metric at inopportune moments so I sprayed it with contact cleaner and that got me some more time.

It went wonky again and I decided to take it apart because, why not. I peeled the back label off and used some lacquer thinners to remove the glue and without taking it further apart it started working again.

The problem was obviously the label.

but I'm going to look for a sale on a six inch model Mitutoyo.
 
I have a pair of calipers inheirited from my Dad. I like the dial since there are no battery issues but the digital is nice because you can take a measurment on one piece hit "zero" and then see how much difference there is to the next part without any math.
 
nobbie48 said:
Not M/C specific but digital electronic calipers are easy to use. However the cheapie ones I've gone through have reliability issues. Mitutoyo are 10X the price of PA or CTC branded. The off brands seem to last a year or two and then act up or eat batteries.

Batteries are cheap but one must remember to have them on hand. I'm not doing engine rebuilds or life sustaining operations.

Thoughts?
Click to expand...
Starrett are and likely always will be the best measuring tool, but the cost is heavy. Mitutoyo is also higher quality and are usually more affordable than Starrett.
I have a small fortune in measuring tools from my machinist days 35 years ago.
I found dial and digital displays often get in the way of the measuring process.
A regular basic vernier caliper is most robust, just learn to use them.
if you're going make a living (machinist or tool and die) then buy the top tier.
if you use it once a year buy cheepies.
 
I have the CTC one and have had it for many many years.

What I found, there is a case design flaw on many of the cheap ones that can press the power button when the case is closed--and it causes all kinds of problems including but not limited to short battery life. I modified the foam in the case to prevent this from happening, no problems since.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top Bottom