billw
The Tattooed One
So the passaround starts. I hope this first review sets a good tone!
Here's the tool in question, it's well-weighted so sits comfortably in your hand without feeling cumbersome. It's very easy to move the calipers using the small wheel on the underside. The battery seen is a spare, there's already one in the tool when it arrives, protected by a plastic slip to preserve its life.
My first test was to remove the slip of paper that was between the calipers and then close it again, sure enough it recognised the absence of the thickness of the paper.
Next up, I tested it on a few pieces of timber I had lying around. Random tests on 18mm plywood measured anything from 17.92 to 18.26, not the greatest test but was interested to see how consistent a sheet actually is. I bought some PAR a while back for some projects, this one was ordered to be 52mm, and hasn't been sanded or otherwise touched except for gluing it up. Again, nice to see that the company who supplied it did a good job. A couple of other pieces tested proved equally as accurate.
Finally, a test against something that should be accurate to a much greater degree, a Veritas square. The result.....
Can't argue with that! Although OK when it was snug it said 80.01 and I squeezed it a bit
.
Positives - lightweight, sturdy, very clear display, screen not overly reflective, the tightening screw on top needs literally no pressure once it connects to be very firmly held
Negatives - the wheel underneath sometimes slips without sufficient pressure (not a huge negative by any stretch though), accuracy obviously needs the tool to be at 90 degrees to whatever you're measuring and this can often by somewhat subjective when you're down to 1/100th of a mm.
Overall it's a nice piece of kit, however with my OCD I think I'd become horribly obsessed with such accurate measurements rather than being able to cope with tolerances - if it did things to the nearest 0.25 or 0.5mm it would probably work better for hobbyists? I suppose not worrying too much about accuracy relieves you of the worry of whether the tool is aligned properly.
Thanks to @Peter Sefton for the opportunity, I'll have it in the post to the next person within the next 24 hours.
Here's the tool in question, it's well-weighted so sits comfortably in your hand without feeling cumbersome. It's very easy to move the calipers using the small wheel on the underside. The battery seen is a spare, there's already one in the tool when it arrives, protected by a plastic slip to preserve its life.
My first test was to remove the slip of paper that was between the calipers and then close it again, sure enough it recognised the absence of the thickness of the paper.
Next up, I tested it on a few pieces of timber I had lying around. Random tests on 18mm plywood measured anything from 17.92 to 18.26, not the greatest test but was interested to see how consistent a sheet actually is. I bought some PAR a while back for some projects, this one was ordered to be 52mm, and hasn't been sanded or otherwise touched except for gluing it up. Again, nice to see that the company who supplied it did a good job. A couple of other pieces tested proved equally as accurate.
Finally, a test against something that should be accurate to a much greater degree, a Veritas square. The result.....
Can't argue with that! Although OK when it was snug it said 80.01 and I squeezed it a bit
.Positives - lightweight, sturdy, very clear display, screen not overly reflective, the tightening screw on top needs literally no pressure once it connects to be very firmly held
Negatives - the wheel underneath sometimes slips without sufficient pressure (not a huge negative by any stretch though), accuracy obviously needs the tool to be at 90 degrees to whatever you're measuring and this can often by somewhat subjective when you're down to 1/100th of a mm.
Overall it's a nice piece of kit, however with my OCD I think I'd become horribly obsessed with such accurate measurements rather than being able to cope with tolerances - if it did things to the nearest 0.25 or 0.5mm it would probably work better for hobbyists? I suppose not worrying too much about accuracy relieves you of the worry of whether the tool is aligned properly.
Thanks to @Peter Sefton for the opportunity, I'll have it in the post to the next person within the next 24 hours.
