Which digital calipers?

[YorkshireMartin]

The time has come when I need to get down to the real nitty gritty of accuracy. My trusty starret ruler is accurate and graduated to .25, but for the stuff I want to attempt, I really need some quality calipers.

I'm not an engineer ((if that even needed saying..!) and I've no previous knowledge of them. My dad used to have a set of vernier calipers by moore and wright, but these have long since disappeared.

I've been looking at the Mitutoyo range but I'm not sure which would be best for all around joinery and machine calibration. Lengths and so on. There seems to be a lot of different models and I'm not technical enough to understand the differences.

I gather Mitutoyo are the ones to go for if I can pin down a model, but if anyone has any alternative suggestions, I'd be more than happy to hear them? Failing that, which set of Mitutoyo would you experts recommend?

Many thanks,

Martin

 

[porker]

It's up to you but I've got a few cheap pairs from Lidl for less than a tenner each. Plenty of people have checked them against more expensive makes like Mitutoyo etc and there's basically no difference in accuracy. Probably the dearer ones are smoother to use and sometimes the cheap ones eat batteries (although neither of mine have had a problem and still on original batteries at least 3 years old). Easily accurate to 1/2 a thou. which I would have thought was plenty good enough for woodworking and machine setup. I use mine for metalwork but for extra accuracy 1/10ths of thou I still use micrometers.

 

[Cordy]

Buy from Lidl when on offer
They are highly rated, very accurate and the battery lasts and lasts

 

[Peter Sefton]

This review might help.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1yqZx_FNbSs

Cheers Peter

 

[MattRoberts]

They may be accurate, but they're crap quality. I have a pair.

It switches on the second it's touched, and it needs zeroing each time you use it. Mine also needs to be snapped back into place on occasion, as if the plastic part is coming loose.

I'd be happy to pay more for a more robust pair of anyone has a recommendation?

 

[Monkey Mark]

How accurate are you needing them to be? Mitutoyo are certainly a fantastic make, but personally for woodwork I would just choose a cheap set.
Ok, so I'm tight anyway, but with the level of accuracy needed for most tasks I'd rather save the money and spend it on something else. I use a cheap Chinese set and when tested against the Mitutoyo ones at work they held up surprising well although it only reads to .001 rather than the .0001 that the far more expensive ones do, but I don't see how that's ever going to make any difference for me.

Sorry if this doesn't really help at all, it's just that I often want to get the best I can, but it's not always necessary and I need to remind myself of that.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

Gents, I'd considered it but having looked around I've seen that results from that end of the market can be very hit and miss. Lots of people reporting odd issues with chinese made calipers but some customers are very happy. I'm sure the majority of them are fine, as you say, but I'm working with wood which cost several hundred quid a time so the cost of the calipers is inconsequential over the long term. I'd like to have some comeback against the manufacturer too, if things go wrong.

That was my reasoning behind it.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

They may be accurate, but they're rubbish quality. I have a pair.

It switches on the second it's touched, and it needs zeroing each time you use it. Mine also needs to be snapped back into place on occasion, as if the plastic part is coming loose.

I'd be happy to pay more for a more robust pair of anyone has a recommendation?

Which ones are you referring to Matt, the Mitutoyo or Lidl?

 

[YorkshireMartin]

How accurate are you needing them to be? Mitutoyo are certainly a fantastic make, but personally for woodwork I would just choose a cheap set.
Ok, so I'm tight anyway, but with the level of accuracy needed for most tasks I'd rather save the money and spend it on something else. I use a cheap Chinese set and when tested against the Mitutoyo ones at work they held up surprising well although it only reads to .001 rather than the .0001 that the far more expensive ones do, but I don't see how that's ever going to make any difference for me.

Sorry if this doesn't really help at all, it's just that I often want to get the best I can, but it's not always necessary and I need to remind myself of that.

Not more than 0.05 of a mm. But the real key issue is maintaining that accuracy over time, which is something I can't see the cheaper calipers doing. It's a guess, but I think the steel must be of a much lower grade and as such I'd expect them to wear far quicker and start to become sloppy?

It's not next week that really matters, it's in a couple of years. When I pick them up I want to know they are accurate without having to calibrate them too frequently.

 

[Jacob]

For all woodwork apps you need no more than a cheap but reasonable quality vernier such as this. Accurate to .02 mm or so

http://uk.farnell.com/ck-tools/t3451/ve ... dp/2311583

They are totally reliable (if you don't hit them with a hammer) and last forever. Actually much easier to use and read than the more expensive engineers type and come to no harm just kicking about in a tool box.

I have both but never get the shiny one out of it's box.

PS avoid digital - cost more and will go wrong. There's a knack to using a vernier but it's easily picked up.

"but I think the steel must be of a much lower grade and as such I'd expect them to wear far quicker and start to become sloppy?" I've had mine for 30 years or so. No signs of wear or deterioration. They don't become sloppy - you tighten the knob as necessary.

 

[n0legs]

I have the older model of this one in 150mm.
Never let me down with any battery issues and is very accurate, might not be M&W accurate but bloody close.
https://www.toolorders.co.uk/measuring- ... less_steel

 

[RogerP]

Be aware that there are fake Mitutoyo on the market.

http://www.ukantipiracy.co.uk/tools/fakemitutoyotools.html

 

[YorkshireMartin]

Be aware that there are fake Mitutoyo on the market.

http://www.ukantipiracy.co.uk/tools/fakemitutoyotools.html

Indeed Roger, seems to be a lot of them too.

Further to that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KnDype-j3hk

My favourite Canadian tosspot discussing this very issue.

 

[MattRoberts]

Which ones are you referring to Matt, the Mitutoyo or Lidl?

Sorry, I meant these ones (which appear to be rebranded in abundance)

 

[RossJarvis]

Having taught people how to use these things I'd always say never trust them to be accurate, always check them every time you use them. The simplest way to do this is to close them up and check they read 0.00 In addition to this you can check to something of a known accurate dimension. E.g. a piece of metal accurately machined to say, 25mm. Every time you use the callipers, check to the "gauge block" to see that it reads correctly.

The biggest cause of error is that people don't hold them correctly to the thing being measured, or there is some dirt on something. Always clean them, check they're not dented or burred and practise holding them square to the object being measured. Always measure the object at least twice to confirm the measurement. You also need to know what are the measuring surfaces as they don't measure very close to the blade, where there's an inset. The tips go out of true easily too.

With these tips, even if the display is out you can adjust the numbers if it is "accurately out" :shock:

 

[graduate_owner]

I have a pair from Axminster and they seem fine, but if more accuracy is needed I use my Moore and Wright micrometer. The calipers are certainly fine for woodwork - especially my sort of woodwork (a bit rough)

K

 

[RobinBHM]

I have a mitutoyo and a budget one.

Ive found the budget one fine, solid and accurate. From memory I think it was about £20. Good enough for woodwork.

I went to an engineers recently to get a spindle machined, I noticed he used a micrometer for measuring not a digital device, which tells me electronics maybe convenient but not as reliable or high presicion like a mechanical device.

They arent these exact ones, but look the same
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Digital-Calipe ... CT314K8EWH

I expect they all come out of the same Chiwanese factory

I think the ones with metal body are better than the plastic ones which can flex.

 

[marcros]

My favourite set are the igaging 4" set that I have. I got them from Peter Sefton. Decent balance between quality and price- to be honest, I can't see how a more expensive one could be much better than these. They are a marked improvement on the lidl set that I have. £30 or so from memory.

 

[YorkshireMartin]

Gents thank you for all the responses. I'll have a good think about it.

 

[Phil Pascoe]

I use an ex WD M&W vernier I picked up for a fiver as no matter what when I came to use calipers the batteries were flat, often after being used only once. I gave up after three of them.