Dial calipers for DIY woodworking

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mdf

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#228716 18-Jan-2018 21:54

I'm after some analogue dial calipers. I'm getting more and more into wood working and need something pretty reliable down to about 0.02 mm (which seems to be standard). I've got a set of digital calipers but suspect that they aren't particularly accurate.

I've got no idea what I'm looking for in terms of price vs quality. Prices seem to vary wildly (I can't justify $300). Any recommendations?

Jase2985

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#1943222 19-Jan-2018 05:48

Mitutoyo are they best but not cheap, anywhere from $150-300

why not get digital ones? so much faster

mdf

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#1943509 19-Jan-2018 13:35

Jase2985:

Mitutoyo are they best but not cheap, anywhere from $150-300

why not get digital ones? so much faster

The current digital ones don't seem to be that accurate (e.g. I have to keep zeroing it each time I return to close). Better quality digital ones might solve that, but at least with analogue ones I can take a common sense reading directing.

1101

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#1943543 19-Jan-2018 14:15

needing to zero isnt allways due to inaccuracy.

The chinesium brands can be really bad. I bought a cheapy (based on Youtube recommendations), just as digital is quicker than my old school (but accurate) analogue calipers
Close the calipers and you can see the gap through them , the measuring tip for some reason had also been ground back really roughly making
the tip really innacurate. Its only good for getting a rough size of unmarked drills
About as usefull as plastic calipers

So if you want accurate, get German/US/Jap made & hope its not faked .
Ch made : God knows what they'll send ya. :-)

Mistenfuru

198 posts

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#1943605 19-Jan-2018 15:42

1101:

needing to zero isnt allways due to inaccuracy.

The chinesium brands can be really bad. I bought a cheapy (based on Youtube recommendations), just as digital is quicker than my old school (but accurate) analogue calipers
Close the calipers and you can see the gap through them , the measuring tip for some reason had also been ground back really roughly making
the tip really innacurate. Its only good for getting a rough size of unmarked drills
About as usefull as plastic calipers

So if you want accurate, get German/US/Jap made & hope its not faked .
Ch made : God knows what they'll send ya. :-)

I've bought a couple of sets of engineers Calipers off Aliexpress. Have also got a Mitutoyo set. One of the Chinese ones is just as good as the Mitutoyo, the other needs to be Zero'd a bit more often than I'd like, but both are still accurate based on the Mitutoyo's reading. (And at a fifth of the price)

mdf

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#1943648 19-Jan-2018 16:57

Mistenfuru:
1101:

needing to zero isnt allways due to inaccuracy.

The chinesium brands can be really bad. I bought a cheapy (based on Youtube recommendations), just as digital is quicker than my old school (but accurate) analogue calipers
Close the calipers and you can see the gap through them , the measuring tip for some reason had also been ground back really roughly making
the tip really innacurate. Its only good for getting a rough size of unmarked drills
About as usefull as plastic calipers

So if you want accurate, get German/US/Jap made & hope its not faked .
Ch made : God knows what they'll send ya. :-)

I've bought a couple of sets of engineers Calipers off Aliexpress. Have also got a Mitutoyo set. One of the Chinese ones is just as good as the Mitutoyo, the other needs to be Zero'd a bit more often than I'd like, but both are still accurate based on the Mitutoyo's reading. (And at a fifth of the price)

Any chance of a link to the Ali store (for the good set)? My luck at picking Ali Merchants is approaching zero.

TLD

710 posts

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#1944039 20-Jan-2018 15:44

I have a set of 150mm Mitutoyo digital calipers that are probably getting on for twenty years old, and they still work perfectly well despite very heavy use over most of those years. They even get used for marking out by etching a line along an edge, which is a terrible way to treat your tools, but I am sure the boss didn't mind as it saved time. It is total reflex to wipe the pad of my thumb along both mating surfaces to check the zero — this happens every time I first pick them up, and then every ten minutes or so. The other trick is to close them on a sheet of clean paper, and pull the paper out to clean the faces. They cost £80 (pounds sterling) all those years ago.

Nowadays I can hardly believe how cheap tools have become, and even what tools have become available. I'd have killed for cut-off wheels for our angle grinders for instance. By heck they are a wonderful thing. So I have treated myself to a second set of digital calipers that I paid about NZ$40 from Bunnings (we get a ween discount for the Menz Shed I belong to). I keep the new set for machine work, and use the old set for bench work. They are probably too accurate for woodwork as working to a couple of hundredths of a mm is not a realistic with most woodwork projects, but then again, I am a toolmaker, and _not_ a carpenter. I have discovered that I actually enjoy making things from wood at least as much as from metal. BTW I started my working life as a toolmaker apprentice at Ford motor co in the UK, and worked 37 years at their Research and Product Development Centre at Dunton Essex, but most of that time in a small design group producing test instrumentation.

Trevor Dennis
Rapaura (near Blenheim)

blakamin

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#1944046 20-Jan-2018 16:09

Mine don't have a dial or digital display... All done the analogue way..

Nothing to zero either, just keep them clean.

Accurate to 0.02mm. Moore & Wright.

https://adelaidetools.com.au/moore-wright-0-150mm-precision-vernier-caliper-mw-110-15i.html

I know the website is no good for you, but it will give you an idea of price.

Edit: found my receipt. I paid $60