Vernier Digital callipers?

[Tom Kitta]

Go to aliexpress and get some 6" digitals for like 17 CAD or so. You can get multiple pairs. Against gage block they are roughly at most +-0.001 9 out of 10 times. I would not be shocked if with resetting them to zero and better pressure control it would be 10 out of 10.

Main difference between these and something better for $150 or $200 is "Brand" as well as battery use and less sharp edges (i.e. Chinese do not clean up their stuff).

The latest batch from China seems to be absolutes - i.e. they will hold their measurement over repeat openings and closings.

I see zero point of buying old stuff from Japan, latest China stuff for much less is far more accurate - I.e. I would trust more brand new Chinese calipers then 30 year old ones from Japan.

Since batteries are cheap to replace & sharp corners do not bother me the choice is easy.

One has to remember that calipers are for "rough approximate measurement" and for more precise measurement you should use micrometers. Most of the error when using these is not with the caliper but the user applying uneven pressure and different positions of the caliper and part.

Note that above is for digital Chinese calipers - they seem to be far more challenged making mechanical things over in China then electronic - mechanical == problem, electronic == great. Same thing holds for DRO - I have no idea why anyone would buy expensive DRO from say Japan or US when you can get a cheap DRO from China in deluxe edition with 1 um scales and touch LCD for like $400 or max $500. Even for industrial purpose where DRO will work 8h a day or more every day.

 

[historicalarms]

I had an expensive Mit when I was still working and had a bank account...It was a good tool...but I also had 1/2 dozen of the Busy Bee-CT-KMS spread out throughout my environment where ever I might need one but the MIT was at my main counter where i did most of my quality control (loosely speaking). Of all the less expensive calipers I have used, only one of them gave questionable readings when compared to the MIT unit, it was constantly .001 to the small (still usable but I had to allow for the error every time). Every other "box store" brand was constantly within .0005.....that is until I dropped the MIT unit on the concrete floor, it never gave a consistent re-measure ever again...you might say "well that's understandable" and you would be right, but the bugaboo here is that I have dropped the "supposedly" sub par units on the same floor...and every one of them worked perfectly afterward.
With all my calipers that I use, I carry a known dia polished copper jacketed bullet (bullets are optically digital measured & concentricity checked at the factory now) in my pocket along with my change that If I have any reason to question one of them ,I just pop that slug out and test the caliper.

 

[Dabbler]

I paid 16$ for my first iGauging and 29$ for the second. Even though they are way better than the cheap offshore ones, the Mitutoyo absolute is a big step up from the iGauging ones.

 

[PeterT]

The other issue, that others have already touched on, is end use. There are so many ways to mis-measure things & all calipers have the same limitations as a function of their design. Yes you can poke the center slider down a hole & get a X.0005" number. Is it as good as a depth mic which has a perpendicular base & a micrometer barrel? Probably not. Yes you can span the inside of a bore. Would I trust that over snap gauges or inside mic for a final bearing fit, no again. The head depth, mostly I use for scribing lines like a square except I can do an odd decimal or switch to metric. Its convenient but scribing & making something to a scribe line is not super precise. I see people taking measurements OD turning all the lathe & guilty myself but only when roughing or large to small diameter spans. But on the final cuts where it counts a micrometer is a more controlled OD device because it typically always has a clutch for more consistent feedback, finer resolution barrel vs +/- 0.0005" on vernier. Personal beef when I see people taking their good vernier & using the jaws as a scribe. Its their tool not mine but its not good for the jaws or locking screw & BTW its not even accurate due to parallax. But great application for the 20$ cheapos. Then there is - can you make something to within half thou and with the proper finish with the tools on hand? Its done all the time but its often not as easy as it sounds.

So there's lots of ways to skin the cat. Buy mid range & use the extra cash for a different tool. Or buy once for life as they say & maintain the same philosophy for the next tools knowing it will take longer to assemble what you ultimately want. Its really kind of a personal choice & more about what kind of work you are doing & aspire to do. In my case, pretty much everything I bought including some decent Fowlers has slowly fallen apart. Bezel popped off the DTI. Indicator has an oddball stem or back face so didnt marry well with mag base. Mic started to feel gritty (cheesy ratchet mechanism). Nothing horrible but but also didn't see hard work either. I keep them because sometimes good to have in dirtier or rougher environments.

 

[6.5 Fan]

I have a pair of digital calipers, a early mitutoyo set that are great and a set from P.A. which are accurate but eat batteries up. From reading i have done some of the cheaper ones don't full shut down when turned off, Never had a problem with the Mitutoyo even in a frozen shop but the P.A. ones i have to take out the battery or in 2 months she is dead.

 

[Tom O]

On the plus side though Princess Auto sells bulk battery packs fairly cheap.

 

[Dabbler]

So I got my new caliper, and it is a joy to use: silky smooth, and it seems to be very repeatable. I can get to the half thou on my gauge blocks every time (that I tried).

A nice tool is a joy to use....

 

[Richard Tymko]

Just a followup to this string, I decided NOT to go with the mitutoyo. After reading several reviews and comments and still trying to stay within my price range of $150, I settled on the . . .
Brown and Sharpe 950011701 for $153. Man what an improvement from my Princess Auto model. The smoothness of movement and the ABS is a game changer. WHO KNEW!

Still breaking old habits of having to open then close and then reset the zero, but very happy with my choice.

I don't know how much value my observations are worth, not having any experience with multiple styles and models of callipers, but, for what it is worth...

Best choice ever!

 

[Dabbler]

As a followup to my post #16, It seems that KBC is looking to expand their number of branches; Calgary is on the list, but perhaps not the first new one.

@Richard Tymko Did you buy locally to you, or did you order and ship?