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I have always been preferential to dial calipers because finding the tolerance differential is as simple as telling time on an analog clock.
One advantage with dial calipers is that they are more likely to remain in a "self-zeroing" state, whereas digital calipers have to be zeroed when you turn it on. One thing to remember though, regardless of what you choose, if there is any debris on the face, your caliper will be off.
Try this experiment: turn on a digital caliper, clean the faces and zero it. Now open it up and rub your thumb against the edge of the jaws. Close the jaws and see if it's reading zero. Odds are good that it will read 0.0005" to 0.001". All you have left behind are skin cells. A dial caliper will most likely be instantly and visually calibrated the moment you close the jaws.
It would be good to have experience with all three of them, though.
I personally use a 6" inch and 12" dial caliper for measuring part features and a 24" Vernier Caliper for checking overall dimensions on formed parts.
As far as brands go, I like Mitutoyo, Starrett, Tesa, and especially, Brown and Sharpe.
One advantage with dial calipers is that they are more likely to remain in a "self-zeroing" state, whereas digital calipers have to be zeroed when you turn it on. One thing to remember though, regardless of what you choose, if there is any debris on the face, your caliper will be off.
Try this experiment: turn on a digital caliper, clean the faces and zero it. Now open it up and rub your thumb against the edge of the jaws. Close the jaws and see if it's reading zero. Odds are good that it will read 0.0005" to 0.001". All you have left behind are skin cells. A dial caliper will most likely be instantly and visually calibrated the moment you close the jaws.
It would be good to have experience with all three of them, though.
I personally use a 6" inch and 12" dial caliper for measuring part features and a 24" Vernier Caliper for checking overall dimensions on formed parts.
As far as brands go, I like Mitutoyo, Starrett, Tesa, and especially, Brown and Sharpe.
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