Best Caliper for Shop Use? Digital vs. Dial Caliper vs. Vernier-type

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bobdoering

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#22
My preference is Mitutoyo digital calipers. You can get spare parts and make repairs rather than tossing them. The value of digital is less likely to be misread, causing needless scrap, and faster to read. I don't care how old school the folks in the shop are, somebody at some time misread a vernier and scrapped parts. Generally, one good scrapping would have paid for digital....well, at least that used to be the case. The prices are really going up.

For pitiful oily, dusty, gritty environments, or places where theft or loss is an issue, you might end up with verniers. :cool:
 
N

nonaynever - 2008

#23
My 2c.

Vernier - too complex for shop floor use

Dial - some or our operators proved "prone" to a 0.1" error (a reading of say 2.795" would be read as 2.895"), provoking the change to digital to eliminate the error - was chosen as more reliable path than trying to train out the 0.1 error as with digital it's just easier for the operator.

Digital - we bought nearly 100 pieces of the $20 China version, pure ecomonics over Mitutoyo at at least 4 times the price. We have occasional dropped instruments, so again i'd rather scrap $20 (I have concerns about Mitutoyo's future with the $20 version readily available)
 

Govind

Super Moderator
Staff member
Super Moderator
#24
I think the measuring instruments have evolved reasonably in the last 20 years in terms of features and durability. 20 years back, when the first Dial calipers came, they had lots of issues with coolant, dust and other rough shop floor environments. Similarly the digital caliper used to display error “ERR” if moved little bit faster. We had to keep a master ring & block gauges to often check it is not showing major decimal errors. The jaws and knife edge used to wear out too fast.

I think Mitutoyo has always been a great shop floor tool. This is relatively inexpensive and serves shop floor purpose.I am not directly involved in inspection anymore. I have not heard about any Chinese make. I noticed from a QP advertisement that the Mitutoyo instrument has now have features for coolant proofing ideal for shop floor use. I also heard a caliper design with wireless data transfer from instrument to data storage. This is very useful when measuring complex mechanical machined surfaces with multiple dimensional features.

However when it comes to Inspection department, metrology use, I would go with Swiss Make instruments.
Regards,
Govind.
 
G

Gordon Clarke

#25
Scott, why don't I explain the disadvantages with a dial caliper (as I see them)?
Simply because I can't give a short precise answer and I'd also like to compare advantages and disadvantages between all three types - dial, vernier and digital.
Remember too that, living in Europe, I'm used to working metric so I don't know if dial calipers in inches can be as confusing as the ones that use metric are when they show 2 mm per revolution.

The biggest disavantage of a dial caliper is that it is extremely sensitive to "particles" getting lodged in the rack and pinion. I'd never use one unless I was in a squeeky clean environment :) and, when this happens, the caliper is usually useless afterwards. Then again I just don't like them as compared to the easy use of a reliable digital caliper.

I suppose the biggest problem with a digital caliper (and it's accuracy) has been user influence on measurement pressure. It's always surprised me that no (as far as I know) standard or calibration inspection, states the correct or recommended measurement pressure when measuring with a digital calier. As per DIN 862, max. allowed digital caliper length measurement inaccuracy is 0.02 mm (I'm hoping you can convert this to inches as that is what you are probably used to working with), 0.03 mm up to 600 mm and 0.04 mm up to 1000 mm. The problem with measurement pressure is now solved, although not many know this.

I was at an exhibition in Stuttgart (Germany) a few months ago and saw the new generation of very accurate, affordable digital caliper that have a display of 0.001 mm (0.00004") and an accuracy comparable to a normal (non-digital) micrometer. This combined with a caliper's obvious advantages of external. internal, depth and step measurement makes it extremely interesting.

To the moderators I apologize if this sounds as if I'm trying to "sell" something - I'm not but it is why I preferred giving an answer by e-mail to anyone interested to avoid this situation!
I simply can't give a short answer and even this is lengthy although I've only scraped the surface :)

I have a geat deal of information on this and if you are really interested, then you'll have to e-mail me and I'll send it. <SNIP by Moderator>
 
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Stijloor

Staff member
Super Moderator
#26
To the moderators I apologize if this sounds as if I'm trying to "sell" something - I'm not but it is why I preferred giving an answer by e-mail to anyone interested to avoid this situation!
I simply can't give a short answer and even this is lengthy although I've only scraped the surface :)

I have a geat deal of information on this and if you are really interested, then you'll have to e-mail me and I'll send it. <SNIP by Moderator>
Gordon,

You can simply state: "PM (private message) me if you need more information."

Do not use an email address in your posts. Email addresses attract spam bots. And we DO look out for our Fellow Covers.

Stijloor.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#27
Scott, why don't I explain the disadvantages with a dial caliper (as I see them)?
Simply because I can't give a short precise answer and I'd also like to compare advantages and disadvantages between all three types - dial, vernier and digital.
Remember too that, living in Europe, I'm used to working metric so I don't know if dial calipers in inches can be as confusing as the ones that use metric are when they show 2 mm per revolution.

<snip>
You seem to continually miss the point of a public DISCUSSION forum, Gordon!

The point is the ANSWERS need to be public for ALL future readers. The answers also need to be public so they can be challenged, if need be, by other experts.

It may seem a very generous offer on your part to provide an email address, but we have no way of knowing whether your offer will still be open after dozens or hundreds of folks start banging your email address with offers for viagra, cialis, fake rolexes, women, men, animals for "romance" purposes, or any of the hundreds of other idiotic things which come in spam mail today.

We allow PLENTY of space here to make an elaborate case for your point of view. When we provide that space, we expect you to use it in the PUBLIC interest, sort of like a "white paper" where you discuss the pros and cons of a topic and make a strong case for one point of view while giving cogent examples of the benefits and shortcomings of competing points of view.

The true expert becomes known as one by the stuff he puts forth in public, NOT by writing to the effect, "I am an expert, but my expertise is ONLY available in private communication."

Accordingly, I have completely snipped your email address in the post above and advise you to refrain from putting it in any public post again. (In point of fact, the ONLY place we encourage public posting of email is in the Job Openings and Employment Opportunities Forum, and even there, we have some restrictions.)
 
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J

John Nabors - 2009

#28
Guess I'll be the contrarian here..

I'm a big fan of dial and vernier tools. Several have mentioned problems with grit and chips getting into the rack of the caliper.. well, IMHO, if you maintain a clean and organized work area, the chances of that happening are greatly reduced. I've been using the same 8" and 12" Brown and Sharpe dial calipers since something like 1994 and a 6" B&S vernier caliper since about 1983 and they are still in fantastic shape (just ask our calibration tech.. wait a minute, that's me! :notme:.) One trick with the dial calipers is to keep a can of compressed air in your work area to blow out the rack if you are going to open or close the caliper to a size that you haven't used for a while (say an hour or so) and shoot it with some electrical contact cleaner at the end of the shift before you close it up and put it away.

I currently use Brown and Sharpe calipers and micrometers just because that's what I have, but I also really like Mitutoyo and Etalon. I have only owned one Starrett caliper, and, hey, maybe mine was a rare lemon, but it didn't survive one very short drop onto a surface plate three weeks after I bought it (although I did like the red dial face, made it easy to spot when it was in someone's hand that wasn't mine!).

What I don't like about digital tools is that it's just too easy to inadvertantly bump that zero button at the most inopportune times. What I do like about them is the ability to measure metric features without having to break out my old (and I DO mean OLD!!) HP20.

Also, my personal advice is, DON'T get carbide jaws for your caliper if there is the slightest chance anyone is going to borrow it!! You'll wind up with a caliper with about a 1/4" / 6+mm chunk broken off of your carbide jaw.

And no, I have no affiliation with any of the tool manufacturers mentioned above or with anyone who sells them.
 

Wes Bucey

Quite Involved in Discussions
#29
Just for the sake of conversation, I still have two plastic six-inch vernier calipers that I originally bought for 75 cents each about 20 years ago as training tools for helping folks learn how to read/interpret a vernier. They still work pretty well (as good as when they were new), but I wouldn't count on them to be accurate to a discrimination less than 0.005 inches.

One thing - with plastic, I don't have to worry about fools using them for nut crackers on walnuts, pecans, and almonds they way I witnessed one holiday season at a customer's shop.

As I wrote earlier in this thread, I liked the digital (calipers and micrometers) for in-process and even inspection lab work because the readings could be directly entered into a computer for a great savings in time and a fair amount of mistake proofing.

As Jim W. pointed out, very few systems are fraud proof, but any statistician worth his salt seems to be able to detect "fudged" data as if they were in glowing neon.

The idea of countering fudged data might make for an interesting thread - maybe next week when I'm a little less rushed.
 
G

Gordon Clarke

#30
Wes,

You seem to "continually" miss the point of a public DISCUSSION forum, Gordon!

I'd hate to let you miss the opportunity of setting me straight :) The bold letters and inverted colons are to highlight how I read what you wrote :)


The point is the ANSWERS need to be public for ALL future readers. The answers also need to be public so they can be challenged, if need be, by other experts.

Don't you think if it was just a matter of copying a text into the forum I'd do so? There are photos to back up my points and unless there are ways I don't know about that can include photos in my reply I'd have done so in the first place. Calipers (especially digital) is something I've worked with and on for years and, as I've already mentioned, have a considererable amount of material on it.

It may seem a very generous offer on your part to provide an email address, but we have no way of knowing whether your offer will still be open after dozens or hundreds of folks start banging your email address with offers for viagra, cialis, fake rolexes, women, men, animals for "romance" purposes, or any of the hundreds of other idiotic things which come in spam mail today.

Writing my e-mail was a blunder but I am human, which means I'm not pefect. "To er is human, to forgive devine" As to your knowledge of e-mail spam contents no comment :D

We allow PLENTY of space here to make an elaborate case for your point of view. When we provide that space, we expect you to use it in the PUBLIC interest, sort of like a "white paper" where you discuss the pros and cons of a topic and make a strong case for one point of view while giving cogent examples of the benefits and shortcomings of competing points of view.

I'll give some thought as to how much information i can add to this thread without the necessity for photos being included.

The true expert becomes known as one by the stuff he puts forth in public, NOT by writing to the effect, "I am an expert, but my expertise is ONLY available in private communication."

I've never referred to myself as a specialist, but I do know quite a bit about the things that interest me. "....... but my expertise is ONLY available in private communication". If you read again what I did write, then you'll see that I did give a couple of reasons for not being a "dial caliper" advocate.

Accordingly, I have completely snipped your email address in the post above and advise you to refrain from putting it in any public post again. (In point of fact, the ONLY place we encourage public posting of email is in the Job Openings and Employment Opportunities Forum, and even there, we have some restrictions.)

OK, thanks for cutting my e-mail out, but as regards your final remarks someong once said "Sarcasm is the lowest form of wit". You'd probably not be too good at irony but, again, I could be wrong. The "funny" thing is that I don't think we disagree all that much on most subjects. I'll end with another quote, "If you can't take it, don't dish it out". Just as this should probably have been a PM, so should most of what you wrote.
 
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