Digital verniers

Had my digital vernier's for a while now. Bought them for general use in the garage. Now I have the lathe & need to be more accurate, I am getting sick of them forever reading wrong. Accepted they were a pricely sum of £8.99 from Aldi. So I have ordered 2 new sets. 1 a standard 150mm . The other a 50mm depth gauge. These are of the Moore & wright versions. I remember the name from old & knew there gear to be good. Question is are they still as good. They were not expensive so may not be made in the uk. I know some will say for ultimate accuracy you would use a micrometer.

Steve.

Of the 3 M&W 6" calipers I've had, 2 I can't fault, but 1 often reads half-a-thou down in a cold shed. I more-or-less offset this by habit, so it's OK for most purposes - but if I'm chasing tenths my 1976 Mitutoyo mic comes out.

Hi Steve, Moore and Wright used to be a good name for measuring equipment 20 ish years ago. The stuff I have seen in the last few years at customers' in industry under that brand name was cheaply made badly finished far eastern rubbish. Same for Fowler and even some items from Starrett. I think firms there have bought the rights to use these old and trusted brand names and are badging their tat with the names to gain market trust.

I personally prefer Mitutoyo and have many of their older instruments, beautifully made and finished, that continue to be accurate and operate beautifully, earning their keep. Absolutely happy with those, some I have used for 35 years.

Several here though have reported there are fake Mitutoyo instruments being sold.

One 0-8" dial caliper I ordered recently was extremely roughly finished, full of gritty muck, and would not operate smoothly. It was genuine Mitutoyo, very expensive, but marked as made in Brazil (apparently by semi skilled staff not following the normal high Mitutoyo standards). I sent it back, but had to pay a 15% restocking fee to the dealer.

My recommendation would still be to buy Mitutoyo but only from a genuine Mitutoyo distributor near you, and if you are not 100 % satisfied with what you buy, send it back.

Bad measuring instruments can really steal the satisfaction and enjoyment of making things. I hope you can find some good ones and leave the tat behind.

Edited By Jeff Dayman on 23/01/2020 20:02:08

I have often come close to buying one of the left hand digital calipers. One of these will make measuring on the lathe easier, and therefore potentially more accurate.                                                                                                                I have two Mitutoyo digital calipers, a 6", 150mm and a 12", 300mm, they are accurate, even good for 0.001" in bores, they are kept for best, and the cheap Lidl ones get normal use. For accuracy up to 150mm, I have micrometers.

Edited By old mart on 23/01/2020 20:39:23

I am lucky to have a few Mitutoyo instruments all of Japanese origin, a bit pricey at the time but I have never regretted spending a bit more than intended for a quality tool built to last.

I bought a Moore and Wright MW110-15DBL caliper about a year ago with the intention of modifying it for use as a centre scribe. For the princely sum of £24 the quality is surprising good, so much so that I can't take it to the grinder, it's too good. The only minor gripe I have is that the auto off timer is too short.

Old Mart, that is exactly what I thought before my purchase of a left hand caliper a while ago. I thought it was the answer but despite being reasonably dextrous with my left hand I don't use it as often as I thought I would.

The Aldi verniers are good value for everyday use and they come with a 12 month waranty. Make sure that you keep it (most people do not) and take it back for a replacement.

Paul

For rough use, a digital from Lidl suffices. It is so old that then thumb wheel has broken off and the battery cover has to held on with an O ring! It has needed stripping and cleaning from time to time.

Some time ago, MEW did a survey of digital callipers, from the cheap'n cheerful Aldi/Lidl types through to a Mitutoyo at about £80.

Based on this, I bought a M & W from machine DRO for £24. It holds its Zero setting and as the article said, having seemingly no current drain when switched off, the battery is still original. (Some digital callipers use current to sustain the memory, even when switched off, shortening battery life. )

HTH

Howard

Pedant alert - no such thing as a Digital Vernier, but we all know what Stevie means - a digital caliper.

I keep a couple of inexpensive calipers for rough work - they're more than accurate enough for most ordinary work, and I don't mind abusing them to scribe lines. Nor does it matter when they get dropped on a concrete floor. The main problem is they don't feel smooth, are little difficult to feel when it's safe to trust a measurement, and they tend to lose zero. Mine have been mildly inferior, with only one that was truly second-rate. When I'm in a hurry, I use a £30 caliper from ArcEuro - not first-class. but it's nicer to use and results are more repeatable. It holds zero better than the cheepies, but isn't totally reliable, hence has to be watched. For best I have a Dasqua, which does hold zero, and has a silky feel. However, calipers aren't ideal for accurate work - for anything better than 0.02mm, an inexpensive micrometer will be about twice as accurate as any caliper, even a fancy one.

Like Dasqua, Moore and Wright are mid-range, probably better than the average home workshop needs. Mitutoyo or Starrett have more expensive models if that's what's wanted. The extra money doesn't deliver better accuracy, just a better feel, improved reliability and then you're paying for features like a coolant-proof enclosure.

Don't get carried away by Brand Names: most stuff today is made abroad and there's no particular reason why it shouldn't be, digital calipers aren't rocket science. If you do buy an expensive instrument, heed Jeff's warning about fakes.

Dave

As I thought at the price they cannot be made in the uk. They were not even get out of bed money. £22.95. The trouble with the ones I have is what some have said. I zero them , measure & then close them back up to find some spurious reading. Not zero. I have 2 options here. See if they are any good when they come or sell everything I have & go live on a desert island with no electricity or running water & live off fish. MMMM. Ok I will wait till they arrive & try them. I am not a rocket scientist so not working to the Nth of a thou. Going to a few autojumbles over the next 3 weeks so could look out for some Micrometers. I was at Rufforth the other week & there was a guy who looked like it was the 1st jumble he had done . Sort of well what do you think sort of pricing. He had I think 4 Micrometers in a box , very old ones 0 t0 1" & cannot remember the rest but all bigger in size up to about 6". £5 for the lot. So next time I go it will be eyes peeled & get there early.

Steve.

... knew someone wouldn't be able to resist.

Sorry guys I try not to use that word. I had a good friend at school who wore one & it sort of became a word not to use if possible. Also some of the population are not as clever as some members of this forum. Me being one.

Steve.

Ditty. My great grandfather blueprinted the engines for the Titanic.

You might find this interesting:

www.model-engineer.co.uk/news/article/digital-caliper-comparative-review/24798

They are all pretty close in terms of accuracy, but there are other things to take into account.

Inaccurate readings usually come down to one of four things:

• Dirt - clean the main bar with a suitable solvent, wipe the jaws (this is probably what is affecting yours, you don't have to be able to see the dirt for it to affect the readings).
• Poor adjustment - 99.7% of digital caliper owners don't realise most have an adjustable gib strip.
• Dying battery.
• Poor technique.

Neil

Well I certainly will scan them over to check the points you have made Neil. Of course I just assumed they were getting slowly worse because of the quality. Thanks. Going into garage now so will give them a good looking at. The part about technique I would accept but I have used them for over a year & the way I use them has not changed. The battery is recent & checked with my meter. Thanks.

Steve.

Get a Mitutoyo, excellent verniers and the battery lasts for years

Gosh, even I thought what I'd typed was tedious!  To save further embarrassment I've deleted it!

Dave

Edited By SillyOldDuffer on 24/01/2020 13:12:42

I didn't doubt that, but it's surprising how inconsistent new users can be, especially if the gibs are a bit loose as well.

Thanks for the prod on that one too. I'd thought that because the display came up sharp and prompt, the battery must be good even after a year or so's use. Not so - testing it showed 2.7 V. Putting in a new one put the accuracy back on the money for my 1 out of 3 'suss' M&Ws.

Always worth thinking about what others say, even when you think you know...

I found out the hard way...

Funnily enough my M&Ws have been looking faint but are still reading accurately, so I've just followed my own advice and changed the battery.

That's over three years from a CR2032 as it's the first time I've changed it.

Neil