Digital Calipers

Regular MEW readers will know that a year or so ago I did a comparative review of several sets of digital calliper, my old ones and some new ones from Allendale/Machine DRO.

I recently discovered which, of the several pairs I have that I use most.

The battery went flat in the Mitutoyo Absolute Digimatic caliper. After a week of picking up the Mitutoyo then irritatedly searching out Moore and Wright Digitronic 'Value Line' pair, I stomped off to find an AG13 to resurrect the Mitutoyos.

Nothing to do with accuracy (both beyond my ability to find fault) or even that one is a 'mid range' and the other top notch. It's not even practical things.

It's not that the Mitutoyo doesn't auto off and the M&W does (which is irritating) because the Mitutoyo occasionally loses its 'absolute' position and the M&W doesn't (that I can recall), which is equally irritating. The M&W has a slightly larger, clearer display.

No it's simply that the Mitutoyos feel so darn nice to use. It's very subtle, like the difference between a coin that's been in circulation for a while versus a brand new one. You can't really see the difference, but it feels more pleasant in the hand.

I should also give an honorable mention to my cheap old Proops pair, probably now 18 or 19 years old. They are still my everyday 'hack', usually used for 3D prints while the other two live in the workshop - a situation that is presently reversed for no reason I can think of!

All other pairs only get used when I can't find one of the 'top 3', other than a little left hand pair from Arc which are really handy for awkward things held in the lathe.

Neil

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Please show due respect, and fit SR44 ...

MichaelG.

I've got one of the Mitutoyos with carbide-tipped jaws as well as a "Max-Measure" Chinese made cheapo. When measurements really matter I sometimes decide I need to measure with both calipers consecutively. The readings are always either identical or one or two hundredths of a mm apart, with the cheaper one always the one that reads shorter (when it does).

Which is the more accurate I have no idea. The nice thing about the Mitutoyo is that the sharp edges of the bar have been very slightly "taken off" to give a wonderfully smooth feel in the hand. The Max-Measure's sharp edges have not had the same aesthetic treatment but it's still been a perfectly acceptable workhorse for the last four years. The only neg. so far is that it seems to gobble batteries at about five times the rate of the Mitutoyo. The Mitutoyo's main neg. was the price.

For those who might only vaguely recall the advert in Neil's subtitle: **LINK**

http://www.hatads.org.uk/catalogue/record/4f75737d-980d-4e67-9e29-7b417de5fd7a

MichaelG.

I find the same the Mitutoyo feels so much smoother as the head is slid along the bar and the thumb wheel light yet positive. All the others seem agricultural by comparison.

Wot? No micrometers?

Andrew

I have a Mitutoyo Digimatic which I just worked out is 35 years old, it is still as smooth as silk and just feels right. I also have a cheapie version and though it is 9 years old and still working it just doesnt feel the same. Thinking about it, I guess that nine times out of ten I pick up the Digimatic rather then the cheapie.

Andrew How about proper calipers and a two foot rule ?

Roy

The first cheapie I bought about twenty odd years ago is still going strong and has always had a very good feel to it. I recently checked out a couple of similar ones and they felt awful with a very rough movement. At the price they churn them out at I can't help feel that standards may have slipped.

Doug

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Don't use a micrometer very much, maybe on something like a crankshaft that has to go into a bearing. I only have 0-1" as I have not found a real need for any larger ones as the caliper seems to work for me. All those engines with bores larger than 1" seem to make good compression and run as do the smaller bores also measured in the same way so I'll stick to the caliper.

Think mine must also be about 35yrs old as my brother bought it, same with the Micrometer that he bought when he started out as a mechanic for measuring tapper shins etc. Now it's me he phones up when he needs something making from metal.

Gordon Bennett. What is all this talk about silky smoothness of movement? This some kinda jewellery fondle-fest or summink worse?

The things are a means to an end.

I use a M&W valueline, mercifully OK'd by the MEW review of a year or two back, but it was already maybe 3 years old by then. By now it's well-scarred, broken off its thumbwheel, and fallen on the floor a good deal more than once - but it rarely needs a rezero, doesn't eat batteries and still delivers readings within half a thou that I can't fault with the Mitutoyo Vernier mic that I bought in 1976 (back when they were called "Jap-crap", remember?). Got another M&W kept for new in case it does fail.

Edited By Mick B1 on 03/08/2018 10:31:02

Ah well, that probably means that my overly precise traction engines will never work.

Andrew

Yes and yes; coincidentally here they are in use this morning machining a piece of tooling plate to 500mm square as my micrometers only go up to 18"/450mm. Not looking for great precision, better than 0.1mm is fine:

Not shown is the tape measure I use for parts bigger than 600mm.

I've got a set of small plain Mitutoyo calipers somewhere. No idea where as I haven't seen them for months. Nice to use, but I prefer micrometers in the workshop. If nothing else I find micrometers better for depth and large bore measurements. The small calipers are mostly used when I am modelling OTS parts for incorporation into 3D CAD assemblies.

Andrew

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Is it only me who finds it amusing that the proud owners of expensive instruments rarely bother keeping them calibrated?

Can it be possible that any hard-headed engineer thinks a designer label is more important than accuracy and precision? Surely not!

Dave

I really like the Mitutoyo digital calipers I bought about 25 years ago. They’re still working but every now and then there feels like there’s a bit of swarf trapped somewhere in it. Are they difficult to take apart and clean? Failing that does anyone know how much Mitutoyo are likely to charge to service them?

Silky feel etc. - makes me dream of things gone by. Perhaps the non-calibration comes from the perception of digital must be accurate and correct - the fact that something digital reads to 6 figures gives the perception of great accuracy - despite the measurement being built on sand. All digitals tell lies.

Back to the prologue and a related matter.
I bought a caliper with fractions as well as mm and in., thinking it would be helpful - not sure why now.

For me it is just about the most useless thing in the world. Measuring something nearly always comes out at 128ths. The next thing is to wonder just what that is. Increase until you get to 64ths and then 32nds and so on.
Clever, but mainly useless.
Anyone else found one of these useful? Am I missing something?

Interesting thread though.

Edited By Clive India on 03/08/2018 12:46:55

I have a 25mm carbide bar that came with my 1-2"/25-50mm mike. Testing test equipment with the test bar test is the most testing test worth applying to my workshop devices.

Neil

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