Should I buy a posher digital micrometer/caliper?

I own a cheap Lidl or was it Aldi digital caliper, which has been fine for my DIY antics, the question is now that I have started making things that actually require some degree of accuracy should/do I need to, buy a posh one, like a Mitutoyo or Moore & Wright ?

I would like to stick with the digital mm/inches read out as it generally seems less error prone..

Am I missing out / Is there a big advantage?

Edited By Paul McDonough on 26/04/2023 11:29:30

You probably want micrometers big enough for your work in addition to calipers. For most of my work, a digital caliper is good enough.

The digital Mitutoyo caliper I was given returns the same numbers as the cheaper ones I bought, although it is nicer to use. I don't use it because it's twice the length.

I mostly use a digital calliper, it is a Mitutoyo but I tend to use that one over others more because I like the feel of it rather then what it measures. It does shut completely off which some others don't which gives good battery life.

I only have a 0-1" mic and seldom use that ( calculator to convert to metric). Also in a spell of madness I bought a digital Mitutoyo 0-1" one but have used that even less as I find them cumbersome and therefore harder to get a consistent reading. anything over the inch the calliper does for me.

So I would say not much advantage

Edited By JasonB on 26/04/2023 11:50:48

Paul,

I too use cheap no name digital callipers but only to get close to the required size. When accuracy is needed, I reach for a micrometer. I have a couple of 0 - 25mm ones (one a Starrett gifted to me) and a digital 25 - 50mm one. Anything larger I revert to the callipers again.

John

Edited By John Hinkley on 26/04/2023 12:04:51

I've had an Aldi cheapie for a number of years. Accuracy seems very good, downside is that the battery runs down even if it's not used. I generally use a Mitutoyo vernier, never needs a new battery!

I could manage without my calipers but micrometers are essential IMO.

I bought a Mitutoyo with inductive scale a few years ago and it's very good.

I have 3 digital calipers, a vernier caliper, and a micrometer. The micrometer is for when accuracy matters.

The three digital calipers are cheap (Aldi), medium (ArcEuro), and medium+(Dasquai). They're all about the same accuracy (0.02mm across the full range), but the dearer models get results more reliably - less fiddling about and double checking.

Lidl gets most use because I don't love it. It can be dropped, stood on, and used as a scribe etc. When it breaks I'll buy another one.

The ArcEuro has a better feel to it, and resets to zero more reliably than the Lidl. With the Lidl, I usually measure 3 or more times to make sure, and never quite trust it. The ArcEuro has better repeatability - twice is usually enough to confirm, so gets used for less rough measuring and when I'm in a hurry. The Dasqua feels very smooth and has 'Absolute Zero', but it was expensive enough to worry about breaking it. So like my height gauge, it's reserved for clean work.

Dasqua batteries last longer than the other two: I suspect it's because the Dasqua has a sealed battery box, and resists condensation.

I prefer digital to analogue calipers mainly because the display is unambiguous, whereas dials require careful reading and more thought. They're also subject to mechanical problems like sticky movements and slop. I think a digital display is worth the cost of the batteries!

The vernier caliper is rarely used - not as accurate, and easy to misread.

Dave

I don't like any digital callipers, my go to is a 150mm vernier calliper with fine adjustment (one is no name the other is Mitutoyo). Linear tools, for example, do a 145mm one for about £23. I have micrometers for both metric and imperial measurement up to 100mm/4" but find the vernier callipers give the same reading as micrometers. I certainly don't trust the digital ones without absolute readings, it's too easy to accidently set the zero at the wrong point.

Martin C

I managed run of the mill model engineering for many years using a Lidl £10 special.

However, I had to ugrade to Mitutoyo when machining a large and expensive crankcase casting for rolling element bearing seats (so tight tolerances).

It all rather depends on skill and feel plus the job in hand. Many people could not make use of the better sensitivity of an up market tool. I play piano, but a Steinway grand would be wasted on me.

Martin

The problem I found with Lidl and Amazon unbranded digital calipers I used is that whilst they worked absolutely fine for a while, they failed terminally after a year or so of use. I now mostly use a Kennedy dial caliper and a Mitutoyo Digimatic 196-30.

I think the idea that a micrometer is always going to give you a more accurate reading than a caliper is too rigid; it depends on the part you're measuring and the circumstances in which you're measuring it.

Edited By Bill Phinn on 26/04/2023 12:54:57

I'm still using my original Lidl job, been really reliable

Got about 3 other long lost "replacements" lying about somewhere...

Modeller/hobbyists make parts to fit together. Whether absolutely on-size or not, it often does not matter one iota - as long as those parts fit properly.

It is times like press (or shrink) fits that need a better degree of accuracy. Precision is far more important than accuracy in most scenarios. Making quiet-running gears may be another need for better accuracy….

There is nothing wrong with using plain internal/external calipers while carrying out a lot of work.

Using any measuring instrument runs into trouble if the calibration is not checked/verified on a regular basis.

Ultra-accuracy is required for series manufacture of tight-tolerance spare parts, where there is no scope for size adjustment at the end-user. The out-of spec parts (and hobby machines, on occasion) is where the otherwise rejects finish up on certain internet sites.🙂

Edited By not done it yet on 26/04/2023 14:41:52

Like most I bought a cheap digital calipers and used it a lot. It wore out with a lot of backward/forwards movement in the moving jaw. I then went down to the local engineering suppliers (long since gone) and bought the most expensive 6" calipers there, made in Switzerland. I have happily used it for more than 15 years but it has now seen better days.

I also, a few years ago, bought Mitutoyo CD-6"ASX calipers for office use. This good but not as good as the workshop TESA calipers.

I also have a set of M&W micrometers from 0" - 3" (the 0" - 1" I bought during my apprenticeship) and a Mitutoyo 0mm - 25mm micrometer which are used for accurate work.

JA

I had a cheap set of calipers which soon ended up having the tips rounded over and used for woodturning.

I was given a Mitutoyo set not digital which I used for a long time I then brought a set of Dasqua digital. Depending on whether I want to read the scale on the Mitutoyo set I use the Dasqua set.

If I want a very accurate reading then I use micrometers

Because I'm old I prefer micrometers for anything needing close fits, however I find it very easy to get things 0.5mm out when using metric mic, so I use digi caliper to get near, then switch to mic. A lot of the time the DRO gets me near enough to go straight to mic.

I use micrometers for almost everything. Small vernier calipers are used for CAD modelling of components. Large calipers are used when I exceed the capabilities of my micrometers >500mm.

Andrew

Use digital calipers majority of the time which do me for most of the stuff I do with model boats and RC nowadays. Been a while since I last used the micrometers and vernier I've got. Dasqua gets my vote for being decent quality, smooth and value for money got 100 and 150mm ones, the 150 does Imperial, Metric and Fractions and gets used most.

Thanks for your thoughts, it is interesting because I usually take the view, 'the best one' is the one you use!

I don't worry about my Lidl/Aldi caliper and i use it a lot, because it was low cost and on the face of it it works, [most of the time]. I did have spell when it would turn off due to a battery connection issue but a quick tweak of the battery spring clips seemed to sort that, the other thing is that infrequently I have noticed the display jump. So far it has jumped a lot and it was easy to notice and a quick re-zero sorted this.

I associated this with moving the jaws a bit quickly perhaps?

I did wonder whether this might be because of very fine brass filings getting in where they shouldn't?

I guess a posher one would avoid these issues.

I do have a low cost traditional micrometer also from Lidl/Aldi or perhaps it was Amazon! i don't use this as often as I do the caliper because it is not as conveinient to use.

Edited By Paul McDonough on 26/04/2023 16:31:31

Edited By Paul McDonough on 26/04/2023 16:33:20

I think I bought my Vernier caliper from Axminster about 18 years ago. Other than stripping it down once to clean the contact faces it has behaved and not ate batteries. Watching Clough42 on the tube a while back, he was querying battery drain on some of the cheaper brands. The easy choice is one of the named brands if you worry about your choices all the while.

Just to be pedantic (who me?), a Vernier caliper doesn't usually need batteries.