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Finally got a good dial caliper.

Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

Mitutoyo is a good brand, but that price is hard to swallow.

I have a set of Brown and Sharp calipers I picked up off ebay for $50. They're still accurate and repeatable, so they work for me. Just an idea.I also prefer a dial over a battery, because I've picked up plenty of battery powered stuff to find the battery dead and the tool useless.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

Mitutoyo is good but as other guy said its steep


i was lucky enough to keep all my tools form school, when i went to become a CNC machinist...

they gave us all Starret gear. micrometer,digital calipers, and some run out gauge

the set i have was priced at about $130 or so and it stays very true.. i have a few measuring blocks that i machined back in school and zero them of the blocks i always get the same readings..

check them out if your looking for quality at a better price
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

$315. Lessee...Harbor Freight sells exactly the same calipers as Midway but for about $10-12 (on sale, as they frequently are). That works out to about 26 Chinese calipers for the cost of one Japanese, which is no question a 'better' tool but will be just as damaged as a cheapy if either gets dropped on a concrete floor; that's NOT a hard choice for me to make!

I have a very high quality caliper (and mic too) but I use Harbor Freight's measurement tools for my reloading work; to each his own.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

I like:

Starrett (American made.)
Browne & Sharpe (Swiss made.)
Mitutoyo (Japanese made.)

In that order.

I would NEVER use a cheap 'precision measurement tool.' It really is an oxymoron to be avoided. And I too prefer dial as opposed to digital.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

The Harbor Freight calipers work just fine. I have some micrometers that measure to .00005 (1/2 hundred thousands) so I'd expect to want accuracy. But calipers are just not that precise a measuring tool. I have 8 Harbor Freights and they're all within confirmation level with my mics at the .001 tolerance.

Does that Mitutoyo have a pressure clutch like most decent mics have? If not, I can't see spending the coin for one of those. At least not for reloading. Reloading is not that precise a game.

Nice caliper though. I do like Mitutoyo. Good stuff.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

I hate to endorse Chinese-made shit, but the calipers (both digital and dial) from HF are good to go. I have a set of grade 00 gage blocks/jo-blocks, and have tested many instruments with them. I've found you can interpolate TENTHS!!!! (one tenth = .0001") with them.

My reloading bench is not a met-lab or inspection lab...it is a workbench. I find the $8 (on sale) dial caliper from HF to be perfectly suited to my bench.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: eracer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I like:

Starrett (American made.)
Browne & Sharpe (Swiss made.)
Mitutoyo (Japanese made.)

In that order.

I would NEVER use a cheap 'precision measurement tool.' It really is an oxymoron to be avoided. And I too prefer dial as opposed to digital. </div></div>

I know what you mean, however the 'cheap' stuff work just as good as the ones that cost 200 times the price ones.

I guarantee measurement will be within .0005 of yours... lol
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: dlxcupid</div><div class="ubbcode-body">A little overkill I think. I went with this model and couldn't be more happy.

http://www.amazon.com/Mitutoyo-500-196-2...9505&sr=1-1

</div></div>
Thats odd, they look just like the ones I ordered, hahaha
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: turbo54</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I hate to endorse Chinese-made shit, but the calipers (both digital and dial) from HF are good to go. I have a set of grade 00 gage blocks/jo-blocks, and have tested many instruments with them. I've found you can interpolate TENTHS!!!! (one tenth = .0001") with them.

My reloading bench is not a met-lab or inspection lab...it is a workbench. I find the $8 (on sale) dial caliper from HF to be perfectly suited to my bench. </div></div>

The chinese made Frankfurt Arsenal are very accurate if theyre not skipping all over the place and if the crystal face wouldnt fall off, lol
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: eracer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I like:

Starrett (American made.)
Browne & Sharpe (Swiss made.)
Mitutoyo (Japanese made.)

In that order.

I would NEVER use a cheap 'precision measurement tool.' It really is an oxymoron to be avoided. And I too prefer dial as opposed to digital. </div></div>

I work near Starrett. They proudly still display their Effeciency E award from WWII in the front foyer. Its about the last manufacturing business going in an old mill town that has lost all its other manufacturing businesses. That whole area Fitchburg, Leominster, Gardner, Athol used to build stuff, whats left will go away if they dont get any help fighting the cheap disposable products.

Heroin trade seems to do okay in these old towns that have lost there economic base.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

Starrett tools are the Best !! Made is the U.S.A. Sure they are high price but you get what you pay for. One of the last tool companies still operating, guess the chinise will put them out of bussinee too. SAD...
frown.gif
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

My Mitutoyo feels very solid and smooth, but honestly my $20 caliper seems to be no less precise, at least for what I use a caliper for. Micrometers that measure to the ten-thousandth may be a different story.

I use the cheap one with a bullet comparator on it, and the nice Mitutoyo for most general measurements.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: red hawk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Starrett tools are the Best !! Made is the U.S.A. Sure they are high price but you get what you pay for. One of the last tool companies still operating, guess the chinise will put them out of bussinee too. SAD...
frown.gif
</div></div>

And then you see this:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2339HJ0PLPR59/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R2339HJ0PLPR59
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: JGorski</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: red hawk</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Starrett tools are the Best !! Made is the U.S.A. Sure they are high price but you get what you pay for. One of the last tool companies still operating, guess the chinise will put them out of bussinee too. SAD...
frown.gif
</div></div>

And then you see this:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2339HJ0PLPR59/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R2339HJ0PLPR59 </div></div>

I'm guessing they have different lines of tools and this came from the "if you cant beat em, join em!" line. There made in USA stuff is pretty well built - Its not like its spectacular, its just that its built like things used to be done 70-80 years ago. Its a shame that for consumer goods progress hasnt lead to better made products just cheaper disposable products - kind of like people now a days.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

Buy quality and cry once.

Buy cheap and cry every time it quits in the middle of a job.

I have a Central Tools "mechanical" caliper that's been doing the job for over 25 years. Can't even remember what I paid for it. Doesn't matter as I only had to pay it once
smirk.gif
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

"I work near Starrett....Its about the last manufacturing business going in an old mill town that has lost all its other manufacturing businesses."

It's been sad to watch big labor unions, big govenment bureaucrats and 'helpful' politicians coordinate in efforts that common sense should have warned them would eventually kill our manufactoring base and the jobs that provided. Guess it was just to hard for them to see much with their eyes wide shut and heads up a brown orface.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

$315?! Woof. Will it add 2" to my pecker measurement or something? I'm all for buy once cry once but that's a lotta jack.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: THEBEARRRRRRJEW</div><div class="ubbcode-body">$315?! Woof. Will it add 2" to my pecker measurement or something? I'm all for buy once cry once but that's a lotta jack. </div></div>

If it does its obviously not calibrated.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

But is it repeatable? I don't mind getting a used precision measuring tool if I know it's consistently biased a certain amount, as long as it's always off by that same amount.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: THEBEARRRRRRJEW</div><div class="ubbcode-body">$315?! Woof. Will it add 2" to my pecker measurement or something? I'm all for buy once cry once but that's a lotta jack. </div></div>
The model I ordered was $120. I see the price went up 7 bucks since Monday.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001C0ZPNO/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

go onto EBAY and look for a single gauge block to check calibration. Drill bit's and drill rod also work.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: taseal</div><div class="ubbcode-body"><div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: eracer</div><div class="ubbcode-body">I like:

Starrett (American made.)
Browne & Sharpe (Swiss made.)
Mitutoyo (Japanese made.)

In that order.

I would NEVER use a cheap 'precision measurement tool.' It really is an oxymoron to be avoided. And I too prefer dial as opposed to digital. </div></div>

I know what you mean, however the 'cheap' stuff work just as good as the ones that cost 200 times the price ones.

I guarantee measurement will be within .0005 of yours... lol </div></div>But for how long can you trust that to be true?

I simply don't consider precision measurement tools to be disposable. I understand the other side of the argument though.
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

MitutoyoSet.jpg


I bought a used set like the above, off of Ebay about 6 years back and paid $77 for it shipped.

Look there, as you can find lots of 'deals'.

Chris
 
Re: Finally got a good dial caliper.

My cousin got a patent for Mitutoyo on the coolant proof feature.

I do just fine with the non carbide jaws.
http://www.amazon.com/Mitutoyo-500-768-10-ABSOLUTE-Accuracy-Resolution/dp/B003U9VZPC/

For inside measurements in handloading, I use pin gauges.

If you have not handloaded with pin gauges, you don't know what you are missing.
http://www.amazon.com/061--250-001-Minus-Tolerance-Pin/dp/B0007Q74XI/ref=sr_1_3?s=industrial

http://www.use-enco.com/CGI/INSRIT?PARTPG=INLMKD&PMPXNO=22508019&PMAKA=327-2889
 
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