Vernier caliper recommendations

[david a hall]

Linky Dinky

£21.50 300mm

Perfect thanks

 

[John Roberts]

Digital/vernier: what nobody has mentioned is the ability of setting the zero at any point you need with the digital type, particularly useful when you need to check a dimension on a batch of parts for instance. Also handy to flip from metric to imperial (and back) when working on a metric lathe to imperial dimensions. My calliper of choice is the dial type as with care you can judge to 0.0002" Mine cost about £20 in 1975, I check them on critical jobs with a set of gauge blocks and are astonishingly accurate. There is always the possibility with this type that you get a speck of dirt in the rack-and-pinion mechanism without noticing, and sometimes you can have the pinion jumping a tooth, but having said that it's still the one that I use although I have digital and verniers.

All of the above applies when I'm working in my own workshop or garage, in the real world outside (as a volunteer at the Welsh Highland Railway workshops) I tend to use digital, or, on turning jobs, I use the conventional mikes, you know- the ones that look like a G-cramp.

 

[(RIP) maverick]

Holy CRAP 3 pages on verniers Good thing the OP did not ask about torque wrenches

 

[John Roberts]

Holy CRAP 3 pages on verniers Good thing the OP did not ask about torque wrenches

Indeed, and what if he had asked about ...





OIL???

 

[ChasF]

Digital/vernier: what nobody has mentioned is the ability of setting the zero at any point you need with the digital type, particularly useful when you need to check a dimension on a batch of parts for instance. Also handy to flip from metric to imperial (and back) when working on a metric lathe to imperial dimensions.

Clearly a digital readout caliper offers a number of convenient features you don't get with a conventional vernier and as has already been said most of the time they are used for measurements that are not critical. I've just used mine to measure some square oak stair spindles so that I can machine up some matching and 0.5mm is close enough.

 

[The smudger]

Indeed, and what if he had asked about ...





OIL???

What oil do you use to lubricate you vernier...........

 

[Time Traveller]

Depends on the time of year. . . And i always change it after ten uses, which is far more frequently than the recommended, but when you have something as valuable, why would the manufacturer know how often to change oil. Of course i use fully synthetic race oil thats costs 20 times that of bog standard recommended oil. But then Im a know it all oil snob that actually understands fuck all about polymer chains and sheer forces, but i did once have can if old 3 in 1 oil that my grandfather gave me, which makes me qualified enough to advise everyone else on the forum why they are entirely wrong, as are indeed the engineers that designed the thing in the first place.



glad you asked?

 

[Steptoe]

Reading a vernier scale is so easy, like learning to read a book. But if you prefer picture books cos you can't be arsed to learn to read then that's fine.

It's not the reading/understanding that's difficult.
It's the ease and clarity of reading. And digital wins everytime.

 

[Garry H]

I have used all types ...
But i use this the most

Easy to read no batteries and plenty accurate enough 99% of the time
Most of the time the accuracy is down to the skill and the feel of the user
Put a expensive Mitutoyo digital caliper in the hands of a gorilla and it's money wasted

 

[Jason_01]

I have used all types ...
But i use this the most

Easy to read no batteries and plenty accurate enough 99% of the time
Most of the time the accuracy is down to the skill and the feel of the user
Put a expensive Mitutoyo digital caliper in the hands of a gorilla and it's money wasted

I think the point JayC was making, that may be lost on non engineers is that a vernier is not a precision measuring instrument, relatively speaking. If you need a precision measure in an engineering environment you dont use a vernier, you would use a mic.

Dont get me wrong I love verniers, damn useful things, I'm lucky to have a bunch of em right up to a 13" Mitutoyo, analogue scale, together with the more usual sizes with dial's etc. I wont use any cheap nasty ones but I have obtained all of mine at very silly prices from car boot sales etc and calibration is easy enough to check to tolerances good enough for us.

I prefer the conventional analogue slide type personally, I find them easier to read than a dial, as an occassional user and I trust them more than digital. I did pick up a nice Mitutoyo digital a while back, 2nd hand but in good condition, I decided to take it apart and clean it and promptly wrecked the damn thing, fragile compared to an old fashioned analogue slide vernier and how would I know if it was out by say 2mm for some bizarre reason? Yeah call me incompetent but I like simple engineering with minimal electronics, hence the airheads.

I picked up a 1950's 3ft bed English centre lathe with a screw cutting gearbox a while ago, old fashioned, simple and cheap just like me lol

 

[Beemerboff]

http://www.ctctools.biz/servlet/the-Inspection-Tools/Categories

I have bought a few things from these guys, including the digital vernier, depth gauge, and the diamond files.

Their stuff is a step up in quality from most in their price range, and has performed perfectly for me.

 

[SeanW]

well thanks for the all the in-depth advice gents - most enlightening

for now I've bought a secondhand Mitutoyo vernier which was being sold as a set with a Mitutoyo 0-1 inch micrometer on fleabay

will check their accuracy against some mate's gear which has recently been calibrated...

 

[Time Traveller]

Glad you're sorted

 

[ELIMINATOR]

B.S.887 :2008 A 150mm vernier is within calibration if the reading is correct to +/- 0.02. So don't use it for measuring anything accurate, use a micrometer, or at the least check the readout in comparison to a set of slips.