Mnitutoyo Instruments

[GregLaROCHE]

I’ve started looking to upgrade my calipers. There seems to be several price levels for mitutoyo products. Are they all decent quality? I saw some dial indicators for around $35.00. Are they going to be decent quality?
Thanks

[Mitch]

You get what you pay for in the calipers.for years i used a set that was 15 bucks.finaly that one gave up on me.i have a Starrett at work the replacement for the loading room is Insize brand seems to be a good set.I was told at the tool supply that a few engineers from Starret stared this company.They were 60 bucks.these are 6 inch dial calipers

[GregLaROCHE]

What does it mean when they say “Absolute”?

[Guesser]

That's their favorite brand of Vodka

[6bg6ga]

I'm sure a lot here will disagree with what I have to say but here goes. I've used everything under the sun when I was a plant inspector. All of our measuring devices were constantly checked and verified. To be blunt here a Starrett isn't going to be any better than a Mitutoyo or for that matter a set from Harbor Freight. Unless you abuse or drop them they all measure fine. If your at the point where your trying to measure a bullet down to 1/2 a thousandth then I would suggest as micrometer.

[kmw1954]

I have a 4" Mit that I bought way back in 1980 which at that time I believe I paid almost $100.00 for. It now resides on my loading bench and works as good today as it did back then.

[6bg6ga]

Just about any caliper will measure correctly and check correctly if it hasn't been abused. So many times when I was an inspector I had to yell at people and instruct them NOT to use the jaws like a vice and squeeze on the parts they were checking. To be blunt most people are incapable of arriving at a proper measurement simply because of stupidity. Others catch onto the concept quite quickly. We used to check every caliper that came into our department before letting it out onto the floor. We tried various calipers and my favorite was a Mits simply because they performed well and didn't cost twice as much. Sure, I like Starrett but at the price I have to justify the need for the additional money when I could but yet another tool with the savings.

[Dale53]

I am a "Certified Old Fart", to give this perspective. My father was a top line toolmaker (Jig and Fixture man) and I was formally trained as a machinist. Mitutoyo is my favorite brand of micrometers (I have a pair of carbide face Mits that I have had for MANY years). If you want precision measurements to a tenth of a thousandth, use a micrometer. For most reloading use, a 6"dial caliper will be more useful for general use. I also have a three mic set of Starret micrometers (1", 2", and 3") and they are certainly fine instruments, but I actually prefer my Mits (they were a much better value when I bought them).

Calipers are fine for general reloading use. However, when measuring lead slugs (for checking cylinder throats, slugging barrels, etc, you NEED a micrometer).

FWIW
Dale53

[McFred]

There seems to be several price levels for mitutoyo products. Are they all decent quality?

Beware counterfeit Mitutoyo calipers. Search for how to spot the difference. Avoid the chinese auction sites and purchase through a known tool vendor. Authentic Mitutoyo 6" digital calipers will normally run you upwards of $100. If it's "too good a deal" then it probably is. Beyond that, they're good tools. The "Digimatics" were everywhere in the prototype aerospace machine shop I worked at.

[troyboy]

I have a few different ones. Dial calipers from Central tools and nsk can be had like new for a very reasonable on the auction site. Absolute is a marketing name. I've gone digital. Cheapo from Harbor Freight. Just as accurate but feels just as you'd expect. I prefer digital for ease of use, just keep spare batteries. For reloading even the plastic ones work fine. If you'd prefer a lifetime investment in quality look at where the tool is made. Japan,Usa,Swiss etc. They all measure accurately but they feel different to each person. I prefer Mitutoyo.

[country gent]

The major brands over the years have been Helios, Browne and Sharpe, Starret, and mititoyo. Dial and digitals. Helios were some earlier dials but very good. Deciding between these was a matter more of how they felt to the individual. But all were very good, accurate ad dependable. When buying measuring tools you really should go to a shop and handle them and see what feels right to you and your hand.

Calipers can have many different features. Some have a tolerance feature where plus minus and mean can be set. Some can be zeroed at a given point along the beam. Some have a push block some a tension wheel or thumb wheel. Digitals displays can have back lights different size displays, making them easier or harder to read. Some have 3 ways of measuring some 4. depth rod inside and outside. some you can also measure from edge of sliding housing to edge of fixed blade along with the others. The one big plus to digitals to me is with the push of a button they go from standard to metric.

[EDG]

I bought my first calipers in 1968 and i have been using calipers and micrometers on a daily basis since then. I really have only 2 calipers that I care for. The Chinese 6" dial calipers sold by Midway and many other companies for $20 have been excellent for the money. They are what I use in my reloading activities.
The other calipers that I like are the 8" Mitutoyo .100" per revolution dial calipers when my employer pays for them. I have had 3 of them at 3 different companies and they all were the best I ever handled. The reason for the 8" is they give you enough beam to grip even when measuring as long as a 4" long cartridge.

In the mean time I supervised the start up and daily operation of the metrology (calibration) lab at 2 companies. We junked a lot of Starrett dial calipers. They were over priced and easy to put out of commission. Many companies would not repair them and our technicians could not get the parts.

[kmw1954]

When I bought my Mitutoyo I was working for a company (Hills-McCanna) that was manufacturing ball valves, gate valves and butterfly valves that were going into nuclear reactors. These casting would come in sealed steel creates with padlocks on them. Here all other measuring devices, mic's, depth mic's, snap gauges were all issued and provided for by the tool room with each job. At the end of each shift QC would come by, lock the create and collect the measuring tools.

Reloading is nowhere near this critical. I have also used some of the new digital calipers and feel they are more than adequate to handle this task. Like anything else, treat them kindly and they should last. Abuse them and they will be toast.

[country gent]

I can remember when calipers didn't have knife edges for inside measurements but nubs on the jaws and you subtracted .200 from the reading. My one set of starret Vernier's have center points for setting dividers and or trammels also

[CastingFool]

My dad bought a Helios dial caliper back in '67 or' 68. He paid $29.95 for them. I still have them, and used them quite bit when I worked as a machinist. Shop where I worked, they kept track of personal measuring intruments and were checked by QC dept on a monthly basis. Never a problem with them.

[redhawk0]

I use Scherr Tumico micrometers. They were a Government contractors many years ago for the Military. I have two sets that both have a stamp of "Property of U.S. Gov't" on them. They are as accurate today as they were back in the 30's or 40's....I found them as US surplus on Ebay and didn't pay more than $24 for either of them. They came in a wooden box.

I have a set of Lyman Digital calipers. They are accurate enough for case length...but when I want to know the exact diameter of a component, I reach for the ST micrometer.

You do get what you pay for with tools. If you can find some ST micrometers they will serve you well even at the cheaper price....and they do make Calipers too. I just don't own one. (yet)

redhawk

[alamogunr]

I've got two Mitutoyo 6" dial calipers. I ended up with them when I retired. Everyone at work wanted digital readout(the "in" thing) so these just went into the excess box. I have a B&S micrometer and a Shure Tumico with the Property of US Gov box that I think I got off of Ebay. A couple of other mics such as a thickness mic w/the round flat faces and a blade micrometer. It doesn't take but one need to justify the odd ones.

I've been fortunate that I've never lent any to another person so they couldn't do the C clamp thing.

[Hdskip]

You can borrow many of my tools but never my measuring tools.

[JM7.7x58]

Brand of tool is not all that important. Many Chinese/harbor freight/grizzly/midway cheap calipers can give good service for the work we do. Some right out of the box, others after a disassembly, cleaning, deburring, and lubrication. I have both high dollar American calipers and imported low cost ones. I draw the line at plastic flexible calipers, no thank you, not in my shop.

Calibration is very important. As many have already stated, in government and industries that have rigid QA standards, tool calibration is a scheduled type of maintenance. Tools are tracked in databases. Calibration labs can be climate controlled, elaborate facilities or just a trailer where “Bill the QA guy” has a desk, a computer, and a set of standards.

We as hobbyist need a set of standards if we are going to calibrate our calipers and micrometers. For many of us this is going to involve getting a little creative. Gauge blocks will be easiest to procure, ring gauges are going to be a little more difficult.

Many of us will never check our tools. I’m comfortable checking my calipers against high speed tool steel cutting bits (as a gauge bock) that I have measured with my micrometer. I set my micrometer on the block and then use it to check the inside measurement function of my calipers. I check my micrometer with feeler gauges. For me this is the bare minimum.

And yes you should get a micrometer.

Here is a link to a how to video by Mitutoyo on caliper calibration. This is the real way to check your tools.
https://www.mitutoyo.com/mitutoyo-on...ate-a-caliper/

JM

[Clark]

5 of my top testing calipers are Mitutoyo.

My cousin designs digital calipers there, so I am biased.