calipers

[trixter]

So how much do you have to spend to get an accurate caliper, my Harbor Freight Pittsburgh caliper is OFF by quite a bit, can I find an accurate one (hf) there or do I need to step up, and how far money wise?

[JSnover]

I have Brown & Sharpe, Starrett and Mitutoyo in my shop but for home use you don't need to spend more than $100. Try SPI or Fowler.

[OS OK]

Suggest buying a set that includes a micrometer also.

[big bore 99]

I'm a retired tool and die maker/mold maker with 48 years experience, 25 of that in my own shop. Years ago we all invested in name brand dial calipers, Starret, Brown and Sharpe etc. A measuring tool is only as accurate to one division, which would be a thousandth. Now a days the good imports are, sadly to say, as good as any. Towards the end of my career, I bought the Harbor Freight imports and left them laying around where ever I might need one. You can find them now for as low as 15.00 these days. Look for stainless steel construction and a covered rack so junk doesn't get in the gear teeth, causing it to skip over them. They are good for measuring over all lengths of cases and finished lengths. For measuring bullet and case diameters, get a decent 1" micrometer with carbide jaws, friction thimble and .0001 reading and learn to use it. I'm sure there is all kinds of tutorials on the web. Imports are also as good. Get into the habit of closing them lightly on a piece of paper to clean the jaws and then checking 'zero' and adjust if necessary. You can buy all American made tools, but it's sad to say, imports are sufficient for what we do, if adjusted and used correctly.

[Mica_Hiebert]

I paid I think 40 bux for lyman calipers at hell-mart, I never consider calipers "accurate" I prefer micrometers for measuring. Drives nuts when some one at work grabs a caliper to measure tooling!

[JonB_in_Glencoe]

Calipers are fine for measuring Case length and such, but for measuring boolits and lead slugs, only a micrometer will do, IMHO. I prefer the mechanical digital, instead of battery operated. If you can find a China one that functions properly, it'll do. But, the more you spend, the better they get.

This is probably the next step up from a China one
http://www.amazon.com/Fowler-Microme...CHA9D9T6PR7PFD

Sometimes you can find a Starrett or Mitutoyo at a pawn shop for cheap.

[country gent]

It depends on what you want vernieers, dials, or digitals in calipers. Vernieers can be hard to read and see the lines on but are accurate and dependable used correctly. My eyes even with glasses require a magnifying glass to read the scale. Dials are next and are good accurate insterments but dust dirt crud in the rack can affect them. SOme are stiff and on the bulky side. Digitals can be very accurate and simple easy to use newer models battery life can be over a year now. The are smooth and comfortable to use. Some can be zeroed any where along the beam. Most will switch between standard and metric with the push of a button. Ive used digitals for many years both in industry and at home. I perfer mitityos and have both 6" and 12" here. Starrets are good and accurate, Brown and Sharpes again are good ( my set had a white case showing any dirty finger prints) they could be zeroed along beam and a plus minus setting. red light for out green for go. A set of standards is handy to check zeros and that insterment is accurate along its full range. Check at 1" 2" 3" 4" out to full 6" range. We would set digitals to gage block stack and then use to measure when this is done your zeroed at mean dimension and get + / - what its off. Ive used fowler mikes and they were accurate calipers can be purchased from many sources. Watch craigs lists estate sales garage sales news papers and such alot of retired tradesmen sell off thier tools pretty cheap.

[dverna]

Another vote for the Fowler. Not expensive and decent tool. BTW, I have a couple of the HF calipers and find them OK. Maybe you just got a bad one.

[MT Chambers]

I use Starrett for both calipers and micrometer.

[Jeff Michel]

I'm a retired tool and die maker/mold maker with 48 years experience, 25 of that in my own shop. Years ago we all invested in name brand dial calipers, Starret, Brown and Sharpe etc. A measuring tool is only as accurate to one division, which would be a thousandth. Now a days the good imports are, sadly to say, as good as any. Towards the end of my career, I bought the Harbor Freight imports and left them laying around where ever I might need one. You can find them now for as low as 15.00 these days. Look for stainless steel construction and a covered rack so junk doesn't get in the gear teeth, causing it to skip over them. They are good for measuring over all lengths of cases and finished lengths. For measuring bullet and case diameters, get a decent 1" micrometer with carbide jaws, friction thimble and .0001 reading and learn to use it. I'm sure there is all kinds of tutorials on the web. Imports are also as good. Get into the habit of closing them lightly on a piece of paper to clean the jaws and then checking 'zero' and adjust if necessary. You can buy all American made tools, but it's sad to say, imports are sufficient for what we do, if adjusted and used correctly.

I think this ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ just good advice.

[JWT]

You can get Starrett on ebay for decent prices. Why buy new import tools when you can own and use a classic.

[marlinman93]

I have two dial calipers. Starrett and Mitutoyo. The Mitutoyo is a larger pair that goes up to 8". I bought both used, but in perfect condition. Paid $20 for the Starrett, and $25 for the Mitutoyo. If you check around Fleabay, or gun shows, you can find high quality used dial calipers very cheap.

[Omega]

I have a dial caliper from Midway and two of the HF digital one, one I have the Hornady bullet comparator attached semi permanently and the other I use off and on for OAL and stuff. Every now and then I compare between them and find only negligible difference. I also have a couple micrometers, starrets and B&S, which I also compared them to and again, not enough difference to matter. I think with HF it's hit and miss on some things, I just got lucky, twice.

[country gent]

At work new calipers ( all measuring tools actually) Had to go threw gage and layout to be certified for ISO standards complance. Starrets, Browne and Sarpes, Mititoyos, helios And a couple others almost always passed the harbor frieghts, encos, and bargin brands seldom did. But this certification required all measurements to be accurate and to gage blocks. Depth both rod and jaws, inside and outside measurements. I have a set of starret vernier calipers still 24" I dont use them enough to justify replacing them, and they have the point sets for setting dividers and tramels in the jaws. New ones dont have this feature any more. A good set of calipers can do alot and be very accurate. Learning the feel and touch to use them makes a big diffrence.

[JSnover]

If you're not in a hurry and you don't mind buying used, post a Want To Buy in the S&S section. I had great luck last year putting together a set of 0-4" micrometers that way.

[PaulG67]

So how much do you have to spend to get an accurate caliper, my Harbor Freight Pittsburgh caliper is OFF by quite a bit, can I find an accurate one (hf) there or do I need to step up, and how far money wise?

They are adjustable. You are aware of that right? With the jaws closed loosen the screw holding the bezel and rotate to achieve zero. Assuming of course you are talking about dial calipers,

[EDG]

My experience is similar to big bore's. Five years as a machinist while going to college then 40 years as an engineer in manufacturing companies. It included setting up the metrology lab at 2 companies and buying a lot of measuring equipment and machine tools.
I really liked the 8" Mitutoyo dial caliper with .100 per revolution because my hands are pretty big. I had several sets at different companies and they always worked perfectly.
Early on I had the Brown and Sharp made by Helios. They were ok but not as good as the Mitutoyos. I used vernier calipers at home until my eyes got so old I could not read them.
So I bought a $20 set of Midway calipers about 15 years ago and they have worked perfectly. I am much happier with the no brand Midways than I ever was with the Helios.
Starretts are not so good these days. You can check with Long Island Indicator Service. The metrology tech that worked for me at 2 different companies did not like many of the calipers for the same reason as Long Island Indicator mentions. No one wants to repair the expensive calipers so it is more of a case of having throw away calipers or you have multiple calipers that you repair by cannibalizing the dead. My cheap Midway calipers have been checked with micrometer standards and jo blocks up to 4 inches and is never off even .001.
Like he says buy a good micrometer. Ask any of us and we can make recommendations. There are a lot of older but almost never used mikes that you can pick up for $5 to $25 that will last your life time. I have a small mike collection and I have gotten some ridiculous good deals because I spent a little time and learned what to look for and what to pay.
Examples
I got one of the very heavy duty Starrett 0-1 #238. The mike is probably a 1940s to 1950s instrument and has had a lot of heavy use. But due to its heavy duty construction is still accurate Price It was one of 3 mikes that I got for $10 so $3.33.
I also got a very usable 1-2 Slocomb and a Reed 0-1 in good condition as part of that buy.
I got a top of the line TESA 0-1 for $12. The Swiss made Etalon is the same tool as the TESA with a different shape frame and they have a cult like following so they are hard to buy in perfect condition and with a low price. The TESA and ETALON mikes have a little easier to read thimble vernier because the thimble is marked in .0005 increments.
The old Reed brand is basically available in 3 different brands Reed, Tubular Micrometer (Tumico) and Scherr-Tumico. There are a LOT of military surplus new in the box 0 to 1 Scherr Tumicos on the market. Sometimes they are very cheap say down to $15. The Tumico and Reeds can be bought for less than $10 if you know what to look for. I got one Reed that was like new from a low humidity state (Colorado) and the mike was probably 70 years old and was in perfect condition.
Brown and Sharp's main line of mikes are very good. The inexpensive Brown and Sharp models I would avoid. Modern Swiss made Brown and Sharpes come from the same factory as some of the TESA and Etalon models.
If you want Japanese there are several good brands with Mitutoyo the most popular. Others that work well when in good condition are NGK and TOYO Seiki.
Their run of the mill mikes are ok if in good condition. Mitutoyos have a top quality reputation and people tend to over pay for them so there is competition for the good deals on these mikes.

Mitutoyo makes an excellent fat thimble non-rotating spindle mike called the 106-102. They are hard to find and very expensive. They are an over kill for what we do. I have one that I got very cheap because it looks pretty much like an ordinary mike to the untrained eye but they are not ordinary. The fat barrel allows you to read the .0001 scale much easier without any parallax.

The German Mahr mikes are also an over kill but they are superb mikes. Mauser (yep) made excellent mikes but they are hard to find in inch increments. They are good if you want a metric mike though. There are some other German tools that are very good and some that do not measure up to the German reputation of top quality. Some of the mikes are nearly junk. Many times they will say made in West Germany. If you look at enough mikes like you look at rifles you will start to recognize the attention to detail and finish of the better mikes.
The Polish VIS is often marketed under other names but it is decent mike and they are often cheap. Watch out for Fowler mikes. They can be excellent or they can be some brand that is fresh hatched in China. If you bid on a European mike be very careful where it is shipped from. There are dealers from Ukraine and Israel. I assume you will get your mike but the shipping may cost more than the mike.

Most of Starretts are good mikes though some have been beat to death. The problem with Starretts is they are only a very good mike - not the best. They have an almost religious fanatic following in the US and people tend to pay about 150% of what they are worth compared to other mikes. If you get a good deal on a nearly new condition mike - go for it.
But usually the Starretts that are competitively priced will be some corroded, battered, worn out old dog. For the cost of a Starrett you can often buy a nearly new mike of one of the other brands. PM me if you need more information on micrometers.

Here is 200 pages of micrometer photos identified by brand name.

http://cofes.com/Portals/0/COFES_201...ICROMETERS.pdf

I'm a retired tool and die maker/mold maker with 48 years experience, 25 of that in my own shop. Years ago we all invested in name brand dial calipers, Starret, Brown and Sharpe etc. A measuring tool is only as accurate to one division, which would be a thousandth. Now a days the good imports are, sadly to say, as good as any. Towards the end of my career, I bought the Harbor Freight imports and left them laying around where ever I might need one. You can find them now for as low as 15.00 these days. Look for stainless steel construction and a covered rack so junk doesn't get in the gear teeth, causing it to skip over them. They are good for measuring over all lengths of cases and finished lengths. For measuring bullet and case diameters, get a decent 1" micrometer with carbide jaws, friction thimble and .0001 reading and learn to use it. I'm sure there is all kinds of tutorials on the web. Imports are also as good. Get into the habit of closing them lightly on a piece of paper to clean the jaws and then checking 'zero' and adjust if necessary. You can buy all American made tools, but it's sad to say, imports are sufficient for what we do, if adjusted and used correctly.

[6bg6ga]

When I worked in the factory before it closed I was a plant inspector for one shift. I had to use calipers both with and without a dial from 6" to 24'' as well as mics and all the assorted gauge blocks and pin gauges. I could never teach and get all the machine operators and brake operators schooled in the proper usage of calipers and micrometers. Most wanted to use them as vices. You probably know what I'm about to say here. Pressing the calipers a little harder might result in a favorable reading that was within the tolerances. Mics as I viewed them by these people took a hell of a beating. To be blunt... the instrument is only as good as the person using it. Another thought by me.... I can get along with a $3 pair of plastic non dial calipers and obtain a correct reading I can also use a pair of Harbor Freight calipers and obtain a correct reading. My harbor freight calipers will obtain the same reading as my Mits or Starrett do. Depth however is a different story for my calipers. As pointed out the racks need to be kept clean and care must be exercised as to not spring the jaws and the instrument will provide results within .001

[JSnover]

EDG:
"So I bought a $20 set of Midway calipers about 15 years ago and they have worked perfectly. I am much happier with the no brand Midways than I ever was with the Helios."

Ditto.
My $20 'Midway' (Chinese) 6" dial caliper lasted 20 years and was within .001" right up until someone knocked it off the bench (I swear it wasn't me) and damaged the frame.

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Here are some of my measuring tools, dating from the mid 60's, (last century for all you children), to a 2 year old set of digital calipers. My eyes gave out before the Brown & Sharpe calipers, they are still in great shape. Don't know, or care, where the digital calipers were made, I bought them at ALDI's grocery store. They are accurate enough for puttering around in the music/reloading room, and I can see the numbers.

Have a blessed day, Leon