Calipers

DustyRusty

DustyRusty

Member
Joined
Jan 14, 2020
Messages
291
Most of my life experience with calipers has been with reloading.
On the job some years back, we were almost given, chepie elecrtonic calipers by the tool salemen. I didn't use mine often, and when pulled out of the drawer, the batteies would be DEAD, .and a nightmare to change.
We threw the all away when the replacement calipers came.
So I really appriciated my 25 year old dial calipers at home on the reloading bench. Until they died yesterday. I have a pawn shop set that still has a 2015 calibration sticker on them for now.

So looking at another pair and some of the features of the digital in reloading applications caught my eye. This websight got me up to speed a bit.
www.youtube.com

Expensive vs Cheap Calipers | Are They Worth the Money?

Today we're going to look at three different calipers, ranging in price from less than $20 to more than $100. What are the differences, and is it worth the ...
www.youtube.com www.youtube.com

Have any of you found uses in reloading for those "features of the digital over dial?
 
Yes. You can zero out a digital caliper for the desired measurement you want. It makes it faster to see how much long or short things.

I am a little biased and won't buy cheap calipers from big box stores though. I retired as a journeyman machinist and journeyman tool and die maker. I stick with Brown and Sharp, Mitutoyo and Starrett precision measuring tools.
 
12Bravo20 said:
Yes. You can zero out a digital caliper for the desired measurement you want. It makes it faster to see how much long or short things.

I am a little biased and won't buy cheap calipers from big box stores though. I retired as a journeyman machinist and journeyman tool and die maker. I stick with Brown and Sharp, Mitutoyo and Starrett precision measuring tools.
Click to expand...



Same here. I use Mitutoyo and not digital.
Q
 
I like digitals until I need them and the battery is dead, good ones last a long time but are expensive. That said, calipers are for measurements when you don’t require the accuracy of better tools. So, if they check out with my micrometer standards/gauge pins, I trust even the cheap ones.

3A75CA6B-F788-4FDB-B3D7-B207E754F44D.jpeg

I have dials all over the place as well as caliper attachments to make them even more versatile (non reloading applications).


FWIW if you want to “zero” and get differential measurements +/- that zero, and you can’t just instantly do the math in your head, just turn the dial to zero with your “standard” in there.

image.jpg

Only ones that last longer than dials are vernier but they are not fun to use, even if you are used to them.
 
Tired of cheap digital calipers, batteries weren't the problem. They just quit working so I spent a little extra on some Mitutoyo's they have been great. Of course still have my dial type just in case.
 
DustyRusty said:
Most of my life experience with calipers has been with reloading ... really appriciated my 25 year old dial calipers at home

So looking at another pair ... Have any of you found uses in reloading for those "features of the digital over dial?
Click to expand...
Like verifying accuracy of scales with check weights in the weight range used, since caliper surfaces can wear at different spots, at the suggestion of many THR members I now verify accuracy of calipers using pin gages at calibers I am working with - https://www.thehighroad.org/index.p...-unlimited-budget.912629/page-2#post-12465906

Before getting the pin gages, I would verify calipers with feeler gages but of course, that's not the range we use for reloading.

When I got my 9mm (.355"), 40S&W (.400") and 45ACP (.451") pin gages, I checked my 20+ year old dial calipers with my eyes closed (For more consistent "feel" without "cheating") and readings were inconsistent. My Brown & Sharpe micrometer verified the pin gages consistently. Harbor Freight digital calipers going on about 10 years old was spot on with readings consistently with eyes closed and open. So I ordered a Frankford Arsenal dial calipers.

When the FA dial calipers arrived, I verified with pin gages with eyes closed and readings were consistent. I noticed the FA dial calipers did not have any play that my old dial calipers had.

Over the years, I was not able to verify Harbor Freight dial calipers consistently and did not recommend them for reloading. Older HF digital calipers were also reported by other THR members as consistent but there's report of concern over newer digital calipers so I definitely recommend you verify them with pin gages before using them for reloading.

After several years of use as primary bench calipers, FA dial calipers continues to verify pin gages and readings match that of Brown & Sharpe micrometer. Harbor Freight digital calipers is used less often as I keep the batteries out and I am quite happy with FA dial calipers.
 
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I have a set of Harbor Freight digital calipers that I have used for 15 years, still have the original battery that I have never removed, and work for 99% of what I need them for. They get used 2 or 3 times a week for the typical reloading measurements.

A few years ago I got a deal on a set of Mitutoyo digital calipers They are well worth the money, and still have the same battery. I use them when I really want to confirm what I'm measuring.
 
I have all 3 types. The Vernier type take a little practice to read and work better for those with young eyes. I use mine mostly as a straight edge. The dial type are plenty accurate for out purposes. The digital are faster to use and are easier to read. I had/have a $40 pair of digital calipers and they work ok but I have to remove the battery or it runs down. My Mitutoyo are are great. I would buy them from a machine shop supply as lots of Ebay stuff is counterfeit.

I have no experience with the reloading companies calipers. Hornady, Lyman and RCBC all sell a set.
 
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For vernier calipers, I have two Mitutoyo digitals and a dial, and a couple cheap, imported digitals which I keep mounted to anvils and bushing arbors for headspace and BTO kits - and now that I think about it, I'm pretty sure I have an RCBS dial kicking around somewhere... I almost exclusively reach for the digital Mit's, I can't recall the last time I even had the dial Mit's out, and I wouldn't use the imported/cheap branded versions (seems like I have a Hornady set and a Lyman, and they're identical other than the label) for anything of any importance, ever.
 
mkl said:
Mitutoyo has/had a patent on a battery saving feature for calipers etc, so the batteries on Mitutoyo calipers last significantly longer than the cheapies.
Click to expand...

That is interesting.
Why doesn't Brand X just put a switch on theirs? I mean a real switch with contacts not touching when off; the bump buttons are obviously not cutting completely off.

I don't really need a digital caliper, I can still read the dial, and I don't feel the urge to spend $115+ for a good digital.
(I have a good micrometer if I really want to know how wide something is... as long as it is not over an inch.)

By the way, what does a $700 digital get you?
 
I generally prefer my dial calipers, but some of my hobbies require frequent switching between inches, metric, and even fractions. I once ruined a thousand dollar project by screwing up the conversion math, so the digital calipers - with the different standards available via the push of a button - are seeing quite a bit of use these days.
 
Jim Watson said:
That is interesting.
Why doesn't Brand X just put a switch on theirs? I mean a real switch with contacts not touching when off; the bump buttons are obviously not cutting completely off.

I don't really need a digital caliper, I can still read the dial, and I don't feel the urge to spend $115+ for a good digital.
(I have a good micrometer if I really want to know how wide something is... as long as it is not over an inch.)

By the way, what does a $700 digital get you?
Click to expand...
The standard price on the Mitutoyo that I have is $170. That's almost double what I paid for my Lee Anniversary reloading kit 30 years ago, but now I have a Forster Co-ax, Redding and Forster dies, use Lapua brass and Berger bullets....see where this is headed? 😄

The quality of the caliper is worth it if you try to get consistent measurements. The cheap ones tend to get a little bit of stiction when fine adjustments are being made.
 
They are a bit harder to find but Mitutoyo makes a solar powered version of their digital calipers. No batteries to change. The only minor anoyance is in low lighting condition they might take up to 10 seconds to come on after coming out of the case. If you have a well lit reloading room you will never notice the startup.
 
When I started reloading again a few years ago I thought digital scale and digital calipers would be the best way to go. Needless to say they ended up in the garbage.
I use and trust a good beam scale at eye level and a decent set of dial calipers .
Buy quality and forget about it.
 
I had a cheapo digital caliper that worked well for years, but finally crapped out. Two more cheapos that didn’t work well later and I bought some nice Mitutoyo ones that do. I still have my old B&S and Mitutoyo dial calipers that work great, but digital is easy on the eyes.
 
I received 2 Mitutoyo digitals and 1 Mitutoyo dial from my father. They are all great calipers but the dial caliper is the one that is always ready to go whenever I pick it up.

One of my Mitutoyo digital calipers was used in a production environment and Mitutoyo sold a cable that replaced the battery and battery cover. The cable also put out a serial stream that could be read by computer and record the reading without the user having to type the reading in (1990's time frame). Neither of my 2 digital Mitutoyo calipers have battery covers because it was replaced by said cable. Hmmm.... time to do some googleing for a couple Mitutoyo caliper battery covers.


...Cool! 2 battery compartment covers for my Mitutoyo 500-136 calipers for $1.65 each, direct from Japan, through Amazon. There is a 2 month estimated shipping time but I have been using electrical tape for 25 years now.

...Darn! I found a Mitutoyo caliper manual and I was hoping to find some kind of auto-off function so my calipers aren't always dead when I need them. No luck, I can't find a feature like that.

 
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Beam scale and dial calipers for me. The Mitutoyo is over 40 years old and still works great. I bought it when I was working as a machinist. The Mitutoyo is kept in my garage toolbox and I use it for measuring stuff on equipment. I use the Starrett for reloading. Anyone have any 40+ year old digital calipers?

5yoUhQwl.jpg
 
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