What type of calipers should a Home Shop Machinist buy?

HMF

HMF

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Hi Guys

Calipers are cheap, or expensive.
I have several of both digital, and dial. They both have issues in the shop. Dial calipers dont like getting the grit in the rack. The others dont like oil and coolant. battery life is a problem with the cheapo calipers.

I have found over the yrs, that if I drop a caliper of any kind. I drop it twice, the second time in the trash can! As 99% of the time they are f ed. I had the wife pick up a few didgital calipers for me. She is stationed out of Texas, has been for the last 9 months. Anyway, she brings home Snap-on calipers.
I thought holy crap, how much were these? She showed me the bill, and I was shocked. They were cheap over there, compared to what any Snap-on product is here in Canada.

The New Snap=On calipers Ive had now since last fall, have yet to kill a battery, and if you leave them on, they have a auto shut off. Even when I take them out of the case, they also have a auto turn on. They are stored out in the shop, even in winter months, and still the batterys live.

Calipers are good for rough measurment, otherwise I use Mics

Paul
 
I can't say what you Should buy . . I can tell you what I have been using. The calipers I've been using for many years are dial types first made by a Swiss company called Tesa Metrology (Tesa model 05.20002). My first set was by Tesa. This exact same caliper was later sold in the USA by Brown & Sharpe (model #599-579-5). I have two sets of these one Tesa, one B&S, one on my workbench, one on my drawing table. They are crisp, precise, easy to read, and have never failed me. I've had two sets of electronic calipers, not cheap ones either, and both were occasionally erratic, imprecise, and eventually failed. I never felt confident in the electronics.
 
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Ed,
They have served me well so far . . . and I figure they have 20+ years yet to go. The burden will be put on me not to DROP them! The price wasn't all that bad, less than $70 when I bought them, but still pricey for the time . . . but the pain of price stings but once, the joy of a fine tool lasts forever ( . . well almost.)
 
mnmh,
My brother-in-law uses mics for rough measuring and sets thickness by radio waves, of course he has to set the crystals for radio frequency by thickness. This is not a standard for regular machinist though. He does have some odd ball equipment at work, something not too many shops have. Maybe some radio guys here can relate to this.
Paul
 
Used to be that Amateurs tweaked their own crystals regularly. Lapping is one way it is done in the shack. Micrometers get you close, but you must oscillate them and check the frequency, typically with a GDO. OT, of course. ;)
 
Tony,
His lapping machine is 6'-0" dia. I just use dial calibers for everything, works good for what I do. I bought those years ago and still work great, I used to get them checked offen because of ISO9000 and never had a problem, but don't remember the name of them. I used to desigh tooling for the shop that I worked for and also design and modify equipment for the shop. Retired now so they don't get too much use until I get my lathe back together. Mic's are ok if you need them.
Paul
 
Paul, calipers - both dial and digital - have their place. I find that in my work, I use my 12" dials more than anything. When I need to work closer than I trust them, I have other instruments to use. Sometimes though, calipers of any kind aren't up to the task. Inside grooves, for one example. But then, that's why our tool boxes tend to get larger and larger. :)

What type of lapping does he do, when he's not working on crystals? That's a fair sized machine.
 
Tony,
He just works on crystals mostly, but sometime he does flywheels, clutch plates ect. He runs the place so he does what he wants. I hate to work with him because he takes too long, everything has to be perfect, which is good in a way, but there is a limit. He should work for NASA, the space shuttle would still be in the shop (the first one) LOL
Paul
 
Well, hey.......maybe there wouldn't have been O-ring problems if he was involved! Sometimes it's good to be a perfectionist. I remember an early job I had where the foreman would get mad because I took an "extra" pass to bring a part closer to nominal when it was already in print. In is In, he said....which of course is true, but Closer is Better, I say! ;)
 
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