Need to pick up a Dial Caliper. 6" probably. Home Depot has plastic ones, and harbor freight has, well, harbor freight ones. What brand/where should I purchase a good, accurate caliper that isnt going to be used on nasa projects? budget is less than $75. Thanks beeb
Autozone carries one from General. Reasonable quality. Not expensive. They are no less accurate then my Mitutoyo 6" caliper.
Less than $75 I would look at ebay used Mitutoyo. Japanese brand, fantastic quality. New $75 ones will not be accurate, and the build quality will disappoint. Cheap tools are always cheaply made. I would allow a slightly larger budget and get a good used one.
ebay shows some dial mitutoyo used to be less than 75... and some new ones just under 100. i will only use this a few times a year, will be stored safely the rest of the year. mainly for reloading purposes, checking total shell length and neck diameters.
With an accuracy of +/-.001 repeatability you are only getting so accurate with them anyway. Absolute Digital Caliper, 0 to 6 In MITUTOYO ItemAbsolute Electronic Digital Caliper MaterialStainless Steel Resolution0.0005"/0.01mm Range0 to 6"/0 to 150mm Jaw Depth1.57" SPC OutputNo Accuracy+/-0.001" CaseMolded Plastic FeaturesRolling Thumb Wheel, Control Buttons on Face, Zero, On/Off and Inch/mm, Absolute Scales
i dont fabricate or touch engines on my bikes... but i'm coming into some reloading equipment as i downsize my parents into a smaller place. his calipers are "junk" according to him.
Amazon has a Starrett for $80. We use all Mitutoyo at work, but Starrett is good quality as well. http://www.amazon.com/Starrett-3202...qid=1436882935&sr=1-4&keywords=6+dial+caliper
I was going to say Starrett too. They can get pricy though. I have an RCBS for reloading that reads in .001 of an inch. I think it was around 40. http://www.starrett.com/metrology/m...isplayMode=grid&itemsPerPage=24&sortBy=wp/asc A bunch of options here if you don't mind inches as the scale. http://www.midwayusa.com/find?newcategorydimensionid=1174
Thanks for the input guys, didnt even think to check midway. looks like i have some options to inspect before i pull the trigger.
Got one from blue point about 10 years ago, works well enough for what im using it for. I don't do any machining so im not too concerned with a few thousandths off.
Harbor Freight are surprisingly good, and you don't worry about dropping them in a EDM tank. If you want a bit of toolmaker status/bling, Mahr has some very nice stuff made in Germany and usually close to the same price as Mit.
+1 on Harbor Freight digital. I have a manual dial caliper I paid over $120 for back in 1988. I didn't want them getting ruined at the track, so I tried the harbor freight digital one and they read the same or within .001. I always just make sure to zero out before starting. Plus the digital is easier to read.
Sorry, was trying to read the Beeb and pay attention in a meeting at the same time. Used Mit and good like said above.
I've got a Starrett SAE dial that I inherited from my grandfather, works great. I have two different digital ones that I'm about ready to bin. When they work, they work great, but it's almost guaranteed when I want to use them the batteries are toast or about to fail. One is a Kobalt from Lowes, the other is a General branded unit IIRC. I think part of it is they both 'auto turn on' if they think you've moved the calipers and there's no way to disable that function on either. Are the Mitutoyos any better on that front?
FWIW the hard to find batteries for these things are the same as the Night Bobby Float in your fishing section at Wally World. http://www.walmart.com/ip/Generic-A77-Rod-N-Bobb-s-Batteries-for-Night-Bobby-Float/16877751
I use fowler calipers and micrometers. I honestly have no idea what I paid for mine though as it was years ago. I don't remember the standard ones being to bad but the machinist ones that go down to the .0001 range were pricy.
