• Hi all and welcome to TheWoodHaven2 brought into the 21st Century, kicking and screaming! We all have Alasdair to thank for the vast bulk of the heavy lifting to get us here, no more so than me because he's taken away a huge burden of responsibility from my shoulders and brought us to this new shiny home, with all your previous content (hopefully) still intact! Please peruse and feed back. There is still plenty to do, like changing the colour scheme, adding the banner graphic, tweaking the odd setting here and there so I have added a new thread in the 'Technical Issues, Bugs and Feature Requests' forum for you to add any issues you find, any missing settings or just anything you'd like to see added/removed from the feature set that Xenforo offers. We will get to everything over the coming weeks so please be patient, but add anything at all to the thread I mention above and we promise to get to them over the next few days/weeks/months. In the meantime, please enjoy!

Tool Recommendation

T

tabs

New Shoots
Joined
Dec 2, 2014
Messages
146
Reaction score
0
Location
Wigan
My lad needs Vernier Callipers for his EPQ project, hes disigning and manufacturing tennis string dampeners. I don't have a set so need recommendations,(I've just had a quick google and some of the ones I've seen have been slated) preferably digital and good quality. However if there are some non digital that are accurate and a large price difference between them and the digital ones that would be fine.

Cheers if you can help guys.
 
I think this video might help from Peter Parfitt.

[youtube]C9sI0N59SYM[/youtube]
 
I have all three main types - digital, dial and vernier. Of the three the ones I reach for are the dial calipers, as they are easy to read and don't have a battery (which runs out on my digital calipers even when they are switched off and in the case).
 
Thanks Malcolm ,that helps a lot.Will make sure he watches it.
 
selectortone":2onvvj0o said:
I have all three main types - digital, dial and vernier. Of the three the ones I reach for are the dial calipers, as they are easy to read and don't have a battery (which runs out on my digital calipers even when they are switched off and in the case).
Click to expand...


Any recommendations on manufacturers Terry? Are the ones form Aximinster any good?
 
I have a manual vernier caliper that I've had for years and rarely use (you need really good eyesight!) and a few digital vernier calipers that I do use.
From back when I was working I have a Mitutoyo digital caliper that cost a fortune and gives measurements I trust. Unfortunately during its working life one of the internal measurement prongs was damaged so it is external only now. I've used the mitutoyo to check the various cheap calipers that I've since bought and not found an accuracy problem with any of them.

The difference comes with the look and feel of quality and the cheap ones don't have that. They measure OK but don't slide as smoothly and the plastic parts look cheap.

I don't know what EPQ is but if it isn't something that demands calibration certificates for measuring instruments just get a budget digital caliper with decent reviews.

This was the last one I bought

https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00BP1A3JG/ ... JVAB3CIYYE

It's typical of the cheap calipers. Accuracy seems ok but action is a little stiff when new. It auto powers off which is nice and remembers where it was as soon as you start using it again. Oh and it is still on the original battery after 1 year.

If we are talking a school type project I wouldn't even rule out the all plastic digital calipers for £5 or less. Just have something you can check it against.
 
Thanks Robert. EPQ stands for Exended Project Qualification and is something they do alongside A levels, its worth half an A level itself and you can do a research paper on any topic or produce something. My son has chosen to produce Bespoke Tennis String Dampers using CAD and 3D printing so measurements needed to be fairly accurate.
 
tabs":2a8h6grn said:
Any recommendations on manufacturers Terry? Are the ones form Aximinster any good?
Click to expand...

Mitutoyo are the benchmark. I'm sure the Axminster ones are fine. If you're buying on a budget there are lots used on ebay, just make sure you buy metric ones, many of the older ones are imperial. I often see them on gumtree too.
 
selectortone":3myu0aok said:
I have all three main types - digital, dial and vernier. Of the three the ones I reach for are the dial calipers, as they are easy to read and don't have a battery (which runs out on my digital calipers even when they are switched off and in the case).
Click to expand...

I’ve half a dozen sets of digital calipers & have found on at least 3 that the battery goes flat even when turned off, I was told that this was because there is still a small drain on the battery when switched off, the easy solution is to remove the battery when not in use though fortunately the others I have don’t have this problem so I tend to favour those.

In response to the OP as has been suggested Mitutoyo are as good as you’ll get but if they are out of you price range be sure to shop around I bought an identical digital depth gauge to the one Axminster were selling at the time for half the price, as with most things these days they tend to be made in China & the retailers price bears little resemblance to the quality of the item.
 
Batteries going flat is a common occurrence on the cheaper digital calipers. The batteries last ages on my Mitutoyo’s.
 
Batteries going flat or not will depend to a greater or less extent on the on/off switch mechanism. On my caliper from Axminster, for example, it is a push button which requires power all the time in order to tell when the button is pressed to turn it on!

Others might have a mechanical slide or toggle switch that has a definite open circuit in the power feed thus ensuring that the battery is not being drained- albeit by a small amount - when 'off'.
 
As a by the by, last Christmas, on the recommendation of a couple of members on UKW, I bought a Proops Metric Dial Caliper (D8010) via Amazon which cost £15 and I’ve been very happy with it (no battery problems and easy to read). I see that these are currently unavailable from Amazon but they do have a Draper-Expert-52417-Dial-Caliper for £32 which seems to get good reviews.
 
You can find that Mitutoyo on Amazon for £84.99 and can compare the pictures. There are subtle differences (the triangle arrow on the battery cover for a start) so it is definitely fake.

As said before I'd just buy a cheap one with good reviews on Amazon

Maybe this £16 one or similar https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MAY5ECH/ ... il_2?psc=1

reviews are OK and it has a thumbwheel and locking screw - which is good to have.
 
Seriously though...I have no idea what a tennis string damper is but surely the accuracy (0.1mm) of most digital calipers is good enough ? I've used several from Axminster for woodworking and have never had cause to question their accuracy.
 
The one marked mitutoyo does not have the usual marking of "absolute" on the battery cover so could be a knock off.
The axminster one has the cover for the data port but they make no mention of this feature in the catalogue which might be a useful feature if the data needs collecting by a computer for example.

Bob
 
Robert":3fmjb1h5 said:
You can find that Mitutoyo on Amazon for £84.99 and can compare the pictures. There are subtle differences (the triangle arrow on the battery cover for a start) so it is definitely fake.

As said before I'd just buy a cheap one with good reviews on Amazon

Maybe this £16 one or similar https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B01MAY5ECH/ ... il_2?psc=1

reviews are OK and it has a thumbwheel and locking screw - which is good to have.
Click to expand...


Thanks Robert, I've sent for the linked one from Amazon , reviews seem OK and for the accuracy needed it should do the job ok.
 
Just spotted a Kennedy Vernier for sale in Teignmouth for £15 in Marketplace on Facebook.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top