budget digi vernier calipers?

[steveo3002]

ive got a set of set of the £10 aldi digi verniers and theyre awfull quality , the slide action is as rough as bears bum

is there something in the budget end thats a little better , i dont need crazy levels of accuracy , just a nicer feel when using them really

 

[711jrp]

I'd go for a second hand Mitutoyo pair on the bay, you can get them for around £30.

 

[Fazerruss]

I once got a generic cheapo set from netto for a tenner and they're actually quite nice. Luck of the draw I think.

 

[PTvor]

Mine were £7 from Lidl seven years ago. They are used about once a week and are on the second battery. The slide action is smooth enough and l find there's nothing wrong with them at all.

Some people have had the cheapies and found they have fallen to bits, eat batteries or are all over the place as far as zeroing and repeatability are concerned. As Fazeruss says, it seems like the luck of the draw.

 

[brightspark]

i have a few sets smooth to run verry acurate the better quality ones have a slower travel movement on the rack the cheapies are a bit fast

 

[gordon stephenson]

I have a good Mitutoyo and another I bought from RGD ?. It had 4 buttons as opposed to the usual 3, Its been excellent, The really cheapies iv had also could not stand up to being left in a damp garage despite being wrapped in anti-rust paper (they lost the display) and I tried the usual methods of drying out to no avail.

 

[Wallace]

Moore & Wright do a digital calliper range that is cheaper than Mitutoyo if you want new, I just bought one recently and it's pretty good. There's no vernier scale on a digital caliper either.

 

[brightspark]

i have 3 pair of mitutoyoimperial dial calipers. i prefer using them rather than digital . the advantage of using digital is though u can convert from metric to imperial and zero measurements when doing cuts on lathe

 

[Shox Dr]

I'd go for a second hand Mitutoyo pair on the bay, you can get them for around £30.

I would never buy second hand, unless I knew the person. You don't know how they have been treated. For a start why are they selling them

I've a set of Kennedy Digi's, there is a very small nick in the track, that causes an error between 2.7-2.8mm I only found out when I was reshiming a bike motor, and the readings didn't agree with the shim dims.

 

[brewdexta]

I bought a Moore and Wright 150mm digi caliper recently, much better quality and precision than the no brand cheapies and not much more dosh.

I still have a very cheap set of plastic digital calipers with a cracked screen that I use for rough sizing of material etc. That way the better ones don't get unnecessary hammer.

 

[brightspark]

there ok for 99 percent of jobs but if u want accuracy use a micrometer and if you realy need and can afford them buy a set of gauge blocks to test your equipment http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gauge_block

 

[brewdexta]

Some micrometers come with test blocks, when I bought the caliper I bought a M&W micrometer at the same time, I think that came with a test block.

I agree with Dave about second hand measurement kit, although I have some that's OK, I bought a second hand DTI recently that was way out, stiff and generally crap. I've learnt my lesson.

 

[Wallace]

I looked at s/h Mitutoyo then decided on a new Moore & Wright Value Series for the same reasons Shox Dr mentioned above. Like Brewdextra I also use a cheap Chinese digi caliper for rough work to save the good one and as Brightspark say the micrometers come out when necessary. Had my s/h imperial Shardlow vernier micrometer since 1979.

 

[MattF]

For the type of accuracy being asked for in the original post, shouldn't really matter if they're slightly under par by the sounds of it, so second hand should be a feasible option? End of the day, how many use them generally just as close match tolerance tools and then do any final fit tuning by mating parts etc., or just don't need crazy levels of accuracy on most parts made? Even a decent quality but iffy reading caliper is merely akin to using a more simply adjusted version of the old style tap leg calipers.

 

[optima21]

silly question,but have you tried adjusting the slides,they should have some small screws in them for adjustment

 

[Jan]

Mine (bought from Netto about ten years ago) are still going strong and slide as smooth as teflon on ice. I just have to remember to remove the battery when not in use as the 'OFF' button only switches off the LCD display, but the rest of the electronics are still energised. If I don't the battery can drain flat in a few weeks of non use.

 

[waldershelf]

I bought one of the Lidl gauges a few years ago and its absolutely fine it works as it should. As a matter of interest I asked the standards guy at the place I was working to test it with the traceable standards gauge blocks alongside the much more expensive ones the company bought. It turned out to be just as accurate although I doubt the build quality would stand up to the steelworks environment as well as the more expensive units. The lidl one I bought is mostly metal with a plastic body for the electronics rather than the all plastic ones, I have no experience of those.

 

[steveo3002]

silly question,but have you tried adjusting the slides,they should have some small screws in them for adjustment

will take another look , cant say ive noticed anything they really are as rough as nails , pains me to use em lol

 

[Mr shiney]

I bit the bullet and bought Mitoyo. Delighted with them.

 

[711jrp]

I would never buy second hand, unless I knew the person. You don't know how they have been treated. For a start why are they selling them

I've always bought stuff like this second hand and have always been lucky, I'm of a mind that engineering types look after their tools and if it looks well cared for (in the box with papers) then it normally is, but I guess it is a gamble somewhat other than the fact eBay will refund you if it's described wrongly.