vernier caliper

julianthegypsy · Jul 1, 2016

ronan said:
The cold kills the Aldi calipers. I've had a few and they all died when the weather went cold. I didn't bother with them after that.

I've had a couple of pairs, they last a year then they tell you its time to start lighting the woodburner. Regular as clockwork around the end of October. New battery from Poundland and they're ready for another year. Finally die after about four years in a freezing shop.
I was disappointed with a set I got of fleabay though, I liked them because they did inch fractions as well as thou and mm which I found very handy, but they packed up very quickly and new batteries didn't help.

daleyd · Jul 1, 2016

I had a set of Moore and Wright digital ones, on offer from a decent tool supplier but they lasted about 18 months and then packed up. They also went through batteries at a rate of knots if the batteries were left in. Although they had the name Moore and Wright on they seemed generic far eastern calipers, I guess the price reflected this. I paid about £30 for them - lesson learned, if I want cheap ones then no point spending more than a tenner at Aldi/Lidl, if I want expensive ones I'll buy Mititoyu/Starrett or "proper" Moore and Wright.

ronan · Jul 1, 2016

I don't think there is any such thing as Moore and Wright anymore, its just far eastern stuff with the name printed on it.

daleyd · Jul 1, 2016

ronan said:
I don't think there is any such thing as Moore and Wright anymore, its just far eastern stuff with the name printed on it.

You could well be correct there Ronan, though I thought they still did some decent quality stuff but haven't looked for a while...

Wedg1e · Jul 1, 2016

Pete. said:
At two decimal places of what? Millimetres? That's less than half a thou and most digi calipers don't resolve to that let alone being accurate. If you mean two decimals in inch terms yeah I'll buy that. Certainly I wouldn't expect sub-thou accuracy across the reading range even though it apparently resolves to 5 tenths.

There's also a problem with checking calipers using parallels or gauge blocks and that is when you close the jaws on the block, that tends to square the caliper jaws against the piece you're checking it with, removing or at least vastly reducing any error from slack in the sliding mechanism. Easy to get good repeatability. Now go and measure something round or small near the tip and the jaws are no longer held square. This is where the fit and finish makes a difference.

Most digi calipers read two DP... e.g. 99.99mm, whether Aldi or Mitutoyo, as I say at that level they're all much the same. The principle when calibrating is you go to at least one DP further in the resolution and precision of your standards; our gauge blocks are certified to 5 DP (have to take coefficient of linear thermal expansion into account).
It's a pants idea to use caliper tips anyway as the knife edges mean you can't be sure you're square on the part - and the tips wear, leverage effect etc. etc.
I have C&G/ NPL L1 in Metrology, I'm already heading for elbow patches and a beard, L2 involves adding a pipe and Volvo

...and yes, our cal lab is maintained at 20 +/- 1 degree. Under UKAS I also have to check every instrument, at the start of any day they might be used, against a range of gauge blocks and not just record the fact that they were checked but record the actual measurements obtained. It gets a bit monotonous writing strings of zeros and I lose an hour of productive time when I might measure one part all day. Ludicrous, but as more companies demand the mystical UKAS traceability, the more we'll all have to do it. If I scribble some calculations on a bit of paper than I have to keep that bit of paper on file as well... can't eat or drink in the lab as it might affect temperature or humidity.
Machine shops get a bit miffed when I go back and tell them that their milling machines (or at least the parts they make) are inaccurate

Pete. · Jul 1, 2016

Using a three decimal standard to check a two decimal caliper doesn't improve your results if the caliper is happy to show .05 when measuring anything from .045 to .055.

Wedg1e · Jul 1, 2016

Pete. said:
Using a three decimal standard to check a two decimal caliper doesn't improve your results if the caliper is happy to show .05 when measuring anything from .045 to .055.

True, but that goes for any of them

Richard. · Jul 1, 2016

daleyd said:
I had a set of Moore and Wright digital ones, on offer from a decent tool supplier but they lasted about 18 months and then packed up. They also went through batteries at a rate of knots if the batteries were left in. Although they had the name Moore and Wright on they seemed generic far eastern calipers, I guess the price reflected this. I paid about £30 for them - lesson learned, if I want cheap ones then no point spending more than a tenner at Aldi/Lidl, if I want expensive ones I'll buy Mititoyu/Starrett or "proper" Moore and Wright.

Mine are Moore Wright had em a year on same battery. I think they are good.

mechman · Jul 1, 2016

When I was an apprentice(Nelson was a cadet) there were three names that stood out,Moore & Wright, Starret, And Rabone Chesterman

ronan · Jul 1, 2016

mechman said:
When I was an apprentice(Nelson was a cadet) there were three names that stood out,Moore & Wright, Starret, And Rabone Chesterman

Moore and wright was good when i was buying tools about 20 years ago. I believe a lot of their stuff is now made in China. I know starrett was made in the usa and Jedburgh, probably not anymore though.

mechman · Jul 1, 2016

Didn't Know they made owt like that in Jedburgh. :dontknow:

ronan · Jul 2, 2016

mechman said:
Didn't Know they made owt like that in Jedburgh.

Dunno about make, maybe just a warehouse or base ? Maybe some of the scottish lads will know.

Oxnam Road
Jedburgh
Scotland
TD8 6LR

ronan · Jul 2, 2016

Having a quick look on google earth, it looks a big place just to be for storage, it must be a factory.

https://www.starrett.co.uk/news/page9/

The LS Starrett Company established its manufacturing operation in 1958, and the company has continually evolved its facilities ever since. Having invested over £750,000 during the past 12 months, it is fair to say that as a global business Starrett is committed to its manufacturing operation in the Scottish border town of Jedburgh.

addjunkie · Jul 2, 2016

Well i never new that, and its just up the road!

Barlidge · Jul 2, 2016

I have Been watching this thread with interest as I'm in the market for new accurate measuring tools, I was surprised at Starrett as I have only ever associated them with hole cutters. I'm using a Clarke set of verniers at the moment, they are ok but suffer the common short battery life, the movement is smooth but occasionally on returning to home position they don't zero which doesn't instil confidence. As I'm on a budget at the moment I think I'l give the Moore & Wright's a go.

Richard. · Jul 2, 2016

Barlidge said:
I have Been watching this thread with interest as I'm in the market for new accurate measuring tools, I was surprised at Starrett as I have only ever associated them with hole cutters. I'm using a Clarke set of verniers at the moment, they are ok but suffer the common short battery life, the movement is smooth but occasionally on returning to home position they don't zero which doesn't instil confidence. As I'm on a budget at the moment I think I'l give the Moore & Wright's a go.

Don't buy them based on my success story. Yes I can't fault them they go back to zero every time and providing the faces are kept clean run as smooth as silk.
I bought 5 battery's when I got them last summer and I still have 4.
Now bear in mind before I got my lathe these bad boys were lucky if they came out to play once a week. So based on that they have not had much use at all and they may not be that great in frequent use who knows. Dale didn't have success and Wallace has also had a pair that developed a fault (he fixed it mind) so that suggests they may not be that good. Once mine start playing up I'll get shot for a Mitty set but while they are as good as gold I'll keep on using them. If I had to change the battery tomorrow I'd be happy with that as once a year isn't a pita. So I rate them as a good set and believe me I can be picky and find fault in most things more than most people. That just me though. If others ain't getting the same out of them that means quality isn't repeatable.

Richard. · Jul 2, 2016

The other thing is ive nothing to compare them with as it's the only digital set ive owned. Ive had the scale type much older Moore wright ones Which was given to me by my step dad and ive got a Moore wright 0-25 micrometer too which is partly the reason I went Moore Wright again. It's probably not the same brand as it once was. A lot of stuff isn't nowadays. Time will tell I'm sure.

Pete. · Jul 2, 2016

I think that the main difference in cheapo vs established quality brand is simply quality control. If you bought a £80 quality brand you expect it to work nice, repeat across the range, last well, hold it's original tolerances on all three measuring faces for a long time and give back it's value in service. A ten quid Aldi might match all of these out of the box but equally it might be useless for everything but checking tyre treads.

Also, all digi calipers are not created equal. My old Mitutoyo has some of the tape covering the capacitance strip missing at the end and I peeled the sticker off an old dead 'battery killer' caliper to show how the better caliper has a higher number of smaller divisions etched into it, giving more information for the electronics to interpolate.

grim_d · Jul 2, 2016

The moore and wright calipers are nice to use, we have a few sets at work for checking clearances are within limits.

Theres a mitty set there too but the storeman generally picks up the moore and wright sets.

I would have no issue with a moore and wright set for my workshop to compliment my mittys.