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Vintage Test Gear and Workshop Equipment For discussions about vintage test gear and workshop equipment such as coil winders. |
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2nd Dec 2019, 1:15 pm | #1 |
Dekatron
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Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
One time I did not own one, did not miss it, blundered my way through life without one. When I finally did buy one I wondered how I managed without it. Very rare a day goes by when I don't use one. Plastic one handy for measuring button cells. I never tried to understand how to use the old none dial display type. How do you feel about them?
John.
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2nd Dec 2019, 1:29 pm | #2 |
Heptode
Join Date: May 2015
Location: Chatham, Kent, UK.
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
yes saves guessing dc plug sizes you cannot tel by eye 2.1 or 2.5 mm etc. or at least i cannot. I know what i did before i had them that was buy lots of plugs of diffrent sizes and still not have the right one. Mick
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2nd Dec 2019, 1:29 pm | #3 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Jan 2005
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
I use mine all the time too.
Digital ones are great, when they work. My cheapo Alid/Lidl ones were too unreliable though, and eventually got binned. Ones with genuine vernier scales are good, but I need my glasses to read them now. I still have the Swedish "Tuna" brand ones my dad had at university in the early 1960s. My favourite ones are a pre-war Negretti and Zambra set with dial readout. It's only accurate to 0.5mm, but for most everyday jobs, it's great. They were salvaged as BER but I got them going by dismantling, cleaning and re-greasing the rack and pinion. For more precise work, I have a lovely Japanese set from the 1980s, similar to the above, but with much finer resolution. They cost about £30 on eBay a couple of years ago. N. |
2nd Dec 2019, 1:32 pm | #4 |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Surrey, UK.
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
I use vernier calipers all the time - virtually indispensable for a quick dimensional check where you don't need an answer to the last thou. External, internal and depth measurements also come free with standard calipers.
No dial for me though, I use Monsieur Vernier's brilliant scale to get the right answer. Leon. |
2nd Dec 2019, 1:32 pm | #5 |
Octode
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
I use them. Micrometer when I need to be accurate.
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Avometer, vintage Fluke and Marconi collector. Also interested in vintage Yaesu and KW. |
2nd Dec 2019, 1:33 pm | #6 |
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
They are brilliant, don't forget to leave the jaws sightly open when not in use, stops condensation lurking.
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2nd Dec 2019, 1:40 pm | #7 |
Octode
Join Date: Nov 2011
Location: Manchester, UK.
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
I use 'analogue' calipers, as it stops the students at work borrowing them as they'd rather hunt for digi ones I've found cheap digi ones pretty good, as it happens, though they're quite allergic to cutting fluid / soluble oil.
I find the metric vernier scale a lot easier to use than English, but perhaps that's just familiarity. |
2nd Dec 2019, 1:44 pm | #8 |
Heptode
Join Date: Feb 2011
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
I prefer my mitutoyo Vernier to my digital jobs although last year I bought a dial caliper which probably now gets more use than all the others!
As said, a mic for accuracy. Alan |
2nd Dec 2019, 1:46 pm | #9 |
Dekatron
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Lynton, N. Devon, UK.
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
Yes, I use Vernier calipers at least once a week! Micrometer maybe once a month.
Neither of the calipers in the photo is, of course, 'Vernier' calipers. But the digi version is the type the inspection folk use at work - a bit quicker to read than the Vernier scale. |
2nd Dec 2019, 3:04 pm | #10 |
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
As a model engineer I use mine several times daily. I like digital ones because you can zero them at any point which is useful when turning something down to size. Also they can readily be switched from metric to imperial and vice versa, very useful when you have a mixture of imperial and metric drawings and machines. I originally had a cheap one from Maplin which worked very well until I dropped it. I never found another cheap one which was half as good, the main problem being an inconsistent zero setting. Consequently I bought a genuine Mitutoyo, which wasn't cheap.
The other thing I couldn't do without is the DRO which I retrofitted to my milling machine. It's much easier looking up at large digits on a screen than looking down at dials. I'm on the point of throwing away my dividing head. It's much easier just to key the PCD, number of holes etc into the DRO and it'll give you the distance to the next hole.
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2nd Dec 2019, 3:26 pm | #11 |
Dekatron
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
I realise there will be some engineers who will use them daily. I should have said in general radio repair. I bought a cheap set from Maplin, they did not last long, due to battery trouble. My digi set came from a house clearance stall at a car boot sale £5 a few years ago. They have auto switch off so the battery lasts for years. I use it in place of a wire gauge amongst other uses.
John.
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2nd Dec 2019, 3:32 pm | #12 |
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
Use both (true, not dial or digital) vernier calipers and a micrometer all the time. For things that are on-topic here, for checking screw, spindle and pulley diameters, metal thickness, diameters of things (connectors, meters, etc) when making a hole for them in the panel and so on.
I have a cheap dial caliper, but I always go back to the vernier one. As an aside, my 1" micrometers have a vernier scale round the barrel so you can read them to a tenth of a thou. I must admit I've never needed that. |
2nd Dec 2019, 3:54 pm | #13 |
Heptode
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
Like you John, I don't know how I managed without them!
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2nd Dec 2019, 4:20 pm | #14 |
Octode
Join Date: Mar 2016
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
I am told that there are a lot of fake Mitutoyo calipers on Ebay. Anyone care to confirm?
In other fields, i.e. phones / cameras etc, you can get grey imports which come from the same factory, but from HK - at a sizeable discount. I've found that you get what you pay for. Got a large pair off Amazon recently and they've stopped working properly when about about 80mm....aargh... Think we will have to invest in Mitutoyo soon. But if you want a set that go to 300mm you can easily spend £300. |
2nd Dec 2019, 4:28 pm | #15 |
Dekatron
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
I've got a £40 cheapo digital set here which comes in handy for measuring things like the undersize on crank-bearing journals and [with a magnetic block] end-float on motor/alternator spindles.
I've also got an "Eclipse" micrometer that was my late father's - its scales are calibrated in US/UK wire-gauges which is handy when it comes to winding/rewinding coils and transformers. |
2nd Dec 2019, 4:30 pm | #16 | |
Dekatron
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
Quote:
John.
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My favourite text message "I'll be there in five minutes, if not read again" |
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2nd Dec 2019, 4:30 pm | #17 |
Octode
Join Date: Mar 2011
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
I've already used mine several times today.
I've got a cheap set that came from B&Q thirty-odd years since which I actually like as they read fractional inches, down to a 1/128th and millimetres only to tenths. I have got some 'proper' ones but find them very hard to read without a magnifying glass. I recently bought a dial caliper which I like very much. |
2nd Dec 2019, 4:31 pm | #18 | |
Dekatron
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
Quote:
I bought my Mitutoyo dial calipers from eBay and they were secondhand and thus relatively cheap. They're definitely the real deal. They handle like a precision instrument, quite unlike the budget offerings. Nick. |
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2nd Dec 2019, 4:50 pm | #19 |
Heptode
Join Date: Jul 2010
Location: Wellington, New Zealand.
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
Have two el cheapo digital ones and some equally cheap mechanical ones - great devices. Only problem I had with one of the digital ones was a battery contact came away inside, so have to try resoldering it sometime.
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2nd Dec 2019, 5:16 pm | #20 |
Heptode
Join Date: Nov 2009
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Re: Vernier Calipers, anyone use them?
In my Model Engineering workshop I have a Mitutoyo digital vernier and an Aldi one. The Mitutoyo never fails to work, but the Aldi one needs warming up before things stabilise, especially in the winter, then its as accurate as the Mitutoyo and was a lot cheaper. I have a Mitutoyo digital micrometer and it is supposed to have auto turn off, but doesn't, so I remove the battery. Where would we be without them ?
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