Shockproof? Really?

Finding out they're pregnant.

My ~35 year old Mitutoyo 505-644 does not. Googling, the current

On 3/2/2018 6:25 PM, Ed Huntress wrote: > On Fri, 2 Mar 2018 18:18:39 -0700, Bob La Londe > wrote: > >> Every dial caliper I own (I think every one) or have owned says >> shockproof right on the dial. Exactly what shock are they proof >> against? Certainly not being dropped. > > Finding out they're pregnant. >

That might coincide with being dropped. Because when you drop one you know a new one is coming soon. LOL.

You're funny on Fridays, Bob. d8-)

Dial pointer jumping, maybe? Crystal integrity?

I pulled my two Mitutoyo calipers out of the box and looked at them this morning. The older metric one does not say shockproof on it, but the new one my wife got me for my birthday in January does. Doesn't mean I am not going to put it back in its case in the drawer every single time I am done using it. LOL.

I think I am going to make a trip over to Harbor Freight and buy a half dozen of their 20 dollar NTMT dial calipers to leave laying around the shop for guessing with.

NTMT (Never The Same Measurement Twice)

Gunner Asch on Sat, 03 Mar 2018 20:51:05 -0800 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

I want a dial caliper in fractions of an inch. Because I do a lot of woodworking using inches and fractions thereof - and I haven't memorized the drill size conversion charts.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."

I've noticed that. Initially atleast they all work just fine, but my 50 year old Companiom mics (cheap, but made in USA) are not very good. I never really mention it, but my Harbor Freight and Speedway calipers have held up just as well as my Fowlers. I don't know about the Mitutoyos, because I am very careful with them, although my old metric one may have been dropped once or twice before it came to me. Its got some of that spongy accuracy like a badly treated Harbor Freight one.

My cheap Speedway mics are nearly as accurate as my ancient Starrets after adjustment. I checked them all at atleast 3 points in their travel with gage blocks. I also found atleast compared to the Starret standards that my 4 inch gage block is off by almost a thousandth. LOL.

On 3/4/2018 8:24 AM, pyotr filipivich wrote: > Gunner Asch on Sat, 03 Mar 2018 20:51:05 -0800 > typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following: >> >> Unless you get the all plastic ones..the HF calipers work just as well >> as just about any "good one". They may not last 30 yrs in a busy >> shop..but most makers today, foreign and domestic (any domestic makers >> left?) make mics and calibers more than good enough..and accurate >> enough for home shop and moderate commercial use. > > I want a dial caliper in fractions of an inch. Because I do a > lot of woodworking using inches and fractions thereof - and I haven't > memorized the drill size conversion charts. > -- > pyotr filipivich > "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone." >

Harbor Freight sells one, or they used to. Their selection has been reduced dramatically in recent years. I have one and its pretty accurate for what it is, but for most of my wood working a tape measure is good enough. If I start an important project I buy a new tape measure and check it against my machinist scale at the beginning of the project. Usually if I need something done more accurately than that I just let one of the CNC machines cut it to dimension. I rarely use my fractional dial caliper.

Here is a picture of the one I have:

I don't know why, but I tend to like dial calipers much more than electronic digital ones. Even for my one inch mic I prefer the analog digital to an electronic digital.

I see HF has a 12" digital though. It would have come in handy for my current job. Its a nasty mishmash of imperial and metric dimensions. I have a 12" Fowler inch caliper that has never been dropped, but I have had to write conversion all over the cabinet of my mills with a dry erase marker to keep from getting lost. LOL.

My first dial caliper was a Starrett, because I thought it was quality. No cover over the rack and no way to reset it when it jumped on a chip.

After that, I bought cheap ones because I found that none lasted well in the shop environment. I'd pick up 3 at the local Enco store or Harbor Fright, they were accurate enough and would last about 2 years, then back for 3 more. I tried a few digital ones, but I had to pull the battery when I'd put it away or it would be dead the next time I needed it. Turning it off just seemed to turn off the display, not the whole unit.

Now that I'm retired, I keep finding new ones in odd places around the house. Why did I put that there?

David

Bob La Londe on Sun, 4 Mar 2018 11:00:03 -0700 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

What's the old saying "2+2=5 for large values of 2 and small values of 5"?

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."

Bob La Londe on Sun, 4 Mar 2018 11:14:34 -0700 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Dial calipers, like analog clocks, don't just tell you the measurement/time - but where you are in the inch/hour. Yes .250 is a quarter of an inch. So is .275, for some values of "one quarter". But a fractional dial shows you that either you are not yet down to a quarter inch, or you're "oversize".

Just as 9:50 doesn't _show_ you that you have "that much" time till 10.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."

But you might find a dial caliper in fractions. I got mine at Harbor Freight. LOL.

Here is a picture of the one I have:

Gunner Asch on Sun, 04 Mar 2018 16:16:25 -0800 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Not to harsh your mellow, but

Dial fractional caliper $58.50 measures to 6 1/2 inches

Starrett - so you know it is good. They like it too $110.

and in my price range: General Tool at Home Depot

But that's in 1/64ths which is somewhere between decimal and useful.

Of course, I haven't been by Fast Eddy's Pawn Shop and Brokerage House to see what they got there. (You should have seen the silly rifle they had - someone accessorized with more enthusiasm than sense. If I've had the money, I'd have bought it, just to start hanging more "stuff off it" - sort of like the Swiss Army Gun or

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."

No. You said you could get a digital one their. I got a dial one there. Reads in fractions. Posted a link to a picture of mine too.

It is not as accurate as a decimal one though. The dial turns at a higher rate. One turn is one inch.

My $20 HF digital shows in thou, mm, and fractions at the touch of a button. I buy batteries from China at $0.12-$0.20 apiece in lots of

Gunner Asch on Sun, 04 Mar 2018 23:43:21 -0800 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

You're welcome.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."

Not as accurate as a micrometer - or a laser for that matter.

But a dial which shows the full inch, also lets me "see" that it is "about two hairs past a quarter inch". Just don't forget to add the inch - I do not want to think about the number of times I read the 'fraction' of a digital/ dial caliper or mic and forgot the rest of it.

-- pyotr filipivich "With Age comes Wisdom. Although far too often, Age travels alone."