Speaking of Calipers

I'm making some parts to metric specs right now. I reached over and grabbed my metric Mitutoyo dial caliper and the measurements just didn't make sense. I was trying to creep up on a dimension and things just didn't add up.

I had grabbed my Imperial caliper. Ok, you might say. You should see the problem right away. Um, NO!. It has both a metric and an Imperial scale on the bar. Tunnel vision had me looking at the metric scale and trying to make sense of the dial.

I didn't realize what was going on until I went to put them away and go double check my spec. "That's the wrong case. These don't go in that one."

~~~ Was gonna get close with calipers and then check with a mic.

Reply to
Bob La Londe
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Bob La Londe on Tue, 6 Mar 2018 13:39:32 -0700 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

That happens.

Yep.

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

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

I've found that not a single one of my SAE taps fit the metric nut I was trying to clean up. Why didn't HF use different colored boxes for their tap and die sets? LOL

Once you get used to using calipers, backed up by mic readings, you can start to read tenths on the thou scale of the calipers.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

They could have color coded the boxes red, white and blue for USA taps, and blue, white and red for the French metric system.

Try measuring micrometer standards or gage blocks to see if you are reading to the -correct- tenths.

I have the Alpicool freezer running on solar, or grid, or battery power, in that order of priority. The grid power supply is a Radio Shack 13.8V, 19A switcher connected to the battery through a 15A Schottky diode, so it charges the battery to 13.5V. I drained the battery to 12.02V and then recorded an initial charging current of

8.8A, limited by the diode, wiring and battery impedance. I would have discharged it further if we didn't have a possible ice storm arriving soon.

The solar panel controller is set a few tenths of a volt higher and will assume all or as much as it can of the load.since the diode won't conduct if the battery rises above 13.5V. Without sun the power supply takes over, and if the grid goes down the battery runs the freezer, all automatically.

-jsw

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

"Jim Wilkins" on Wed, 7 Mar 2018 13:42:05 -0500 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Genius!

I think I will go out and do that rat now!

pyotr

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

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

Just be careful not to turn the boxes over, or your color coding gets TOTALLY screwed up!

Reply to
Clare Snyder

Or sideways as you'll end up with Dutch taps.

Reply to
David Billington

Mine are from the early '80s and are both orange. The screen printing on the clear top is the only difference.

I never said they were =accurate= tenths. Luckily, I've seldom needed things to be tenth precise. More often it's go/nogo.

Is the RS switcher a bench supply?

It must be fun living on the wild east coast.

Very nice.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

Here is another uniquely French color to use:

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"It was from Genevieve that I learned the phrase couleur caca d'oie, .."

The British may claim that "Khaki" is Arabic for earth-colored, but now you know what it really means.

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Yes, the 13.8V 19A power supply is a black metal case with two front-mounted banana binding posts that the user manual rates for 10 Amps.

Mine is newer than this batch:

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I bought it and anything else I had some chance of using later at a deep discount when RS closed most of their stores.

I wonder if RS bought the rejects from a maker of 20A power supplies.

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Clare Snyder on Thu, 08 Mar 2018 16:38:22 -0500 typed in rec.crafts.metalworking the following:

Then you have Dutch taps.

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

Reply to
pyotr filipivich

Are you talking Radio Shack? I regularly buy from RS Components in the UK and they're an enormous international company supplying electrical and electronic components and still going strong.

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Reply to
David Billington

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Reply to
Jim Wilkins

Hah! That one went PSA on me the first time.

And you're back at square one. It would'nt work for me because I store my tap sets in the bottom of my rollaway. That means I bend over and look at them upside down when removing them. I just marked a large MET on the metric clear top and SAE on the homegrown size lids and used a sharpie for the short box ends.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

There's an Asian joke lurking somewhere around here, too.

Reply to
Larry Jaques

The French ridicule us for naming our flag's colors in the wrong order.

Mine are in different parts bins, the US ones close at hand and the metric ones in a dark corner.

Reply to
Jim Wilkins

What? Recalled for something minor like murder/death/kills?

Mmm, hmm...

Reply to
Larry Jaques

The French have 3 bars (hiccup) but we have stars and stripes. Who are they to complain?

Bigot!

Reply to
Larry Jaques

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