Verniers

[warrenpfo]

Now i like a gadget as much as the next man but when it comes to verniers they just dont seem to last. I have not spent loads on one but at £20 you would hope it lasts 18 months plus but either the digital readout goes funny or it just stops reading.

Can anyone recommend a pair or is it set that they have some experience with. I dont mind if its digital or not but find having them in my tool kit well worth it as they really are usefull.

Thanks

 

[Shayne]

I paid about 20 quid for an old fashioned mechanical one from screwfix , it can hardly be described as a gadget but with the box it came in i expect it will outlast me even if it does rattle around in my tool bag with hammers and chisels and the like only to be used on rare occasions . It will always work though .

 

[fridayman]

I have Limit digital gauge that has inches, mm and fractions. I'm pretty happy with it. Wasn't cheap though.

 

[goodoldboy]

something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/150mm-inch-Vernier-Caliper-Wright/dp/B00DN0PCBQ might be what you need

 

[Chris]

I have these. Very happy so far. Had rubbish ones. This has outlasted them so far. Return to zero every time

http://www.rdgtools.co.uk/acatalog/Mitutoyo-6----150mm-Digital-Vernier-500-196-20-700845.html

 

[frank rabbets]

The clue is in the price Chris.

 

[Chas]

Must be a good one, it has ABS,

("THIS VERNIER HAS THE ZERO-RESET FUNCTION, AS WELL AS THE ABS FUNCTION")

handy when you want to stop working?

 

[Gary820]

Quite similar to the set I've got. Work fine and pass calibration every 6 months and I'm sure they'll continue to do so.

 

[Towpack]

something like this http://www.amazon.co.uk/150mm-inch-Vernier-Caliper-Wright/dp/B00DN0PCBQ might be what you need

That's exactly like the one I bought a few years back.

 

[Rob]

I would also recommend the Mitutoyo one Chris as I have that set as well. There are people at work that use Mitutoyo digital ones daily for over 10 years without issues. Even all our suppliers use them for mass production and just calibrate then every year.

 

[Rob]

Also like with any decent measurement equipment, always treat it with care and store it in its case and it will last. Never leave it rattling around in your toolbox.

 

[Chas]

just calibrate then every year.

How do you calibrate? is it just a matter of closing the jaws and pressing zero button? my owners manual doesn't mention calibration.

 

[Chris]

Not really Chas but sort of. If the only measurement you ever took was zero then that would be calibrated. But when you move the jaws to 100mm are they actually, really 100mm apart. I have some precision bars that I can measure. i know they are 100mm so when I measure them and they read 99.99 on the vernier, I know summat's wrong.

 

[Chas]

Ah! I see, you have to have a known length to measure, thanks Chris, for the sort of use I put mine to it probably doesn't matter if it's slightly out.

 

[Chris]

Nor me Chas. I can't machine more accurately than 0.005 on a good day, so plus or minus 0.05 is fine for me most days.

 

[frank rabbets]

Presumably you calibrate to the size you are intending to machine otherwise you would have to check each 0.001" division on the callipers. Only using one calibration would assume that intervening increments were correct. I saw a nice set of calibration bars for sale. I think if you juggled them round you could get very close increments calibrated.

 

[Gary820]

We have all of our measuring equipment calibrated every 6 months, i even take stuff in from home and work pays the bill
Multimeters, tyre gauges, torque wrenches, verniers, micrometers, dail gauges etc

I agree with above comments about keeping in their cases to store them, don't get damaged that way. (I've got ocd when comes to my tools and tool box though tbh)

 

[clivehorridge]

?... otherwise you would have to check each 0.001" division on the callipers. Only using one calibration would assume that intervening increments were correct.

Yep Frank, an authentic calibration certificate to a specific BS or other national standard, would require full incremental calibration across the whole range of the instrument. Pukka job, so to speak...

 

[frank rabbets]

Crikey Clive that would be a long job with a mechanical calliper ?

 

[clivehorridge]

Crikey Clive that would be a long job with a mechanical calliper ?

Maybe so Frank, but it wouldn't be much of a calibration if it only checked the extremes, and say, one in the middle.

The tolerance would be stated in the certificate, and admittedly it wouldn't be down to increments of a micron, but it would be a thorough, across the range check.