digital calipers

[dgeesaman]

I work in an ISO manufacturing environment and we have to get our mics, calipers, depth mics, etc calibrated and certified yearly. They will not certify or calibrate digital mics or calipers...if that gives you any indication of their quality or accuracy....

As do I. Our digital calipers are calibrated annually without fuss. I suspect your company has a reason, but ISO 9001 compliance is not the driving reason.

 

[danny]

I think that says more about who you have outsourced that work to.


That said, calipers are not a super accurate tool. Sorry. Get a calibrated steel block of a couple sizes. Much cheaper than high end calipers.

Yep, calipers are kind of the tape measures of the measuring instrument world. You can get pretty good with them, but...

Danny

 

[Xerothermic]

For my reloading purposes I gaging calipers were recommended by a couple of friends, they work quite well.

I use the I Gaging/ OriginCal and say plus one. Repeatable and/ also PRS is sloppy shooting anyways.

Meant to be funny!

 

[urbanrifleman]

im currently using the hornady digital calipers. im curious is it worth it to upgrade to a higher end set or are these fine. and if so what set do you recommend? thanks in advance

No. Probably not.

 

[Coyotefurharvester]

Whether the digital calipers are 200.00 or 29.00, likely +,- 0.001. For reloading +,- 0.001 is all you need. Repeatable measurements are often the user not the tool. Company I worked for was ISO(certification of documentation of procedures and practices) tools and calibration equipment went to NIST for testing and certification. These calipers passed several times and than "retired". They still function fine for reloading.

 

[hoz53]

im currently using the hornady digital calipers. im curious is it worth it to upgrade to a higher end set or are these fine. and if so what set do you recommend? thanks in advance

usually the cheaper digital stuff works as long as it works but they just dont last as long as some higher priced/quality models. at least thats been my experience. Id use what you have and get some kind of test standard to check them often. you will then find out when the pair you have takes a dump and its time to buy new ones. should do that with my starrets and mitutoyos to. i usually check several pairs against each other and against mic readings to. mabie im a little anal.

 

[SKWERLZ]

Whether the digital calipers are 200.00 or 29.00, likely +,- 0.001. For reloading +,- 0.001 is all you need. Repeatable measurements are often the user not the tool. Company I worked for was ISO(certification of documentation of procedures and practices) tools and calibration equipment went to NIST for testing and certification. These calipers passed several times and than "retired". They still function fine for reloading.View attachment 1618117

Except all the cheap calipers I’ve had fell apart, eat batteries and/or got sticky, the mitutoyo’s run n run n run without issues.

I plan on getting a 6” set for setting dies and other tasks at work next year.

 

[Rocketvapor]

Cheap New Caliper came in Saturday to replace one that I dropped.
Initial tests look OK (with thumbwheel).
The video portion was blind, held caliper in front of camera.

 

[Brawley_z06]

usually the cheaper digital stuff works as long as it works but they just dont last as long as some higher priced/quality models. at least thats been my experience. Id use what you have and get some kind of test standard to check them often. you will then find out when the pair you have takes a dump and its time to buy new ones. should do that with my starrets and mitutoyos to. i usually check several pairs against each other and against mic readings to. mabie im a little anal.

what kinda test standard do you mean to check them?

 

[hoz53]

what kinda test standard do you mean to check them?

just something you know the size of - you can buy standards that are like a dowel pin that have an accurate (.001 or better). dimension you can measure with a caliper and see how close they are reading. you could use a gage pin or alot of things.

 

[hoz53]

Cheap New Caliper came in Saturday to replace one that I dropped.
Initial tests look OK (with thumbwheel).
The video portion was blind, held caliper in front of camera.

i havent dropped a caliper yet but i sure have dropped quite a few indicators.
ouch— i need a few of them.

 

[Rocketvapor]

I had it open for CBTO with the Hornady fitting sitting on the edge of of a table and it fell to a hard tile floor.
Seems it dinged the gear train inside. I have a really old Starrett set than has some wear but works.
This new one really seems to be slick and spot on.
I'll bring the Jo Blocks down stairs and check at longer measurements.
Just pics, no youtube

 

[hoz53]

I had it open for CBTO with the Hornady fitting sitting on the edge of of a table and it fell to a hard tile floor.
Seems it dinged the gear train inside. I have a really old Starrett set than has some wear but works.
This new one really seems to be slick and spot on.
I'll bring the Jo Blocks down stairs and check at longer measurements.
Just pics, no youtube

that sounds good. i have a few pairs of the US made starrets - one pair i bought when i was 18 ( 50 years) my 1st set of calipers—- except for having a tendency to jump the track those things are still as accurate as my digital mitutoyos that are a couple years old.
my floors are concrete so when something falls off the bench there is usually damage. I had a leupold roll off once.

 

[RickKr]

I think they can be connected to a laptop, although I’ve not done so.

I've been using these iGaging digital calipers for several years, including the USB wireless connection to my computer. Really speeds up data collection and reduces transcription errors. If that is something you need. I have several sets of iGaging digital calipers and some digital indicators as well. They've all held up and functioned quite nicely, except when I drop them, but that has happend to the Mits as well.

I've used the USB connection when measuring cases, when sorting and that sort of thing, but not as part of the actual reloading of ammo. Sending the info to Excel. If you're not doing volume measurements, I'm not sure the wireless connection is of much value. It definitely has been for me, though, but I'm a bit of a data nerd.

Rick

 

[danny]

im currently using the hornady digital calipers. im curious is it worth it to upgrade to a higher end set or are these fine. and if so what set do you recommend? thanks in advance

My opinion; if the one you have is basically functioning and measuring correctly, you won't gain anything by upgrading, at least for reloading.

Danny

 

[powderbrake]

The Mititoyo calipers are the gold standard as noted by LVLAaron.
Buying from a metrology shop or a machine shop supplier is a smart move.
Here is a link to a YouTube video on how to tell if they are genuine.

Video.

 

[majohnson]

Spend the time to get the genuine Mitutoyo calipers. My 6” set is 25 plus years old. They have always work great. They even have the original battery.

Working around so many different tooling fixtures. In 2024 I purchased a 4” set, the change in the buttons is really nice. It handy to not move things around as much with the smaller pair.

If you’re looking at a set and they $35 - $40 for a new set, you are probably going to get a knockoff set. Even a used set of Mitutoyo’s is worth more than $35 - $40 a knockoff set goes for.

The one issue with calipers is repeatability.