The New And Improved Unofficial R65 Forum V2
Technical Discussion => Misc. Technical Discussion => Topic started by: Justin B. on December 29, 2006, 05:45:46 PM
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I'd like to give my preliminary impressions of the digital calipers that Harbor Freight has on sale right now. The 6" is on sale for $15.95, and in my opinion is a great deal. ;D I have had one of these for about three months and so far it has held up well, is accurate, and dead-solid consistent. I have checked it against my Mitutoyo dial caliper and they agree 100%. [smiley=thumbsup.gif]
Just thought I'd give a heads-up in case anybody was needing a good caliper but scared by the prices. I went and bought two more of them today! ;)
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So...I take it a digital caliper is just the ticket for someone (me) that never learned how to read a old-fashioned analog (no-dial) caliper, like I have?
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Yeah, that's about the size of it. AND, even knowing how to use one of the "old timey" ones I am starting to grow attached to it! ;) And for the price, I don't think you can beat it...
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Rob, "analog" isn't the problem. It's "venier" or something like that. I have a set of inside bore guages and a nice caliper, that I bought cheap at a local garage sale, that are very well made in Germany but are vernier scaled. I studied that in college for some classes so I know how to read them but I have to THINK every time, as I don't use them often enough for it to become automatic. Still, they're good enough for me. But I wouldn't put down the HF models either, especially if you have a standard against them to compare.
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I have a 1" micrometer that's accurate to .0001. I don't know if I even remember how to read the ten thousandths scale!
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Yeah, Ed, vernier (http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/vernier) is what I was thinking of. I just don't use it enough to remember the details.
I did use it tonight, though, to measure two exhaust nuts. The one for the big bikes showed 50mm easy.
All I could say for sure was the R65 nut is 45mm and some change...
I hope to be near Indy's H.F store tomorrow. Wish me luck that I don't blow my recent conservative spending habits...
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Yes, good luck. I can't seem to get out of the place without blowing a C-note... :-/
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Sold off most of my Starrett tools years ago for a song. Longing for a nice veneer caliper [digital] I too bought the HF one for measuring and a set of their snap [bore] gauges to complement it. The accuracy is more than suitable for my garage exploits and when I check it against my collection of Mitutoyo mics they agree. Now you all have me considering replacing my long gone dial indicator and base. any suggestions?
Rich
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I have a cheapo HF 1" dial indicator and magnetic base but they also have a digital that is on sale for around $20 right now, I think. About the only thing I use the dial gauge for is checking wheels and rotors for warp and chucking up stuff in the lathe - it seems fine for that... Their magnetic base works very well.