On Sat, Oct 23, 2010 at 12:12 AM, BJNoSHOV8 <bjshov8@tx.rr.com> wrote:
> I've decided I might upgrade my old vernier caliper to a digital or dial
> caliper. B This is for light hobby use.
>
> 1. B Which is preferred- digital or dial? B Digital seems easier to use but
I
> worry about how long electronic tools such as this will last. B I don't
want
> to put it in a drawer and pull it out a year later only to find that it
> doesn't work anymore.
digital is much nicer. Not only are they easier to read and use, but
they're also more resistant to abuse. There's just one moving part,
so no gears to get things jammed in them, or teeth to break off.
They're a printed multi-pole capacitor, so their accuracy is limited
to the accuracy of the circuit printer. For typical commodity grade
PCBs, that works out to be 0.0001 inch in a six inch model. That's
better than the accuracy of caliper mechanism itself. Battery life is
a problem on some of the cheap ones (and older fancy branded ones.),
but they almost all (never seen one that doesn't.) use SR44 batteries.
(HF ones often have LR44 batteries in them, which should be replaced
quickly. The voltage drop as the cell is used up can cause accuracy
problems.)
> 2. B I notice that Lowes, Home Depot, Sears, Harbor Freight all sell both
> types. B Harbor Freight is quite a bit cheaper, and has a wide range of
> reviews. B Should I buy one of these or search ebay for the occasional deal
> on a better brand? B and what brand(s) should I look for to get quality at
a
> reasonable price?
Unless you need one that's traceable to a standards organization, buy
one from HF or the like. What Sears and HD sell are the same thing,
with bigger markups.
--
David Scheidt
dmscheidt@gmail.com
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