/diy/ - Do It Yourself

I have an old pair of Mitutoyo 12' mechanical calipers. They're solid. I'm actually looking into a digital angle measure right now and am unsure what brand to go with.

>>1769941
aside from some telescoping gauges for internal measurements and a small assortment of pin gauges, my Mitutoyo 6" calipers are all i need. These guys cover pretty much any full mechanical motorcycle repair you need.

6" chinesium digital calipers.
8" insize dial caliper.
12" mitutoyo vernier caliper.
Lufkin .25"-2.00 " Telescoping gauges
Starret small hole gauges
Various gauge blocks and pin gauges
0-4" micrometers
.2-1.5" caliper style inside micrometer
2"- 8" NSK inside micrometer
.0005" dial test indicator


Really want to get a proper full set of gauge blocks and pin gauges and a dial bore Indicator.

I got the HF 6” special caliper (the $20 ones you see rebranded under a million different names) and you can’t leave the battery in it because it turns on with every bump and it barely opens wider than 3” because it’s bent.

I was trying to find something better without spending Mituyo money and found this other Chinese one for like $35, it had super good reviews on Amazon. I like how it shows the fractions and I can leave a battery in it and open it the full 6”. No complaints so far.

6 and 12" dial and vernier calipers, 24" vernier calipers, centering indicator, several dial and test indicators, telescoping gauges, angle gauges, micrometers, surface plate, machinist levels, 1-2-3 blocks, and v blocks.

>>1769989
>$55 into literal garbage calipers instead of just buying the $90 ones in the first place

More isnt better, there is a reason people make fun of you.

>>1769994
I think I got the HF ones on sale for cheaper, and I’m also retarded for not realizing they didn’t open all the way until after the dogshit HF warranty had expired, I’ll write that off as a loss to the Chinks. I like that other one though, I’m too dumb to convert mm to fractional so it gives me the fractions when I know it’s SAE.

>>1769997
>talking shit about the HF ones
>they literally sell the same exact "convert to fractions" calipers with a different plastic case at HF

I own one, the tolerances for the fractions are so loose its not funny. Its a fucking waste, the actual calipers themselves are literal garbage.
Its hard to convey how be they truly are to idiots who have never used real calipers in any real setting.

>>1769941
You arent going to get a distilled list because there isnt one. You didnt even tell us whether you wanted to start with a lathe or a mill, because that matters.

>>1769941
Plastic dial calipers for camera lenses.
Metal dial calipers for everything else.

>>1770000
Checked.

I can’t even cut wood closer than +/-1/8”, I’ll come back for the Mituyos when I figure that out.

>>1770035
>I can’t even cut wood closer than +/-1/8”

You have no clue because you are using fractions on shitty calipers that round off numbers because you refuse to learn decimals

>>1770039
Not him but I've legit seen videos on youtube of woodworkers telling you to eyeball 1/124 of an inch when adjusting planes and shit. Those heathens also write .004" as 4/100"

Smaller than normal hammer

>>1769945
Are you sure you want to go digital for angle measurement? Every one I've tried is trash.

I use a Marui Keiki MP-101 which has fine adjustment down to 1 minute and is built to last.

t. aerospace inspector

>>1769989
I bought the lower type straight for china for like $8, it did not come pre-bent, then installed a $2 rechargeable lithium battery that lasts years regardless of how many times it's opened or not opened.

>>1770122
Ahh so the HF middleman didn’t break it. Nice.

>>1770039
I use the calipers for nuts and bolts and other odd shit, sometimes the fractions are cool to have because I’m retarded. I’m not using them to cut wood because it wouldn’t make a difference for me either way since I can’t cut straight.

>>1769989
If you dont do much precision work the bottom caliper can get you buy ONLY IF you check its calibration before use, across its entire measuring range. And only the external measurement jaws work (depth probe, internal jaws, Swedish depth probe, are ALL unreliable).

But in the end, those calipers can only truly be used to confirm screw diameters, or like... confirm if you're holding a 2x4 lol.

>>1770041
>Those heathens also write .004" as 4/100"
it wasn't 4/1000?

>>1770254

>woodworkers dealing with tenths

>>1770041
What could you possible doing in wood that needs this type of precision?

none cause i aint no machinist pussy
#WELD GANG

>>1770450
I think you already know the answer. It's got to be dildos.

>>1769989
I remember years ago when I still watched AVE he sperged out about the HF calipers and something about using power even when they were switched off and it affecting the battery life.
It's lost somewhere but last I touched it it's still on the original battery 5 years later.

>>1770254
It was, I missed a zero. Still heresy.
>>1770255
>anons passing fifth grade math
>>1770450
I have no idea, they also for some reason think plate glass is perfectly flat and use that to flatten their tools instead of buying a $40 surface plate. Also pic related, something I just found searching about them using float glass as lapping plates.

>>1770510
I guess he just misunderstood the three plates method?

>>1770494
I don’t know about that, but the one I have is retarded because it turns on whenever it’s moved the slightest bit, like somebody could be walking on the other side of the room and the thing would turn on from the footsteps.

The other one in the orange box actually turns off.

>>1770510
Float glass is pretty god damn flat.

>>1770519
I have perused the 3 plate method, and while I agree obviously it works, I still have a hard time understanding it. Also I'm a different Anon, your post just caught my eye.

>>1770649

This. it can be flexed a bit which I suppose is what people are bitching about, but in all reality it is very flat. Flatter than you'll be able to make something by hand lapping it.

>>1770255

>>1770041
>eyeball 1/124 of an inch
You can't eyeball comma 2 millimeters? That's barely in the precision realm anon.

>>1770796
It was like a year ago when I saw the video, I think I forgot what the actual fraction was because it worked out to .0012" or something tiny like that. Realized after I posted that I was a decimal over like the other number.

>>1770920
Anon that's just 12/1000

>>1770041
>1/124
I hope you mean 1/128 because while still an oddball unit it's not so eye-twitchy.
But yeah, in the right conditions you can eyeball that. Especially when comparing one edge to another or seeing how centered something is within a short distance. Your eyes are very good at directly comparing two relative distances.

>>1770945
>Your eyes are very good at directly comparing two relative distances.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vernier_acuity

>>1770941
>Anon that's just 12/1000
No it's not.

My daily driver, Mitutoyo 193-211.
I couldn't decide if I wanted a digital or analog micrometer, so i chose both.

Got me a $28 endoscope. Time to start doing 1/2 price colonoscopies

For sounding of course

>>1769941

a mm ruler, feeler gauge, vernier scale

All I need

Dial calipers, vernier calipers, micrometers, telescoping gauges, a 6in scale. Tape measure.

>>1769941
>What precision tooling does /diy/ use?
Why would an anon ask this question?
Looks to me like:
>What tools could be shilled here
We'll be watching

>>1771701
>precision
5” baby Cobras

>>1771574
rulers and feeler gauges are not precision measurement tools, amigo

>>1771706
Some scales and some feeler gauges are definitely precision measurement tools

>>1769941
I base everything off the length of my indexfingers because they are both 1cm thick so i can take finger thickness measurements, other people don't like it but I work alone because I'm a social retard so no one can tell me not to

>>1771440
loving the idea of precision sounding.

>>1769941
what is that little metal mustache for?

>>1772401
It's a spanner wrench. Typically for adjustment.

>>1770494

I've got 2 6" and a 12" of those cheapy calipers. They're "good enough", but yeah their batteries are usually pre-dead and get about 1.5 years on a fresh one. Buying multiple in case one craps out and a 10 pack of LR44 batteries is still cheaper than a single Mitutoyo.

Not a machinist though, I'd probably be going Starrett crazy if I were.

I have cheap calipers I use for every day stuff. I use my co-worker's Mitutoyo tools when I have critical stuff like calculating bend allowances for new tooling or materials.

I calibrate test, measurement and diagnostic equipment all day. In the navy at MARMC.
In my previous duty station I finished a calibration coordinator JQR and earned the NEC, one of the few good NECs dealing with precision instruments after the instrument man rate was phased out decades ago. Along with the other C school NECs from assorted cal schools of course. Some called me the guru. I also completed ASQ calibration technician and quality certifications.
With my strong certifications and vast experience, I measure things with a Bahco side nut adjustable wrench, since breaking out the calipers or micrometer is too much work.

Question of the ages.
Dial or manual vernier calipers? Digitalfags need not respond.

>>1770255
That’s all we go by in the private jet interior construction world.

desu you can't really go past Mitutoyo when it comes to quality/price. I've had 12' dial calipers and a dial guage for a few years now and have not had a single problem with them, even though they've been knocked about a bit.

>>1772806
I'm a fiber optic characterizer. I unlock my sc connectors and push them around because normal cleaning and aligning procedure only gets me -55 or better 1/4 tries.

>>1772808
Dial fag here. I have a 6" helios and 12" mitutoyo vernier calipers, but they rarely see use anymore after I acquired a set of 8" dial calipers

Fowler vs Shars best/worst knockoff brand. GO!

>>1772808
Dials are nice. Verniers if you plan on tossing them around more/being rougher with them. Although you shouldn't be doing that to your precision measuring equipment anyhow.

>>1773000
Seconding this sentiment.

>>1772808

Dial. The only advantages verniers have are cost and durability, both of which are heavily mitigated by the facts that the cost difference isn't significant for comparable pairs, and you really shouldn't be manhandling measuring tools, anyway.

>>1772868
That takes me back. Used to run a Luna OBR 4600 characterising hermetic feedthrough pigtails for backbone telecoms and downhole applications.

a measuring tape sometimes

>>1772808
Dials are great when everything is going good, measurements are all spot on, etc., but when something is off out of nowhere there's always that little kernel of doubt that you don't have with verniers. That said, dials are faster and I use them more for that reason. I actually use verniers when woodworking a decent amount.

>>1773104
It's so easy to align these perfectly or whatever I'm doing, I wonder why it wasnt part of my training. There's an SC UPC connector at A and B is about where the reflectance would normally return to baseline.

If I hold my tongue at the right angle and wiggle the connectors it disappears with no signal loss, not even using an optical fluid.

I wonder if it would show up, or be worse than the normal click-in upc contact on a different measurement

>>1772867
>12 foot dial calipers
Wew

>>1772443
And your co-worker probably hates you

I'd be lost without my Trimos V4.

Well maybe not lost but just about everything I do at work would take >9000% longer.

>>1773451
He actually loves me and only let's me use them. Not everyone is tradesman scum.

>>1773451
>>1771702

>>1773829
This is real.

>>1773829
>>1774949
Quality posts

-Bepis

Btw I chopped through an extension cord with the hedge trimmers today, about to go frankenstein that thing.

Have a 0-4 inch micrometer set, paid 30 bucks for it. Just bought a 6-12 inch micrometer. One of those with interchangeable anvils. Paid 50 bucks for that one. Still need to buy a 4-5 and my mic collection will be complete for 90% of my metrology needs.

I've been told conflicting things about those variable mics. Some say they aren't accurate and other say they are fine so long as you zero them on standards beforehand. Anyone have an opinion on this?

>>1774973
cheap shit is accurate in the way that go/no-go gauges are accurate. You spend a lot of time adjusting it to a very narrow range, and if you ever try using it outside that range you've pretty much fucked it.

a set of $30 micrometers will probably have every problem in the book. The main one is inconsistent scale. So as you measure stuff further and further from its "zero" position, the less accurate the measurement.

>>1769941
My 35’ Milfucky tape measure

>>1774978
The price has nothing to do with their quality because they were lucky finds at auctions. I'm asking more about the reliability of the micrometers that have interchangeable anvils vs those that have a fixed 1" range of measurement. I agree that a set of four brand new mics that cost only 30 bucks would certainly be crap.

>>1774991
>>1774978
>>1774973

Picture of the Mic style I'm asking about.

>buy harbor freight shitbox caliper
>They break in 3 weeks of 50 hrs/week use
>Buy mitutoyo coolant proof caliper
>Soak in coolant/oil regularly, get dirt debris in ways, carry around in back pocket
>Been several years and they're good as new
>Blow em out, spray the ways with wd40, wipe it off and they're as smooth and clean as the day I got them

Guys I need help. I was volunteering at the local restore (gay I know) and somebody donated a 1 to 6 inch mitutoyo mechanical caliper set. I was fucking elated because those sets are 950 bucks brand new. I obviously swipped them before anybody could price them and try to sell them. I've only used the 1 and 2 inch mics and they zero properly but after backing off the zero a couple hundred thou and then going back to zero just once, my new zero is like .0006. Then if I keep going to problem compounds until my zero is 2-3 thou off. What the fuck is this? It's exhausting constantly adjusting the barrel to 0 and then I'm sketched out my measurements are tenths off which is a mile in some of the tolerances I work with. Don't bully, I'm a young manual machinist Im not interested in how much more you know about the trade than me just asking for help

>>1774984
You're a gigantic faggot

We use those Mituyo micrometers in our school workshop.
Literally all of them have broken locking mechanisms so you lose your measurement shortly after you take it.

>>1775078
The first thing I would do is disassemble them, unscrew them completely and pull apart, then clean them up good with some rubbing alcohol. reassemble with some very light oil on the threads. Are you adjusting the actual barrel or the collar on the internal screw?

>>1775077
I had a pair of Mitutoyo 8" calipers that lasted me 17 years of hard daily use, I let a student borrow them one day and they stopped working. I immediately bought another pair just like it.

>>1775093
Never trust locking mechanisms to hold an accurate measurement, learn to read your measurements without having to lock whatever your using.

>>1775107
The barrel. I'm thinking maybe these things are just fucked.

>>1775371
So it seems my Starret micrometers adjust differently than the Mitutoyos. I don't have experience with them.

Have you done something like this video?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7UJw5Ts5vgA

starrett and sunex cause poor

A handmade marking gauge, a plumb, and calipers.
Can't get any more accurate than physical dimension.

>>1769941
feeler gauges, some snap-on derivative torque wrench I can't remember the three-letter initialism of, digital scale, and pic related

>>1769994

When I'm buying something expensive, I often get a cheap piece of crap first. That's the one I fuck up as I learn. Then I know what to buy for the good one, and how to treat it right.

If the crap tool survives my learning curve, it either stays my main tool if it's good enough or becomes a beater/spare/sacrificial tool.

>>1770510

Woodworkers use float glass as lapping plates because the only things they need that flat are soles on used planes, which only need to be flattened once if even that. A ten dollar solution that is plenty flat enough is fine. Some go ahead and buy the surface plate anyway but a) that's overkill, and b) fucking around with abrasives on a surface plate?!

Beginners also use sandpaper on float glass as a poor man's sharpening stone so they can learn to sharpen hand tools like plane irons and chisels. Again, plenty flat enough for the application. In my experience, woodworkers are way better about sharpening than machinists, at least the hand tool users. If they stay in wwing, they switch to waterstones or something.

>>1770519

Yeah, hobbyist beginner.

>>1770650

It's easier to visualize if you think of lines meeting rather than flat planes. Two can mate up by matching curves. With three, the only edges that can mate up any two of the three is a straight line.

>>1774993
ugh. for something like that you would need to check the runout/straightness (total runout?) on the longer anvils/pins, even a tiny bit will make a difference for mic measurement. What company made this set? Personally I wouldn't trust it over a high quality caliper, which is pretty bad considering that it's a micrometer. and that's assuming the rest of the frame is working. what are you measuring? If it's just for dicking around with engine parts then it's probably fine since you can just measure and calculate replacement parts that fall in the middle of the tolerance range (it wont really be in the middle, but the micrometer error might be mitigated by the tolerance "allowance") . If its for machines that make delicate measurement then no. This is just the opinion of someone who's been stung before by "precision" measurement equipment.

>>1775078
does the anvil and spindle touch? sounds like error caused by damaged screw. probably some ape screwed it down like an animal, or maybe someone stored them with the anvil and spindle in contact and put them in harsh temperature environment changes.

>>1775593
Damn could a metrology lab fix this? I have one in my town. I guess it would be worth it cause the fuckers were free

>>1775078
Get a gauge block and check with the block.
Odds are the anvil is bent and you will be able to feel it with the gauge block because you will be able to rotate the block on the pivot point where the anvil is bent.

>>1775945
You can also use a precision ball bearing to gauge multiple points on the spindle/anvil mating faces.

>>1775938
depends on the lab i guess? Metrology labs i knew would calibrate your stuff but never repair.

>>1772867
>I've had 12' dial calipers

Yeah me too, but then I dropped it on my foot and broke three toes.

>>1776492

I have a 2' caliper. Gonna have to get me one of those 12' ones though!

>>1776492
What kind of tow rig did you use to get that bad boy to the jobsite?

>>1776583
We have a pair of 6' verniers at the shop i work at. I wouldnt be surprised if 12s are a thing. Hell theres some pretty fuckhuge micrometers available too.

>>1776608

Jesus... imagine using that thing. Air temperature changes 3 degrees or you accidentally breathe on it, measurement changes by 5 thousandths...

>>1776656
I would love to see someone actually use it. It's at least a two person operation. The frame looks like its just welded tubing so it has to have some degree of flex to it unless it's resting on the floor. I'm sure shops have them custom made for a very specific dimension on a single part they make thousands of.

>>1776608
>>1776656
>>1776664
I'm an old, shitty phoneposter, and I don't know how to add links in a post, tell me how shitty I am...

But if you image search that pic you can click on the "Microtech" website. It says they have micrometers for sale with a range of up to 10 meters, and verniers up to 20 meters. They're in Ukraine, take that for what it's worth.

>>1776676
Fuck, I am old... It's Bombay Tools in India. Wow. Now I'm gonna have to call "Tom at Microsoft" to get my phone unlocked probably. Shit.

>>1776676
>>1776583
>>1776512
>>1776492

>>1776656
Was thinking about this too. You must need a special storage rack for it, lay it down the wrong way and it’s all off, bump the door frame with it like moving the couch and it’s done for.

Plus trying to manufacture those tools, what are they calibrated against and how many times are they measuring as they build it?

>>1776711
Finally! Always wanted an iVernier

>>1776679
OH AY OH, IM DR BOM BOM BAY
OH AY OH, YES I AM A DOCTOR
OH AY OH, IM DR BOM BOM BAY
OH AY OH, COME AND SEE THE DOCTOR

>>1776732
My dreams of shitposting from my calipers have finally come true!

My dad got me a German-made caliper for my birthday and my grandpa gave me an American made micromiter, feels good to hang in the shop bros

>>1777136
>not Japanese
Bro, you need to trust the Asians on the small stuff. Americans and Yuros make a real good 12” ruler, and then you talk to the Africans for your 100”+ tape measure.

>>1775984
Oh I like that much better. I never thought of doing that.