A reccomendation on a dial caliper to buy pls

[simimi]

Hi all,

I would like to buy a caliper to add to my toolbox but I am not familiar with the various ones. As with most things, I suppose price makes a difference. Is there a brand, or price point I should be looking at?

Any reccomendations are appreciated. I am a fan of ****, maybe someone has bought one from there they liked,

thanks

Mike

 

[WaltCMoto]

What are you looking to measure? And what kind of accuracy do you want it to have? If you want + - .002, just about any brand will do. You can find one as cheap as $20-30. If you want .001 tolorance, expect to spend $80 - 100 or more. High end brands to look for are Starret, Brown and Sharp, Mittutoyo.

 

[Jaybird]

I like to keep a cheap one in the box, and a nice one on the bench.
Most all of them have their own little case.

 

[SFO]

mitutoyo
best solid cheap caliper
cheap meaning under 100$.
my choice for general knock around...

http://www.jlindustrial.com/catalog/product.jsp?origin=SEARCH:KEYWORD&id=MT5-05637L

Best Best would be an Etalon
Not cheap, keep as my gauge quality calipers.

http://www.jlindustrial.com/catalog/product.jsp?origin=SEARCH:KEYWORD&id=TEA-86148E

The Starret has an open rack which invites crud to live in the frame and cause a skipping needle and the B&S has no thumb roller.
There is a newer Mitutoyo that has a TiN coated frame that enhances the feel but I can't find that part #.

 

[Studboy]

I have a harbor freight that I picked up for $20. It may not be as accurate as the 100+ dollar ones, but for my uses it works perfectly. I think that it says that it is accurate to .002 on the box.

 

[simimi]

I just picked one up online, $30 delivered, and it is a Digital one, figured it would make it way easy to read.

Thanks for all the input,

Mike

 

[kelseybrent]

Harbour Freight digital cheapo, on sale for 15.99 when I got mine.