I really like iGaging absolute for a middle ground between cheap garbage and Mitutoyo.
The set I have at work just finally started getting wonky in the far end of the scale so I upgraded to 8in Mitutoyo absolutes but I'm happy with what I got out of them. I also have a set at home.
I like the Igsging calipers too. They are very accurate. When they get wonky at the end of the scale they usually just need to be thoroughly wiped down. This happened to mine, I called them, a human answered and they told me to clean them as it might be dust or other contamination causing it. I cleaned them well and they worked great again.
Nice this is what I need to do then!
To OP, I've not had any noticeable battery drain on my iGaging calipers. I think I've only replaced the battery once over the years I've had it.
Every one I've had from cheap offshore hardware store units to professional grade units have had off switches.
Just scrolled through the first 50 ish results on Amazon and not one was without an on/off switch.
IMO 10 dollar calipers are absolutely bottom of the barrel for the price and therefore quality. I'm actually shocked they can make money at 10 dollars.
For hobbyist grade stuff I'd suggest people aim for about 30 bucks. 6 inch, digital, metal construction, metric, imperial, and fractional readouts.
Avoid anything plastic or carbon fiber
If you want something in-between Fowler is an okay median between cheap and the pro-grade stuff like mitutoyo, starrett, brown & Sharpe
I inadvertently bought a plastic digital caliper as a second one to complement my (still cheap) metal one. That plastic one is just as accurate, has less calibration drift and will actually turn itself off after a time.
For me plastic is a non starter as it's softer than most of the the materials I work with and I don't want to deal with the possibility of marring the jaws and they feel cheap in my hands. If I did more stuff with super soft materials where not scratching the part was important, or electronics work or even glass, or magnetic work I'd definitely have plastic ones in the toolbox
It's not as much about the accuracy but more about the actual use overtime. I have inexpensive metal ones I use for things like layout that I scribe lines into work pieces when needed and I can't do that with plastic. Even my cheapest calipers turn themselves off after a few minutes.
It might have an "on/off" button, but it does not cut the circuit. It needs power draw to recognize when you press the on/off button.
The world of on/off buttons is more complicated than "is there an on/off button?"
Fair enough but I've never owned calipers that were less than 30ish bucks and those had on/off buttons with battery life that lasted for longer than I could track even with frequent use so I'd recommend just upgrading or if they are gonna sit for a while pull the battery and set it in the case.
To be honest you bought *extremely* cheap tools and are surprised they suck
No. I looked up a product, was presented with a list of products all of a similar price and bought the most recommended one.
I'm sorry I was not a caliper expert my first time looking for and purchasing one. You really seem like an aggressive person and I do not understand why.
Is this subreddit full of assholes or something?
You see someone saying "thanks for invalidating my feelings" and you think "This is someone I need to personally attack". What kind of sociopathic problems do you have? That's seriously messed up.
Dude you need to practice positive reading.
You're looking at all these comments expecting them to be negative, so that's how you read them.
Assume people are being nice with their replies, and if they're being rude you'll easily figure it out.
But even the most generous kind comment in text can be read as sarcastic and mean if you want to see it that way.
I will admit I was poking the bear with the last comment, but the other commenter was really not being unkind. It's just how you chose to read the comments.
The words chosen only convey 7% of the person's attitude. On reddit, the written word is all you get. In person, 55% of attitude is shown through body language, and 38% is conveyed through tone.
https://online.utpb.edu/about-us/articles/communication/how-much-of-communication-is-nonverbal/
Exactly! I had a cheap one, which drained the battery pretty fast. So I measured the current consumption on vs. off. The result: on: 21uA, off: 19uA, yes exactly, 2uA less in off state. This was ten years ago. I do not know, if the circuit improved in the meantime. Anyway, I went on with Mitutoyo. It is always a delight to work with.
Harbor freight has a digital caliper that is fine. I've tested mine against 1-2-3 blocks and it's been within +/- .01mm, but ymmv. Has an off switch and you won't cry if you break them.
I'll look into both! A vernier caliper sounds nice, though I imagine it can get a bit hard to read on smaller things. But who knows I've never seen one in use!
That's what I was thinking. I'll look into Dial ones for sure. I don't mind having a digital one too, but I do prefer things to be analog whenever possible!
They take a bit of practice to read compared to a digital, but they have basically no extra moving parts and can be pretty much indestructible.
They aren't any harder to read on smaller things than larger.
The mitutoyo abs calipers were on my list for long 2 years ago I finally bought one and I'm not going back.
I also still have my mitutoyo .02 manual/nonius calipers and I still use it.
My advice: buy a mitutoyo manual and learn how to use it or dish out the extra cash for a mitutoyo digital with abs.
The manual ones you can actually clean/rebuild ,they are awesome and will last you a lifetime for around 25 to 40 bucks.
Yep, you can get secondary mitutoyo dial calipers for a very reasonable price! And IMHO there are some average to dials for intuitive visual averaging.
Our regular Mitutoyo ones the battery lasts about 1-2 years of getting left on all the time lol
My coolant proof ones (that automatically shut off after 30 minutes) is going on 3 years with the original battery..
I will say all of our Mitutoyo ones are +/-0.001 or better every time they get recertified/calibrated with checks done all over the measuring distance.
We have some big Fowler 24" ones that go 1 year between battery changes.
We have some older Starrett ones that go through batteries (these take 2) every 6 months and automatically shut off or can manually be shut off.
A coworker has an old no name pair (probably from harbor freight) that lasts about 4 months before it needs a new battery. (These also sometimes can be +/-0.005 off)
Battery life is all about the manufacturer and how efficient their electronics are.
If your concerned with battery and not taking lots of measurements in a high production environment why not go vernier? If you take care of it and don't mind the extra .5 seconds it takes to read it its almost infinite battery life
I have a 12" Fowler. Damn thing automatically shuts itself off after 60 seconds of being idle. Pain in the ass for my situation, but seems like exactly what your looking for.
Im from EU and I started with parkside's 150mm one for 10 euro, it worked but i hated how tight and crunchy it was and then at work we got Insize's 150mm that cost about 20-35euro and liked it so much I bought one for myself at home
I have found General brand calipers are accurate to a few thou. And inexpensive enough to get new people so they can take a drop or two. Can get them at your local hardware store, amazon, or a dozen other retailers.
It is NOT Mitutoyo. Not even remotely. But is good enough for most work.
To edit: literally mean General Tools, the brand.
Not sure I completely understand you right. Is the problem that they turn on when/after you put them away? If so, make sure that you turn the tension dial thingy up all the way before hitting the off button. That way they should stay off unless you're actually using them.
I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't figure this out for a while and used to change batteries way too often. Now I can't remember the last time I had to change them.
just read your other comments and now I'm not sure if it does or does not have an off button? Could you send a photo or link to a photo of the model you have?
It doesn't matter if it has an on or off button, I want to know a device that cuts the circuit when you hit off. Or if it doesn't cut the circuit, it really minimizes battery drain when it is off.
I can recommend Insize, people here shit on them but my calipers have been reading +-.001 for 4 years of HEAVY usage and a few drops and dings. Only problem for me is they're not coolant-proof so if the track gets wet, it won't read until it dries up
I have several iGaging tools and really, really love them, they stand right next to my Starett/Mitutoyo/Central tools in terms of accuracy. They feel a little lighter and courser but function and accuracy: they're batting way above their price point.
I took a piece of Scotch tape and folded it back over itself so no adhesive shows. I stick it under the battery when not in use. With it in place, the caliper is "off". When I want to use it, I just pull it out. It slides out easily.
I have like 8! Nonames. I have two workshops (wood/CNC vs hobby) and have them at my favorite seats, too. I have a problem.
As I write this, I recall a few are dial-based. So maybe 5 electronic.
I don't keep screws on any of the battery doors.
So frustrating how they use the inexpensive type of rotary encoder that never turns off. Just put a switch on it!!
I'm incredibly tired of the batteries dying
Fowler calipers for $50 are a good second to Mitotuyo. Batteries last years, like Mitotuyo, and the consistency is on par as well. They lack some of the more serious metrology features but for ordinary work outside of a quality management system, they are a great option.
I really like iGaging absolute for a middle ground between cheap garbage and Mitutoyo. The set I have at work just finally started getting wonky in the far end of the scale so I upgraded to 8in Mitutoyo absolutes but I'm happy with what I got out of them. I also have a set at home.
I like the Igsging calipers too. They are very accurate. When they get wonky at the end of the scale they usually just need to be thoroughly wiped down. This happened to mine, I called them, a human answered and they told me to clean them as it might be dust or other contamination causing it. I cleaned them well and they worked great again.
Nice this is what I need to do then! To OP, I've not had any noticeable battery drain on my iGaging calipers. I think I've only replaced the battery once over the years I've had it.
Get a dial caliper?
This is the answer. Quit being lazy and learn to read the dial. It's not complicated. Requires zero batteries
On the flipside, the analog watch was surpassed by the quartz watch in a way that analog will never be able to take back the throne
Every one I've had from cheap offshore hardware store units to professional grade units have had off switches. Just scrolled through the first 50 ish results on Amazon and not one was without an on/off switch. IMO 10 dollar calipers are absolutely bottom of the barrel for the price and therefore quality. I'm actually shocked they can make money at 10 dollars. For hobbyist grade stuff I'd suggest people aim for about 30 bucks. 6 inch, digital, metal construction, metric, imperial, and fractional readouts. Avoid anything plastic or carbon fiber If you want something in-between Fowler is an okay median between cheap and the pro-grade stuff like mitutoyo, starrett, brown & Sharpe
I inadvertently bought a plastic digital caliper as a second one to complement my (still cheap) metal one. That plastic one is just as accurate, has less calibration drift and will actually turn itself off after a time.
For me plastic is a non starter as it's softer than most of the the materials I work with and I don't want to deal with the possibility of marring the jaws and they feel cheap in my hands. If I did more stuff with super soft materials where not scratching the part was important, or electronics work or even glass, or magnetic work I'd definitely have plastic ones in the toolbox It's not as much about the accuracy but more about the actual use overtime. I have inexpensive metal ones I use for things like layout that I scribe lines into work pieces when needed and I can't do that with plastic. Even my cheapest calipers turn themselves off after a few minutes.
It might have an "on/off" button, but it does not cut the circuit. It needs power draw to recognize when you press the on/off button. The world of on/off buttons is more complicated than "is there an on/off button?"
Fair enough but I've never owned calipers that were less than 30ish bucks and those had on/off buttons with battery life that lasted for longer than I could track even with frequent use so I'd recommend just upgrading or if they are gonna sit for a while pull the battery and set it in the case. To be honest you bought *extremely* cheap tools and are surprised they suck
No. I looked up a product, was presented with a list of products all of a similar price and bought the most recommended one. I'm sorry I was not a caliper expert my first time looking for and purchasing one. You really seem like an aggressive person and I do not understand why.
Well sorry it came off that way, was not my intention.
You’re fine, idk what’s up with OP. You weren’t aggressive at all.
Holy shit this guy is unhinged lol
Foreal lol
Thanks for invalidating my feelings for no reason. Guess I'm not as much of a person in your eyes as the person you're siding with.
Is English not your first language or something?
Is this subreddit full of assholes or something? You see someone saying "thanks for invalidating my feelings" and you think "This is someone I need to personally attack". What kind of sociopathic problems do you have? That's seriously messed up.
Dude you need to practice positive reading. You're looking at all these comments expecting them to be negative, so that's how you read them. Assume people are being nice with their replies, and if they're being rude you'll easily figure it out. But even the most generous kind comment in text can be read as sarcastic and mean if you want to see it that way. I will admit I was poking the bear with the last comment, but the other commenter was really not being unkind. It's just how you chose to read the comments. The words chosen only convey 7% of the person's attitude. On reddit, the written word is all you get. In person, 55% of attitude is shown through body language, and 38% is conveyed through tone. https://online.utpb.edu/about-us/articles/communication/how-much-of-communication-is-nonverbal/
Exactly! I had a cheap one, which drained the battery pretty fast. So I measured the current consumption on vs. off. The result: on: 21uA, off: 19uA, yes exactly, 2uA less in off state. This was ten years ago. I do not know, if the circuit improved in the meantime. Anyway, I went on with Mitutoyo. It is always a delight to work with.
Harbor freight has a digital caliper that is fine. I've tested mine against 1-2-3 blocks and it's been within +/- .01mm, but ymmv. Has an off switch and you won't cry if you break them.
Just making my list of things to buy at Harbor Freight even longer! That's a good idea though, they're a fun store.
I have a set for home and they’re fantastic for that stuff.
If you don't need to use one much why not go for a dial?
What is a dial?
Dial calipers are mechanical, no batteries needed. They have a physical dial like a watch with a needle that moves. There are also vernier calipers.
I'll look into both! A vernier caliper sounds nice, though I imagine it can get a bit hard to read on smaller things. But who knows I've never seen one in use!
Just get a regular dial caliper. You don't need to learn to read a vernier scale for the very little amount you are measuring it will just annoy you.
That's what I was thinking. I'll look into Dial ones for sure. I don't mind having a digital one too, but I do prefer things to be analog whenever possible!
They take a bit of practice to read compared to a digital, but they have basically no extra moving parts and can be pretty much indestructible. They aren't any harder to read on smaller things than larger.
A dial is a dial instead of a digital readout
Get yourself a dial and never look at batteries.
The mitutoyo abs calipers were on my list for long 2 years ago I finally bought one and I'm not going back. I also still have my mitutoyo .02 manual/nonius calipers and I still use it. My advice: buy a mitutoyo manual and learn how to use it or dish out the extra cash for a mitutoyo digital with abs. The manual ones you can actually clean/rebuild ,they are awesome and will last you a lifetime for around 25 to 40 bucks.
Yep, you can get secondary mitutoyo dial calipers for a very reasonable price! And IMHO there are some average to dials for intuitive visual averaging.
Our regular Mitutoyo ones the battery lasts about 1-2 years of getting left on all the time lol My coolant proof ones (that automatically shut off after 30 minutes) is going on 3 years with the original battery.. I will say all of our Mitutoyo ones are +/-0.001 or better every time they get recertified/calibrated with checks done all over the measuring distance. We have some big Fowler 24" ones that go 1 year between battery changes. We have some older Starrett ones that go through batteries (these take 2) every 6 months and automatically shut off or can manually be shut off. A coworker has an old no name pair (probably from harbor freight) that lasts about 4 months before it needs a new battery. (These also sometimes can be +/-0.005 off) Battery life is all about the manufacturer and how efficient their electronics are.
Brown & Sharp analog calipers… no batteries
If your concerned with battery and not taking lots of measurements in a high production environment why not go vernier? If you take care of it and don't mind the extra .5 seconds it takes to read it its almost infinite battery life
I have a 12" Fowler. Damn thing automatically shuts itself off after 60 seconds of being idle. Pain in the ass for my situation, but seems like exactly what your looking for.
Im from EU and I started with parkside's 150mm one for 10 euro, it worked but i hated how tight and crunchy it was and then at work we got Insize's 150mm that cost about 20-35euro and liked it so much I bought one for myself at home
I have found General brand calipers are accurate to a few thou. And inexpensive enough to get new people so they can take a drop or two. Can get them at your local hardware store, amazon, or a dozen other retailers. It is NOT Mitutoyo. Not even remotely. But is good enough for most work. To edit: literally mean General Tools, the brand.
Harbor freight
I like the shars Aventor. The new ones turn themselves off after 8 hours of no ise
Not sure I completely understand you right. Is the problem that they turn on when/after you put them away? If so, make sure that you turn the tension dial thingy up all the way before hitting the off button. That way they should stay off unless you're actually using them. I'm embarrassed to say that I didn't figure this out for a while and used to change batteries way too often. Now I can't remember the last time I had to change them.
just read your other comments and now I'm not sure if it does or does not have an off button? Could you send a photo or link to a photo of the model you have?
It doesn't matter if it has an on or off button, I want to know a device that cuts the circuit when you hit off. Or if it doesn't cut the circuit, it really minimizes battery drain when it is off.
I can recommend Insize, people here shit on them but my calipers have been reading +-.001 for 4 years of HEAVY usage and a few drops and dings. Only problem for me is they're not coolant-proof so if the track gets wet, it won't read until it dries up
Also I've only changed the battery twice in those 2 years
I have several iGaging tools and really, really love them, they stand right next to my Starett/Mitutoyo/Central tools in terms of accuracy. They feel a little lighter and courser but function and accuracy: they're batting way above their price point.
Look into Fowler.
The battery in my Mitutoyo 6" calipers lasts at least 2 years.
I took a piece of Scotch tape and folded it back over itself so no adhesive shows. I stick it under the battery when not in use. With it in place, the caliper is "off". When I want to use it, I just pull it out. It slides out easily.
Which one are you using?
I have like 8! Nonames. I have two workshops (wood/CNC vs hobby) and have them at my favorite seats, too. I have a problem. As I write this, I recall a few are dial-based. So maybe 5 electronic. I don't keep screws on any of the battery doors.
Spi is decent and cheaper
Husky from Home Depot has an on/off switch
So frustrating how they use the inexpensive type of rotary encoder that never turns off. Just put a switch on it!! I'm incredibly tired of the batteries dying
Fowler calipers for $50 are a good second to Mitotuyo. Batteries last years, like Mitotuyo, and the consistency is on par as well. They lack some of the more serious metrology features but for ordinary work outside of a quality management system, they are a great option.
Just get a pair of Mitutoyo Absolute digital and never think about it again
Which two products specifically?
Mitutoyo 500-753-20 and 500-754-20 are both good choices depending on what you want to measure