Don't be a cloud on a sunny day. LOLUntil that huge group of migrant squirrels see's all that newly vacated property.
Why do I get the feeling this is taped to the wall in borno's garage?
Uh oh, I dropped by to ask for opinions, a dangerous thing to do sometimes 
I've got dial calipers, basic vernier calipers even a 'slide' vernier caliper. But I'm considering a digital caliper to ease the chore of reading them with my old eyes.
I've narrowed it down to one of these two.
igaging model 100-700-33 w/ decimal, fractions (to 1/128th), & metric
or
wixey model wr100 w/ decimal/fractions (to 1/64) displayed together or metric
+'s for the igaging: has absolute zero, turns completely off after 5 minutes no use, brand seems to have a pretty good reputation
-'s for the igaging: bar is only marked w/ major increments, who needs fraction to 1/128th (not me)
+'s for the wixey: only displays the fraction when the decimal is within .003 inches of the fraction
-'s for the wixey: shuts off after 30 minutes, totally powers off after 4 hours
Both are the same price and I'm on the fence. Although leaning to the igaging because I forget to shut things off and it has an absolute zero, but I kind of like the decimal/fraction showning together on the screen.
... so just wondering if anyone may even have one or the other in their tool box and/or comments in general.
I've got dial calipers, basic vernier calipers even a 'slide' vernier caliper. But I'm considering a digital caliper to ease the chore of reading them with my old eyes.
I've narrowed it down to one of these two.
igaging model 100-700-33 w/ decimal, fractions (to 1/128th), & metric
or
wixey model wr100 w/ decimal/fractions (to 1/64) displayed together or metric
+'s for the igaging: has absolute zero, turns completely off after 5 minutes no use, brand seems to have a pretty good reputation
-'s for the igaging: bar is only marked w/ major increments, who needs fraction to 1/128th (not me)
+'s for the wixey: only displays the fraction when the decimal is within .003 inches of the fraction
-'s for the wixey: shuts off after 30 minutes, totally powers off after 4 hours
Both are the same price and I'm on the fence. Although leaning to the igaging because I forget to shut things off and it has an absolute zero, but I kind of like the decimal/fraction showning together on the screen.
... so just wondering if anyone may even have one or the other in their tool box and/or comments in general.
I have maybe a 1/2 Dozen or so Digital Calipers. Here are some things I look for or are Important to Me when picking one.
I prefer an 8"/200mm Caliper to a 6" even though I very Seldomly need the full length. It's just more Balanced to hold.
A Bigger Battery is Nice because it allows you to have Bigger Display. Which is Very Nice. A single LR44 Battery is OK. But something like a CR2032 will give a noticeably longer life.
In Decimal Mode, displaying "Tenths", One Ten Thousands of an Inch, as either a Smaller "0" or "5" (or Not at All!) is Much Easier to read than 4 Equal Sized Digits to Right of the Decimal Point.
Check out this Vid at around 7:17 when this guy makes a Classic Measurement Mistake.
The Caliper is NOT reading "Negative Ten Thousands". It's reading "Negative One Thousands" But because all 4 Digits are the same size, it is easy to look down and see 0.0010 and kack. Whereas if the Display looked like this... 0.0010 you are (Most Likely) Not going to make this Mistake even when Tired. Or in Low Light.
Face it, It Takes a Lot of "Feel" to Accurately and Consistently measure in "Thousands". Measuring in 1/10,000" with a Caliper is really PR than Reality. Using a Caliper with 4 Equal Sized Digits to the Right of the Decimal Point is Very Tiresome. And gets Old Very Quickly. It's a Deal Breaker to me.
Another things that is Super Important to Me is "Auto-On". The Caliper will turn on when Slide the Jaw. A Manual On is more of a Peeve than a show stopper. Because once you use a Caliper with Auto On, it hard to go back. But doable.
The Auto-Off time length is kinda in the same category as the Auto-On. A Short Auto-Off can be a Annoyance. But once again, not the End of World.
All the Stuff dealing with Fractions is Cool. I just make less Mistakes if I work in Decimals. So that is what I use.
I prefer an 8"/200mm Caliper to a 6" even though I very Seldomly need the full length. It's just more Balanced to hold.
A Bigger Battery is Nice because it allows you to have Bigger Display. Which is Very Nice. A single LR44 Battery is OK. But something like a CR2032 will give a noticeably longer life.
In Decimal Mode, displaying "Tenths", One Ten Thousands of an Inch, as either a Smaller "0" or "5" (or Not at All!) is Much Easier to read than 4 Equal Sized Digits to Right of the Decimal Point.
Check out this Vid at around 7:17 when this guy makes a Classic Measurement Mistake.
The Caliper is NOT reading "Negative Ten Thousands". It's reading "Negative One Thousands" But because all 4 Digits are the same size, it is easy to look down and see 0.0010 and kack. Whereas if the Display looked like this... 0.0010 you are (Most Likely) Not going to make this Mistake even when Tired. Or in Low Light.
Face it, It Takes a Lot of "Feel" to Accurately and Consistently measure in "Thousands". Measuring in 1/10,000" with a Caliper is really PR than Reality. Using a Caliper with 4 Equal Sized Digits to the Right of the Decimal Point is Very Tiresome. And gets Old Very Quickly. It's a Deal Breaker to me.
Another things that is Super Important to Me is "Auto-On". The Caliper will turn on when Slide the Jaw. A Manual On is more of a Peeve than a show stopper. Because once you use a Caliper with Auto On, it hard to go back. But doable.
The Auto-Off time length is kinda in the same category as the Auto-On. A Short Auto-Off can be a Annoyance. But once again, not the End of World.
All the Stuff dealing with Fractions is Cool. I just make less Mistakes if I work in Decimals. So that is what I use.
BTW - Most Digital Calipers today function in both Absolute and Relative Modes. Even if the Caliper is 99.% of the time used in Relative mode.
Pick Up Caliper. Wipe Jaws with Thumb. Slide Jaws Closed to check Zero. (Set Zero out of Habit). Away you go. You'll find that you will do this EVER Single time you pick up your Caliper.
Except for One Time.
And that is when you have set a Zero to do Relative Measurements like the guy did at 7:17 and you put the Caliper down and it Auto-Off's. When you pick it up again you need the Caliper to Remember where your Relative Zero was so you don't have to "Zero-Out" every time you turn it on.
Pick Up Caliper. Wipe Jaws with Thumb. Slide Jaws Closed to check Zero. (Set Zero out of Habit). Away you go. You'll find that you will do this EVER Single time you pick up your Caliper.
Except for One Time.
And that is when you have set a Zero to do Relative Measurements like the guy did at 7:17 and you put the Caliper down and it Auto-Off's. When you pick it up again you need the Caliper to Remember where your Relative Zero was so you don't have to "Zero-Out" every time you turn it on.
Last edited:
Thanks @zoiDman ... neither of these have auto-on but the iGaging does have absolute zero. So if you turn it on and forget to check/set zero it 'remembers' the absolute zero. I like that feature. But I'm so used to checking zero on my dial calipers each time I use them it wouldn't be that big an inconvenience to check/set-zero on the Wixey.
We have different opinions on the auto-off. I do like the quicker 'totally' off of the iGauging. I tend to forget to turn things off. (Just ask my wife about the lights in the house). I don't mind turning it back on particularly since it remembers it's absolute zero.
Fractions!!! What a pain! I find myself working in metric more and more. I'm fine with 1/2mm resolution when using a 'mm' metric rule to markup a piece of wood I'm working with.
I'll be using this caliper for general use, reloading, armorer 'stuff', and woodworking. The woodworking use I thought the fraction 'might' be useful. But they're giving me measurements in 1/64th or 1/128's inch resolution, then that could beee more trouble than it's worth.
We have different opinions on the auto-off. I do like the quicker 'totally' off of the iGauging. I tend to forget to turn things off. (Just ask my wife about the lights in the house). I don't mind turning it back on particularly since it remembers it's absolute zero.
Fractions!!! What a pain! I find myself working in metric more and more. I'm fine with 1/2mm resolution when using a 'mm' metric rule to markup a piece of wood I'm working with.
I'll be using this caliper for general use, reloading, armorer 'stuff', and woodworking. The woodworking use I thought the fraction 'might' be useful. But they're giving me measurements in 1/64th or 1/128's inch resolution, then that could beee more trouble than it's worth.
I had seen that video, but wasn't paying attention to 'details'. Yepper, you caught the mistake for sure.
Yeah... The Auto-Off period falls into the Personal Preferences column.
I like about 30 Minutes before the Caliper shuts down. But I have one that has 5 Minutes. I kinda smirk every time I pick it up and it has gone off. But it is a Nice Caliper.
I like about 30 Minutes before the Caliper shuts down. But I have one that has 5 Minutes. I kinda smirk every time I pick it up and it has gone off. But it is a Nice Caliper.
Last edited:
Trust me. It is Very Easy to do when all the Digits are the same size.
Just give me a 3 Digit display. Or the small 0 - 5 "tenths" display. They're So Much Easier to work with.
BTW - The Fraction Feature is nice when working with Drills. Easy to pick up a Drill and give it a quick check. Yep... 9/64"
Lot simpler than measuring in Decimal, umm .140" - Something 64's ?, and then doing a Drill Chart lookup.
Last edited:
That is nice/convenient, last digit being smaller. But it's over my budget. Their 6 inch IP57 model is only a bit over budget but the pictures show all four of the digits the same size. Guess that's a feature of the IP67 model.
I Didn't even look at the Price. I just scanned Google Images to find a Caliper that had the small 0 - 5 tenths display. I thought If someone had never seen one how Confusing it could be without seeing a picture.
LOL
There's ton of other Calipers out there if $60+Tax+Shipping is Over Budget.
Last edited:
Nothing Wrong with a Good Dial Caliper. Nothing at all.
I still have my 1st Quality Caliper, a Brown & Sharpe. Which was a small fortune back in the Early 90's. It is still Smooth as Silk.
I also have an old Fowler 24" which is kinda a Beater. But it is accurate over the Entire 24 Inches.
Last edited:
I keep using my cheap Chinese caliper. The battery door is gone so I have to hold the battery in with my thumb. I mean really, how pathetic am I?
Well I suspect about as pathetic as me lol. I bought a $8 set from fasttech years ago and still use it. Battery door started getting loose so I taped it on, so I guess I got one up on you there
. Works for me be I'm not doing any precision work.Yeah... Using a Mic is the next level when it comes to many Linear Measurements. With a Height Gauge being that last level before some form of CMM.
If you do turning, you're going to use a Mic about Every day of your life. Digital Mics are sure easier to read "tenths" after a long day. Verses lining up vernier lines on the barrel.
If you're just picking up something like a low tolerances Step on a milled part or a +/0 0.30" Hole LOC from an EOP, a Caliper is a quick n' dirty way to get the job done.
I also used that 24" Fowler a LOT for Pre-Machine Layout Lines to be Bandsawed.
Similar threads
- Locked
- Locked
