These 2 Calipers...

[killemall8]

whats the 10$ difference?

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Disp...temnumber=93293

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/disp...temnumber=47257

[Rick500]

Cheaper one's composite; more expensive one's steel.

[killemall8]

thanks Rick.

so would it be worth it just to get the cheap one? dont know how i could break a caliper.

[killemall8]

well guys,

i would like an answer quick if you can answer it.

would this be a good one to use for measure neck profile thickness? that is what i mainly want it for. it doesnt say how deep the jaws are. is it big enough to reach the middle of the neck at the 17th fret or so?

[Rick500]

As long as it's dimensionally stable and doesn't flex, it should be okay. Mine is stainless steel and was something like $10 from eBay.

Edited September 18, 2008 by Rick500

[soapbarstrat]

The metal one has the depth thing at the end, which the plastic one doesn't have.

Another thing : $19.95 is more than you should be paying for the metal one. It's very often on sale for around $16.00 (maybe even less, sometimes).

Another thing : If you don't want to be buying new batteries often, take the battery out after every use (yes, PITA, but will save you enough $$ to justify doing it)

[jmrentis]

Another thing : If you don't want to be buying new batteries often, take the battery out after every use (yes, PITA, but will save you enough $$ to justify doing it)

Interesting! I had no idea, but now that you mention it, I will definitely do so. Reason being when I pulled out mine to measure those stewmac cauls it had been sitting in its case completely off, yet the battery had gone dead and prior to storing it I had barely used it. Thankfully as that one it came with an extra battery in the case so I replaced it, but I think now I will take out the battery. The one I have is super easy to remove the battery, just a twist and thats it, definitely worth doing. Thanks for the heads up! J

Edited September 18, 2008 by jmrentis

[soapbarstrat]

I think on those Horror Fright ones, they really never go off all the way.

Actually on mine, I can shut it off with the button switch, but then if I move the jaws, damn numbers pop up on the screen !

Yeah, like in a horror film : " Ok kids, it's gonna be alright. I took the battery out of the caliper monster, so everybody can rest easy. OH NO, IT'S STILL COMING AFTER US ANYWAY ! "

[jmrentis]

LOL

Thats crazy the numbers come back up when you move it. Mine will stay off no problem, I just can't figure why the battery was gone when I pulled it out unless it was pulling juice while it was off or I somehow left in on as I packed it away. Oh well, we'll see how this batt goes. I was glad I got one though, the manual one I had was tough to read correctly, I used it more to transfer measurements than anything else. I still want some nice rules though, like those nice Starrett ones, not too mention the 18" straight edge. J

Edited September 18, 2008 by jmrentis

[soapbarstrat]

It's hard for me to keep track of what weird quirks each of my calipers have. I have 5 of them. 4 are digital. The 2 I bought in Europe don't have numbers pop up when it's turned off, but they still seem to drain batteries too quickly.

One of them is modded to read fret-wire tangs, but with the mod I made, you don't have to file any burr off the end of the fret, it by-passes the very end of the fret. That one was given to me as a gift, but I came up with the "bypass mod".

My first calipers are some kind of high-tech plastic, made in Switzerland, dial reading, the depth reader is totally inaccurate with no way I know of to correct it. They were, by far, the most expensive of all of them. $30.00 from LMI way back in the early 90's. They are now my "throw around" calipers. For years I kept them in a case when not in use. These days I just toss em around like they're junk. I'll even put them into my portable open top tool box when I go do home repair jobs, with other tools banging around with them.

[jer7440]

Just get the dial ones...no batteries to die....ever!

[killemall8]

well i just said screw it, and bought the cheap $11 Stainless one from ebay. thanks for everything though guys.

[Prostheta]

Mine never goes completely "off". If I zero it and turn it off, then open up the jaws and turn it on, it displays the correct measurement which means it's constantly "monitoring" the displacement of the jaws. It doesn't turn itself on when I move it however.

[jmrentis]

Mine never goes completely "off". If I zero it and turn it off, then open up the jaws and turn it on, it displays the correct measurement which means it's constantly "monitoring" the displacement of the jaws. It doesn't turn itself on when I move it however.

Thats what it is, can't believe it didn't cross my mind. Mine works the same way, it doesn't turn on when I move it, but if I move it while off, it will still accurately tell the measurement. Thats why my battery died on me while in storage. Soaps right they never really go all the way off, just remove the batts save on having to replace them all the time. I don't know if all are easy to remove, thankfully just a twist will do the style I ended up with. J

Edited September 19, 2008 by jmrentis

[KeithHowell]

Get one with a vernier, no batteries and no dial to break!

Keith

[Prostheta]

Mine never goes completely "off". If I zero it and turn it off, then open up the jaws and turn it on, it displays the correct measurement which means it's constantly "monitoring" the displacement of the jaws. It doesn't turn itself on when I move it however.

Thats what it is, can't believe it didn't cross my mind. Mine works the same way, it doesn't turn on when I move it, but if I move it while off, it will still accurately tell the measurement. Thats why my battery died on me while in storage. Soaps right they never really go all the way off, just remove the batts save on having to replace them all the time. I don't know if all are easy to remove, thankfully just a twist will do the style I ended up with. J

Mine's easy to remove. Just drop it on a hard floor and the battery soon pops out.

[madawgony]

I bought the composite one about a year ago and the jaws do not stay in place. It is good for a quick measurement but it is not good when trying to compare two pieces. It slides too easily.

I would think the other one with a "wheel" to move the calipers would be better.

[soapbarstrat]

Get one with a vernier, no batteries and no dial to break!

Keith

Bah ! If I were to go that stone-age with it, I'd just go one notch down and use an adjustable wrench, then see what feeler-gauges fit in the opening of the wrench's jaws.

Guess the digital calipers use too much power to be able to use that solar technology like many calculators do. Man, those solar calculators are impressive. I had forgot I even owned one. Was in a drawer for 10 years. Rediscovered it, and tried it out and works fine, even from man-made light.

[KeithHowell]

QUOTE(KeithHowell @ Sep 19 2008, 05:58 AM)

Get one with a vernier, no batteries and no dial to break!

Keith

Bah ! If I were to go that stone-age with it, I'd just go one notch down and use an adjustable wrench, then see what feeler-gauges fit in the opening of the wrench's jaws.

Just say if you don't understand how to read a vernier

If there's one thing I learned at university, using a vernier and understanding how they work is most useful. For example I use a jig I made up for marking fret slots using a standard metric rule with a vernier scale I created on CAD to give me accurately the fractions of millimetres.

Keith