Reply With QuoteAldi were selling them last year. I bought a pair for about £6. Perfectly functional.
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The geek in me has always wanted one of these, looking on Amazon they seem to range from £10-c£20…are these actually any good or to be remotely accurate need to spend more? Not looking for anything crazily accurate, but would be good to know if wasting my money on the Amazon ones.
If anyone has any recommendations it would be appreciated.
Thanks
Mike
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Aldi were selling them last year. I bought a pair for about £6. Perfectly functional.
Sent from my CLT-L09 using TZ-UK mobile app
A bit left field, but the 99p two-pack analogue plastic ones from Poundland et al might not be super-accurate, but if you aren't bothered about the odd micron here or there they have the big advantage of not being hard enough to cause any marks on anything harder than ice cream.
I do have digital ones that are accurate enough to measure and commission automotive journal grinding, but I also have the cheapo plastic ones for informal watch case measuring.
Last edited by unclealec; 13th February 2022 at 10:23.
After a rather more expensive set stopped working I bought one of these in Nov '19. Still working.
https://www.aliexpress.com/item/3283...27424c4d5IfNEy
Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.
I bought the cheapest digital ones on eBay several years ago and they've been great. They do the job entirely adequately for cases and everything else I've needed them for. On the occasions I've tested them against other sources, they've been accurate.
If you're buying for professional purposes then by all means pay more but I reckon that unless you go for very expensive (I guess you'll know if you need it) then nowadays they're all going to have a very similar mechanism.
I just looked quickly on eBay and I see that on the first page they range from £9.31 to £75, all for what appears to be an identical design and mechanism.
Last edited by markrlondon; 13th February 2022 at 04:12.
The cheap pairs are fine, I use Mitutoyo at work but are probably overkill for what you need.
I did buy a plastic pair for use at home just because they don't mark delicate surfaces. They are not the most accurate as they do flex in use. The resolution is 0.1mm too. Normally metal ones are 0.01mm
Something like this would be fine.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Digital-V...-127635-2958-0
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Last edited by noidea; 13th February 2022 at 04:43.
Thanks for the input, good to know the cheap ones actually do work! Only want them for measuring the odd watch case so have gone for the Vernier eBay ones.
Cheers
Mike
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Doubt they’re Vernier…
Both the small and large ones in the 99p pack do have Vernier scales, but I doubt they would be clinically accurate.
As I say, if you are converting conrods to take shells, don't use them. if you want to know if a watch case is 39mm or 40mm they are accurate enough.
Last edited by unclealec; 13th February 2022 at 10:10.
Ok, my apologies if mistaken but digital callipers are often wrongly described as ‘Vernier’.Originally Posted by unclealec
The cheap digital ones work but having to change the battery is just as much of a bother as in quartz watches, too much for me, YMMV.
The cheap Chinese plastic Vernier calipers (and you should want plastic if you're going to use them for measuring watches) were utter shite, completely inaccurate.
I ended up buying a pair of these: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Wiha-caliMa...dp/B072PV1K63/ and I'm happy with them.
I've got Moore & Wright. I'm sure I borrowed them from work about 30 years ago.
I use this for my 'rough' measurements, case sizes, lug widths etc, its a Messograph pen, it has a sliding scale, mm and inches.
Writes really well too, decent quality, German made.
Cheers..
Jase
<nit>Messograf</nit>*
Currently 10% off at Cult Pens.
*Unless you picked up a cheap 'homage' from ebay, of course.
Thanks for living up to your username 😁.
Great pens.
It’s a Messograf, a company I worked for in the past had them branded and were used as giveaways, sadly they were controlled and had to be accounted for, still managed to snag one though.
Last edited by JasonM; 13th February 2022 at 13:52.
I've got one of those Aldi digital specials I bought a few years back and has been perfectly fine.
For quick measurements I still have an old Mauser vernier.
Cheers,
Neil.
Depends on the design, surely. The currently near-ubiquitous design has a battery hatch on the front, to the right of of the LCD, and it's less than a minute's work to change the battery. I wish watches were as easy. ;-)
Vernier = Very near lol
That’s the ones I have. Bought them at a (physical - gasp) market a long time ago - battery change just open the hatch and pop a new one in. Just remember to zero them when using - I was taught to put in a piece of paper to clean the callipers also. Mine measure inside and out so good for checking lug width also. Metal so don’t flex.
“ Ford... you're turning into a penguin. Stop it.” HHGTTG
Never been an issue for me neither. Unless used regularly last ages anyway.
You are all correct about how the hatch makes it very easy to change the battery.
Funnily enough, when typing in my previous post, I didn't even remember that technicality -- all I remembered was picking up the dead callipers one day and having to go about buying and replacing the battery before I could measure whatever I wanted to measure. In my book that's a hassle compared to the always ready Vernier, call me lazy.
(I think I now have a spare battery lying around somewhere, but CBA to check TBH).
Hehe, fair enough.You are all correct about how the hatch makes it very easy to change the battery.
Funnily enough, when typing in my previous post, I didn't even remember that technicality -- all I remembered was picking up the dead callipers one day and having to go about buying and replacing the battery before I could measure whatever I wanted to measure. In my book that's a hassle compared to the always ready Vernier, call me lazy.
(I think I now have a spare battery lying around somewhere, but CBA to check TBH).
I keep a stock of batteries for my excessively large collection of quartz watches. ;-)
Don't the digital callipers also have a analogue scale too?
Cheers..
Jase
Yes, although on the near-ubiquitous design it's difficult to read accurately. The body of the callipers tends to hide the scale.
This is all analogous to the quartz versus mechanical watch topic.
It's just a basic ruler, no Vernier scale.
And since you bullied me into checking -- yes, I had a spare battery lying around, and yes, it was dead. So here we go again.
Very much so. Normally, I'd advocate for solar-powered digital callipers (I don't believe such a thing exists but feel free to surprise me), but unless used daily, having to remember to charge the battery would be a hassle, too!
digital calipers have no soul?
Agreed.
I've changed the battery once in about eight years on mine.
Cheers,
Neil.
I use mine a lot, they cost around £25 from either Toolstation or Screwfix a few years back when my old ones packed up. Battery life isn’t a problem, I change them approx every 12 months and simply keep a spare in stock. It’s a 2 minute job, can’t see why anyone would find it a chore.
I woukd recommend buying decent quality metal ones, forget the cheap stuff. Here’s a tip for measuring watch cases to avoid scratching: put the watch in a polythene bag, nip both layers of the bag between the jaws of the calliper and re- zero, then measure the watch through the bag.........simples!
Unless you’re a muppet you should ALWAYS re- zero or check the zero before use!
Good idea!
Very true; for better accuracy you’ll need a micrometer.
Or even a vernier micrometer.
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