I just had a silly idea... If I made a bracket to hold my cheap digital
calliper on an axis of my lathe/mill. All I would have to do is set the 0
and I'd have about 6" of measured travel. Maybe a movable stop on one end
so that range could be set to wherever I was working... maybe a magnetic
base.

has anyone tried this or is there a problem with the idea I can't see yet?

David...