I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?


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"Clutter"? This is an object-rich environment.

"carlDOTwest" wrote in message
news:L64Kc.98560$%_6.93450@attbi_s01...
I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?


I'm holding one in my left hand.

Don't *all* Vernier calipers read in dec. inches (1/1000)?
How would a Vernier scale work with, say 1/64ths ?

To answer your question - any Vernier caliper maker.
Mine is Mitutoyo (at a guess - I'd say Japanese)

--
Jeff R.

On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 06:58:52 GMT, "carlDOTwest"
wrote:

I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?

Everybody under the sun. Though I personally would recommend a Digital
caliper as a simply button change and you are in metric or "standard"
and unlike standard verniers..you dont need a magnifying glass to read
it.

Gunner

That rifle hanging on the wall of the working-class flat or labourer's
cottage is the symbol of democracy. It is our job to see that it stays
there.
- George Orwell

"A.Gent" wrote in message
u...


Don't *all* Vernier calipers read in dec. inches (1/1000)?
How would a Vernier scale work with, say 1/64ths ?

I have one I bought in the Sixties that reads to 128ths. and decimals. It
is a Japanese brand when things from Japan were supposed to be junk. It is
at work but I think it is eight divisions to refine the 1/16th marks.
It is handy to size drill bits and check nominal sizes of shafts and
bolts.
Randy

"carlDOTwest" wrote in message news:L64Kc.98560$%_6.93450@attbi_s01...
I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?


You purchase a vernier caliper reading in .001" and .02mm increments
from Shars ( www.shars.com ) part #303-1006 for $8.00. You get the
same caliper from Enco, JTS or others. I am not sure they have a fine
adjustment in this size. The larger 12" versions have a fine
adjustment.

Phil Teague

"carlDOTwest" wrote in message news:L64Kc.98560$%_6.93450@attbi_s01...
I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?


You purchase a vernier caliper reading in .001" and .02mm increments
from Shars ( www.shars.com ) part #303-1006 for $8.00. You get the
same caliper from Enco, JTS or others. I am not sure they have a fine
adjustment in this size. The larger 12" versions have a fine
adjustment.

Phil Teague

In article L64Kc.98560$%_6.93450@attbi_s01,
"carlDOTwest" says...
I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?



If you want a good one, Starrett 123 E&M. Not cheap, but
I've never seen anything that equals them in quality or
ease of reading. I have a couple 123s and prefer them to
dial or digital calipers.

If you want cheap, I've got a made-in-Italy Craftsman
vernier in front of me that reads in 0.05mm and 0.001". I
don't know whether it's still available.

Ned Simmons

On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 10:44:13 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 06:58:52 GMT, "carlDOTwest"
wrote:

I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?

Everybody under the sun. Though I personally would recommend a Digital
caliper as a simply button change and you are in metric or "standard"
and unlike standard verniers..you dont need a magnifying glass to read
it.

Hey, there ya go. Do they also make one with triple readouts?
(fractions/mm/in?) How accurate are they, and how much do the
batteries last/cost? Anyone?

HF has both 4" and 6" digitals on sale for $15.99 this week.
www.harborfreight.com items #47257-5VGA and 47256, Carl.

- This product cruelly tested on defenseless furry animals -
--------------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Web App & Database Programming

My "first grab" caliper is a 6 inch 1/128th. inch vernier. Next to it on
the back plane of my workbench is a Mitutoyo decimal dial caliper. Serious
measuring stuff, micrometers and such are stored in tool chests. One of my
tool chests is a very old, but restored, Kennedy from the days when
Kennedy's were brown - maybe from a contract job lot during WW2. I called
Kennedy and spoke with a person of 25 years seniority there and she had
never heard of a brown Kennedy tool chest. I did a little body work on it
and repainted it dark grey with green felt lining in the drawers.

Bob Swinney

"Ned Simmons" wrote in message
...
In article L64Kc.98560$%_6.93450@attbi_s01,
"carlDOTwest" says...
I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?



If you want a good one, Starrett 123 E&M. Not cheap, but
I've never seen anything that equals them in quality or
ease of reading. I have a couple 123s and prefer them to
dial or digital calipers.

If you want cheap, I've got a made-in-Italy Craftsman
vernier in front of me that reads in 0.05mm and 0.001". I
don't know whether it's still available.

Ned Simmons

On 17 Jul 2004 06:47:36 -0700, (Phil Teague)
calmly ranted:

"carlDOTwest" wrote in message news:L64Kc.98560$%_6.93450@attbi_s01...
I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?

You purchase a vernier caliper reading in .001" and .02mm increments
from Shars ( www.shars.com ) part #303-1006 for $8.00. You get the
same caliper from Enco, JTS or others. I am not sure they have a fine
adjustment in this size. The larger 12" versions have a fine
adjustment.

Wait a minute, he wants a Neanderthal version of calipers?
Must be a youngun. (Grays can't read vernier scales.)

- This product cruelly tested on defenseless furry animals -
--------------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Web App & Database Programming

"Larry Jaques" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 10:44:13 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 06:58:52 GMT, "carlDOTwest"
wrote:

I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?

Everybody under the sun. Though I personally would recommend a Digital
caliper as a simply button change and you are in metric or "standard"
and unlike standard verniers..you dont need a magnifying glass to read
it.

Hey, there ya go. Do they also make one with triple readouts?
(fractions/mm/in?) How accurate are they, and how much do the
batteries last/cost? Anyone?

HF has both 4" and 6" digitals on sale for $15.99 this week.
www.harborfreight.com items #47257-5VGA and 47256, Carl.

- This product cruelly tested on defenseless furry animals -
--------------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Web App & Database Programming


The Mititoyo digital calipers are pretty damn tough. I had a set that went
underwater in a flood for 3 days, retrieved them, wiped them off with some
cleaner, air dried them thoroughly, replaced the battery, checked accuracy,
and have used them every day since for the last five years.

RJ

--
"Have no one say it, and say it to your shame, that all was well here, until
YOU came."

In article ,
Larry Jaques wrote:
On 17 Jul 2004 06:47:36 -0700, (Phil Teague)
calmly ranted:

"carlDOTwest" wrote in message news:L64Kc.98560$%_6.93450@attbi_s01...
I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

[ ... ]

Wait a minute, he wants a Neanderthal version of calipers?
Must be a youngun. (Grays can't read vernier scales.)

Well ... we *used* to be able to read them, but now for most of
us the serious glasses have to come out. :-)

One friend of mine has to take his glasses *off* instead. he is
so near sighted that with them off, he focuses at about one to
one-and-one-half inches. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.
--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

In article ,
Larry Jaques wrote:
On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 10:44:13 GMT, Gunner
calmly ranted:

On Sat, 17 Jul 2004 06:58:52 GMT, "carlDOTwest"
wrote:

I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?

I'm holding an old pair by Scherr Tumico. Inches read down to
0.001", and mm down to 0.05mm (not as long a vernier scale for that one,
though I have seen longer ones on others.)

Everybody under the sun. Though I personally would recommend a Digital
caliper as a simply button change and you are in metric or "standard"
and unlike standard verniers..you dont need a magnifying glass to read
it.

Hey, there ya go. Do they also make one with triple readouts?
(fractions/mm/in?)

Not that I have ever seen -- but I keep a nice calculator in a
Ziploc baggie in the shop, so I can use it without swarf and cutting
fluids getting into the calculator. (Face the keyboard and readout
towards the clear back, not the front with the white space for labeling. :-)

How accurate are they, and how much do the
batteries last/cost? Anyone?

Tradeoffs. There are some made from a fiberglass impregnated
plastic, and those have the poorest accuracy specs. Most of the metal
bodied ones will read to 0.0005" or 0.01mm, and are spec'd to something
like +/- 0.002" throughout the 6" length. (Though I have never found one
of these to be off far enough from my gauge blocks to worry about, I
think that this is the manufacturers covering their rear.

For modern ones, the batteries are the same ones used in some
watches, or in computer boards (2032 is one, I think). Battery life is
a different matter.

First for my oldest one -- labeled by Brown & Sharpe, and it
uses a different measuring technology -- a glass scale on the bottom of
the groove where the rack would be in a dial caliper, and a sensor in
the head. The thing uses the PX-625 mercury batteries (four of them),
and those are pretty much made of unobtainium these days. I keep
planning to try to make a replacement battery holder to use some lithium
cells, after making sure that it will work at 6.0 V instead of the 5.36
V which the mercury cells would give. Any way if you forget to turn
that one off, it will eat the batteries. But you can't get that kind
anyway these days.

I have three others. I'll list them in order of acquisition:

1) Mitutoyo 0-12". Uses very small cells, and gets over a year of
life -- whether it is turned on or not. This one came new and
still it the shrink-wrap from a hamfest -- in a fitted wooden
case. Batteries are sufficiently inconvenient to disconnect so
I've never made it a practice to do this.

2) Starrett 0-6". This one is auto-off, and will eat batteries in
a few months (2-3) if you leave it assembled. But the battery
holder will slide easily with thumb pressure, and about a 1/8"
travel will disconnect the batteries. With this, I can get a
year to two of life from a pair of the large coin cells. This
came from eBay -- new as far as I can tell, or barely used at
the worst. It came in a fitted plastic case.

3) Mitutoyo 0-6" "absolute". (It remembers motions even when
turned off.) I got this one used from an eBay auction, and have
not yet had it long enough to know what the battery life is,
though I have had it long enough so the batteries would have
already died if they went as fast as the Starrett. Came in a
fitted plastic case with foam lining which is already starting
to degrade -- and with a previous owner's name scratched into
it. (Also with a ticket to some kind of drawing under the foam
lining in the lid. :-)

Note -- I make it a practice to keep a spare set of batteries in
the case with each digital caliper (and digital micrometer), because no
matter *how* long they will last, they will die on a Saturday evening
of a long weekend. :-) (Though actually, the drug store carries most of
these sizes, so it is not as bad as it could be.) However, I usually
add enough spares for everything that I run in the shop calipers,
micrometers, and the calculator) and for my and my wife's watches onto
an order to MSC. They appear to have enough turnover in the batteries
so I can trust them more than the ones from the drugstore -- and more
likely to be known brands, too. :-)

Note that all of the above are considered top-grade calipers.
Though Mitutoyo makes some of the plastic-bodied ones as well.

HF has both 4" and 6" digitals on sale for $15.99 this week.
www.harborfreight.com items #47257-5VGA and 47256, Carl.

O.K. At this price range, you will have to expect it to eat
batteries. My friend with the glasses mentioned in another followup in
this thread picked up one of the cheap ones at a hamfest -- I think that
it was somewhere between $9.00 and $12.00 -- and it is chewing up
batteries at such a rate that he is considering buying a large stock to
keep in his fridge. And he doesn't use it nearly as often as I do, so
he is more likely to pick it up and find it dead again.

There are reasons to spend more for a better instrument, and in
this case, battery life is one of them.

- This product cruelly tested on defenseless furry animals -

You mean you read your articles to your dog or cat? :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

In article , DoN. Nichols says...

One friend of mine has to take his glasses *off* instead. he is
so near sighted that with them off, he focuses at about one to
one-and-one-half inches. :-)

I do this. Take my glasses off for close work, that is.

I didn't use to have to do this. I suspect there may
be bifocals in my future, someday.

Jim

==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================

In article ,
says...
In article , DoN. Nichols says...

One friend of mine has to take his glasses *off* instead. he is
so near sighted that with them off, he focuses at about one to
one-and-one-half inches. :-)

I do this. Take my glasses off for close work, that is.

I didn't use to have to do this. I suspect there may
be bifocals in my future, someday.


I remember my father doing this, probably starting when he
was in his fifties. He was a dot-etcher, the guy who
adjusts the size of the tiny dots in four color separations
for offset printing in order to get the colors right. He's
in his 80s and I don't believe he wears bifocals yet.

Ned Simmons

"DoN. Nichols" wrote in message
...

One friend of mine has to take his glasses *off* instead. he is
so near sighted that with them off, he focuses at about one to
one-and-one-half inches. :-)


I used to be able to do this, I could read made in Japan on the face of my
watch, but I finally had to get the bifocals. For really close stuff I have
a little jewelers loupe that clamps on to my glasses.

--

Roger Shoaf

About the time I had mastered getting the toothpaste back in the tube, then
they come up with this striped stuff.

On 17 Jul 2004 22:06:16 -0400, (DoN. Nichols)
calmly ranted:
How accurate are they, and how much do the
batteries last/cost? Anyone?

Tradeoffs. There are some made from a fiberglass impregnated
plastic, and those have the poorest accuracy specs. Most of the metal
bodied ones will read to 0.0005" or 0.01mm, and are spec'd to something
like +/- 0.002" throughout the 6" length. (Though I have never found one
of these to be off far enough from my gauge blocks to worry about, I
think that this is the manufacturers covering their rear.

I'm happy to hear that they're accurate.

-snip-
2) Starrett 0-6". This one is auto-off, and will eat batteries in
a few months (2-3) if you leave it assembled. But the battery
holder will slide easily with thumb pressure, and about a 1/8"
travel will disconnect the batteries. With this, I can get a
year to two of life from a pair of the large coin cells. This
came from eBay -- new as far as I can tell, or barely used at
the worst. It came in a fitted plastic case.


Note -- I make it a practice to keep a spare set of batteries in
the case with each digital caliper (and digital micrometer), because no
matter *how* long they will last, they will die on a Saturday evening
of a long weekend. :-) (Though actually, the drug store carries most of
these sizes, so it is not as bad as it could be.) However, I usually
add enough spares for everything that I run in the shop calipers,
micrometers, and the calculator) and for my and my wife's watches onto
an order to MSC. They appear to have enough turnover in the batteries
so I can trust them more than the ones from the drugstore -- and more
likely to be known brands, too. :-)

Note that all of the above are considered top-grade calipers.
Though Mitutoyo makes some of the plastic-bodied ones as well.

I have a 25 year-old, stainless steel, Chinese no-name which has
held up to my abuse quite well. I dropped it the other day and it
jumped a tooth. (Now where did I put that reset prybar for the
calipers?)


HF has both 4" and 6" digitals on sale for $15.99 this week.
www.harborfreight.com items #47257-5VGA and 47256, Carl.

O.K. At this price range, you will have to expect it to eat
batteries. My friend with the glasses mentioned in another followup in
this thread picked up one of the cheap ones at a hamfest -- I think that
it was somewhere between $9.00 and $12.00 -- and it is chewing up
batteries at such a rate that he is considering buying a large stock to
keep in his fridge. And he doesn't use it nearly as often as I do, so
he is more likely to pick it up and find it dead again.

That's precisely why I avoid things like that and the CoolHeat
type of deal. Some times convenience is far too expensive.


There are reasons to spend more for a better instrument, and in
this case, battery life is one of them.

The Starrett was a cheapie?!?


- This product cruelly tested on defenseless furry animals -

You mean you read your articles to your dog or cat? :-)

I don't own or keep slaves^H^H^H^H^H^Hkids or other pets, thanks.

- This product cruelly tested on defenseless furry animals -
--------------------------------------------------------
http://diversify.com Web App & Database Programming

Back in the dark ages of machining, the verniers were often in fractional
inches. I've got a student vernier calipers that does exactly that and it
is a pain in the butt to read after getting used to the much cleaner
numbering of a decimal vernier.

--
Bob May
Losing weight is easy! If you ever want to lose weight, eat and drink less.
Works every time it is tried!

I have a Sears Craftsman #40182 that's just as you describe. Had it for
years as a toolbox caliper where a digital wouldn't have lasted a week.

- Bruce

"carlDOTwest" wrote in news:L64Kc.98560$%_6.93450
@attbi_s01:

I'm looking for a 6" vernier caliper that reads in metric and in
_decimal_ inches, not fractional.

Who makes 'em?

In article ,
Larry Jaques wrote:
On 17 Jul 2004 22:06:16 -0400, (DoN. Nichols)
calmly ranted:

[ ... ]

2) Starrett 0-6". This one is auto-off, and will eat batteries in
a few months (2-3) if you leave it assembled. But the battery
holder will slide easily with thumb pressure, and about a 1/8"
travel will disconnect the batteries. With this, I can get a
year to two of life from a pair of the large coin cells. This
came from eBay -- new as far as I can tell, or barely used at
the worst. It came in a fitted plastic case.

[ ... ]

There are reasons to spend more for a better instrument, and in
this case, battery life is one of them.

The Starrett was a cheapie?!?

Nope! I don't know why this model of Starrett has the
relatively short battery life -- but still better than the $9.95 ones
from the hamfest. And at least it has a very simple work-around, while
those others are a pain to put away with the batteries disconnected.
Some have screw-in lids, others have slide-and-hinge lids, and all leave
the batteries rattling around loose. With the Starrett, it is just that
1/8" slide of the battery housing on the back -- a momentary press of
the thumb as you put it away -- and another one (plus a press of the
re-zero button) when you are ready to use it again.

For that matter -- the old B&S probably was not a cheapie when
new -- but I got it for $15.00 from a hamfest, still in its nicely
fitted wooden case. -) And it is not *it's* fault that the batteries
around which it was designed were later declared an environmental
hazard. :-)

Enjoy,
DoN.

--
Email: | Voice (all times): (703) 938-4564
(too) near Washington D.C. | http://www.d-and-d.com/dnichols/DoN.html
--- Black Holes are where God is dividing by zero ---

I have bifocals so that I can read while watching TV. Lets me switch from
distance to short seamlessly. But I have to take them off to tig weld, or
to do setups on the mill.

Brian


"jim rozen" wrote in message
...
In article , DoN. Nichols says...

One friend of mine has to take his glasses *off* instead. he is
so near sighted that with them off, he focuses at about one to
one-and-one-half inches. :-)

I do this. Take my glasses off for close work, that is.

I didn't use to have to do this. I suspect there may
be bifocals in my future, someday.

Jim

==================================================
please reply to:
JRR(zero) at yktvmv (dot) vnet (dot) ibm (dot) com
==================================================