Which vernier callipers?

clanton

I'm looking to get a reasonable set of vernier callipers for home workshop use. Prices seem to vary from £9.99 to £60.00+ for the digital versions.

Anyone know is this is any good?

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=26470

Or can you recommend a decent, reasonably priced option?

supersonic

If you know how to read one, I'd get a standard set ;-)

alfablue

clanton wrote:

I'm looking to get a reasonable set of vernier callipers for home workshop use. Prices seem to vary from £9.99 to £60.00+ for the digital versions.

Anyone know is this is any good?

http://www.tooled-up.com/Product.asp?PID=26470

Or can you recommend a decent, reasonably priced option?

Mine were identical to those and cost £7.99 (Lidl). They seem to work fine, accurate enough for bike use. Don't know how they would look to an engineer!

stu8975

Sealey stuff is good, have torque wrenches, got my calipers from fleabay..£6.50..never had a prob with them.

Bikehawk

Lidl has a digital one coming soon. Once they a a zero feature they should be ok.

clanton

supersonic wrote:

If you know how to read one, I'd get a standard set ;-)

rules me out then ;-)

Deputy Dawg

Digi ones are just a waste of batteries IMO. The manual ones are simple to use once you know how they work & my dial one is accurate to 0.01mm if I read between lines.

Linky to instructions if you need them

Dawg

alfablue

My 99p cr2032 battery has lasted 2 years so far :? I'm not overly concerned with the costs.

neilr4

I've a mitutoyo digital one that does both metric and imperial but I use it for work. If it's just for measuring bike stuff a cheap one fron lidl would do the job just fine. I wouldn't bother with an original one with a vernier scale as they're tricky to read if you haven't learned how.

Neil.

-liam-

Cheap calipers are fine.

I have a mitutoyo ones at work but I also use some cheapo digital ones for tatting around the machine shop. They work fine, I've used them for years and they get battered and soaked in oil everyday lol.

I also have a couple of scaled ones at home which are fine to use.

nicklouse

clanton

what are you planning on using it for?

clanton

Hi Nick. General use really - such as measuring bearing size, seat post sizing, chainline etc. So need to be accurate in range up to 55mm I would think. leaning towards a cheap one based on feedback so far.

cee

I have never actually needed a vernier caliper.

verynear is often near enough.

nicklouse

I would not bother a steel rule is as accurate as you need.

for the bearings it would be easier just to take them to the bearing shop if you cant read the numbers or find the info on line.

Seat posts say what they are. seat tubes are not easy to measure with calipers, well by not easy almost impossible.

chain line easier with a steel rule.

but if you want one. a cheap plastic one will do.

pealy

I'm forever wishing I had one of these things so I ordered a cheap metal (non-digital) one from ebay this week, £3 delivered, I'll let you know if it's any use.. I'm sure I'll be able to find the instructions for reading the scale on t'internet somewhere..

N.

pealy

pealy wrote:

I'll let you know if it's any use..

..it arrived, pretty much as expected. The 'vernier' bit to measure tenths of millimetres is rubbish so accuracy is probably around .25mm by sight. does what I need though, slightly superior to a metal rule as it means I can measure frame tubes, bearings etc.

N.

nicklouse

pealy wrote:

pealy wrote:

I'll let you know if it's any use..

..it arrived, pretty much as expected. The 'vernier' bit to measure tenths of millimetres is rubbish so accuracy is probably around .25mm by sight. does what I need though, slightly superior to a metal rule as it means I can measure frame tubes, bearings etc.

N.

why would you want to measure a frame?

bearings just lay them on a steel rule.

most things in the bike world have measurements defined already. you only need to see what it is closest to.

maclark

I bought one for about £9 on eBay - arrived from China within a couple of weeks but was 1/2 the price and identical to one Halfords were selling for £20.

stubs

Got a digital one from Aldi about 2 years ago for £9.99 it does internal and external and its as accurate as I need for working on bikes, boats and motor bikes. They get them in about 3 times a year.

snotty badger

I've had a cheap set from Aldi for nearly 4 years- they do the job. Onky invest in expensive ones if you're working to a real close tolerence eg machining parts etc..

pealy

nicklouse wrote:

why would you want to measure a frame?
bearings just lay them on a steel rule.
most things in the bike world have measurements defined already. you only need to see what it is closest to.

I wanted to measure the tube to see what size front mech I needed. Using a ruler to measure anything cylindrical/spherical etc is fraught with inaccuracy as it depends greatly on the angle of view etc. A caliper - however cheap - does a much better job.

alfablue

Lidl have these for £8.99 from next Monday. These work fine, my son (studying for MEng) was happy with them too.

nicklouse

pealy wrote:

nicklouse wrote:

why would you want to measure a frame?
bearings just lay them on a steel rule.
most things in the bike world have measurements defined already. you only need to see what it is closest to.

I wanted to measure the tube to see what size front mech I needed. Using a ruler to measure anything cylindrical/spherical etc is fraught with inaccuracy as it depends greatly on the angle of view etc. A caliper - however cheap - does a much better job.

except that there are only 3 possible sizes which are all easy enough to measure with a ruler. But any cheap vernier will also do the job. But as i said there is very little that a Verier helps with on a bike as the sizes are all predetermined.

here is the one we use most often

stubs

alfablue wrote:

Lidl have these for £8.99 from next Monday. These work fine, my son (studying for MEng) was happy with them too.

That looks exactly like the one I got from Aldi for £9