OK, It seems that it is hard to be with out a decent caliper for measuring
in the shop. In particular I like to use them for checking the thickness of
the wood going through the planer. They are also handy for measuring the
depth of holes, the height of the TS blade, small gaps, etc.
For several years I used a General brand, plastic, dial caliper that
measured hundredths of an inch. I paid about $25 for it 7 years ago. It
worked but one that displayed fractions would be better. About 2 years ago
I purchased a stainless steel dial caliper that displayed in fractions of
64'ths and in hundredths of an inch. It was much easier to use. IIRC about
$29.
Friday a week ago I ordered the new Digital Fraction caliper from Lee
Valley. Features include, Stainless Steel, LCD display with the largest
numbers being almost 1/2" tall, It will display in increments of .01 mm,
.001" and 1/128" fractions. It comes in a decent protective plastic caring
case.
The caliper came with 2 batteries, 1 was a spare, and instructions that
are......somewhat lacking, buy hey, its a caliper, what's to learn. Either
way the caliper is very easy to use and is intuitive. 3 buttons either turn
the unit on or off, toggles between decimal mm's, decimal inches, or
fractions of an inch, and resets to zero.
Accuracy is pretty good, if you open it up to 4 1/2" reset to zero and
close, the display will read -4 1/2". Do that in the decimal inches display
and you might get -4.4995, almost always within one half of .001". Good
enough for woodworking. While working within the tolerances of 1/128" of an
inch is certainly good enough also for 99.9% of your wood working needs
sometimes working with those tiny increments of a fraction can be a bit of
strain on your mental resources if you are trying to visualize and recognize
the measurement. 3/4" is easy to visualize but 96/128" requires a bit of
thought. Fortunately all fractions are immediately reduced to the lowest
possible denominator but again if you are planing and shooting for 3/4", how
close are you if the board measures out at 97/128", or 99/128"? This IMHO
this is where the reset to zero button shines. Simply open the caliper to
3/4", press the zero reset button, and then measure your wood. If you are
dead on, you get "0". If you are a little wide at 99/128" you get a reading
of 3/128" which IMHO is a lot easer to visualize than 99/128".
Lee Valley has them at an introductory price of $24.99 plus shipping. IMHO
a very good deal if you have been thinking of getting a caliper for the
shop.
On May 6, 5:03 pm, "Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
> Simply open the caliper to
> 3/4", press the zero reset button, and then measure your wood. If you are
> dead on, you get "0". If you are a little wide at 99/128" you get a reading
> of 3/128" which IMHO is a lot easer to visualize than 99/128".
Oh.. niiiiice!... and guess what? My oldest daughter just gave me a
nice gift-card for LV for my birthday...
I'm an obsessional caliper fanatic... this one sounds like even more
reason to check into the Betty Ford Caliper Wing. Not only does it
satisfy the obsession...it does so in BIG FARKING NUMBERS!!
Life doesn't get any better than this.. I'm buying one.
Thanks for blazing the trail, Leon... <G>
r
On May 6, 5:03 pm, "Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
> OK, It seems that it is hard to be with out a decent caliper for measuring
> in the shop. In particular I like to use them for checking the thickness of
> the wood going through the planer. They are also handy for measuring the
> depth of holes, the height of the TS blade, small gaps, etc.
>
> For several years I used a General brand, plastic, dial caliper that
> measured hundredths of an inch. I paid about $25 for it 7 years ago. It
> worked but one that displayed fractions would be better. About 2 years ago
> I purchased a stainless steel dial caliper that displayed in fractions of
> 64'ths and in hundredths of an inch. It was much easier to use. IIRC about
> $29.
>
> Friday a week ago I ordered the new Digital Fraction caliper from Lee
> Valley. Features include, Stainless Steel, LCD display with the largest
> numbers being almost 1/2" tall, It will display in increments of .01 mm,
> .001" and 1/128" fractions. It comes in a decent protective plastic caring
> case.
>
> The caliper came with 2 batteries, 1 was a spare, and instructions that
> are......somewhat lacking, buy hey, its a caliper, what's to learn. Either
> way the caliper is very easy to use and is intuitive. 3 buttons either turn
> the unit on or off, toggles between decimal mm's, decimal inches, or
> fractions of an inch, and resets to zero.
> Accuracy is pretty good, if you open it up to 4 1/2" reset to zero and
> close, the display will read -4 1/2". Do that in the decimal inches display
> and you might get -4.4995, almost always within one half of .001". Good
> enough for woodworking. While working within the tolerances of 1/128" of an
> inch is certainly good enough also for 99.9% of your wood working needs
> sometimes working with those tiny increments of a fraction can be a bit of
> strain on your mental resources if you are trying to visualize and recognize
> the measurement. 3/4" is easy to visualize but 96/128" requires a bit of
> thought. Fortunately all fractions are immediately reduced to the lowest
> possible denominator but again if you are planing and shooting for 3/4", how
> close are you if the board measures out at 97/128", or 99/128"? This IMHO
> this is where the reset to zero button shines. Simply open the caliper to
> 3/4", press the zero reset button, and then measure your wood. If you are
> dead on, you get "0". If you are a little wide at 99/128" you get a reading
> of 3/128" which IMHO is a lot easer to visualize than 99/128".
>
> Lee Valley has them at an introductory price of $24.99 plus shipping. IMHO
> a very good deal if you have been thinking of getting a caliper for the
> shop.
Leon,
Thank you for posting the review. Tell me, does it have auto off?
-Jim
On May 7, 6:02 pm, "Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
> "jtpr" <[email protected]> wrote in message
>
> news:[email protected]...
>
>
>
> > Leon,
>
> > Thank you for posting the review. Tell me, does it have auto off?
>
> > -Jim
>
> Yes, after a couple of minutes.
Which is nice. I bought a Starrett digital read-out tape once which
had the uncanny ability to eat batteries when sitting in my tool box.
A button or something would be inadvertantly pushed, draining the
battery...which pissed me off to no end as they were only available at
our local radio Shack for 16 SIXTEEN farking dollars.
Yup.. had to have it.. too much toy-value to leave on the store
shelf... Learned the hard way..many, many years ago. (as I look at my
$ 700.00 CD player....) damn those coin-style batteries!!!
Ohhhh and those digital cameras...now there's a battery-racket. THIS
time, I bought one which takes rechargeable AA's and I bought a Maha
charger and Powerex batteries like the cops use in their radios. (At
least around here they do.)
Last camera had a 'proprietory' battery (Nikon) never again.
On May 6, 5:03 pm, "Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
> OK, It seems that it is hard to be with out a decentcaliperfor measuring
> in the shop. In particular I like to use them for checking the thickness of
> the wood going through the planer. They are also handy for measuring the
> depth of holes, the height of the TS blade, small gaps, etc.
>
> For several years I used a General brand, plastic, dialcaliperthat
> measured hundredths of an inch. I paid about $25 for it 7 years ago. It
> worked but one that displayed fractions would be better. About 2 years ago
> I purchased a stainless steel dialcaliperthat displayed in fractions of
> 64'ths and in hundredths of an inch. It was much easier to use. IIRC about
> $29.
>
> Friday a week ago I ordered the newDigitalFractioncaliperfrom Lee
> Valley. Features include, Stainless Steel, LCD display with the largest
> numbers being almost 1/2" tall, It will display in increments of .01 mm,
> .001" and 1/128" fractions. It comes in a decent protective plastic caring
> case.
>
> Thecalipercame with 2 batteries, 1 was a spare, and instructions that
> are......somewhat lacking, buy hey, its acaliper, what's to learn. Either
> way thecaliperis very easy to use and is intuitive. 3 buttons either turn
> the unit on or off, toggles between decimal mm's, decimal inches, or
> fractions of an inch, and resets to zero.
> Accuracy is pretty good, if you open it up to 4 1/2" reset to zero and
> close, the display will read -4 1/2". Do that in the decimal inches display
> and you might get -4.4995, almost always within one half of .001". Good
> enough for woodworking. While working within the tolerances of 1/128" of an
> inch is certainly good enough also for 99.9% of your wood working needs
> sometimes working with those tiny increments of a fraction can be a bit of
> strain on your mental resources if you are trying to visualize and recognize
> the measurement. 3/4" is easy to visualize but 96/128" requires a bit of
> thought. Fortunately all fractions are immediately reduced to the lowest
> possible denominator but again if you are planing and shooting for 3/4", how
> close are you if the board measures out at 97/128", or 99/128"? This IMHO
> this is where the reset to zero button shines. Simply open thecaliperto
> 3/4", press the zero reset button, and then measure your wood. If you are
> dead on, you get "0". If you are a little wide at 99/128" you get a reading
> of 3/128" which IMHO is a lot easer to visualize than 99/128".
>
> Lee Valley has them at an introductory price of $24.99 plus shipping. IMHO
> a very good deal if you have been thinking of getting acaliperfor the
> shop.
After having read this post I just HAD TO have this tool! I went
immediately to the Lee Valley site and ordered mine. When I arrived
home from work yesterday, it was there - woohoo!. I whisked it away so
the wife wouldn't know I bought ANOTHER gadget (got away clean) and
eagerly opened it. First of all, you are right about the directions,
it looks like they were translated on a free internet translation site
- not good (but pretty comical).
After I finally figure out how to get the damn battery in (the
directions were just plain wrong about the procedure), I went to test
it out. UNFORTUNATELY, something was very wrong with the tool. It was
completely wrong and, even after changing the battery, powering down
and restarting several times, the tool is still giving completely
erratic readings. I'm going to send it back to Lee Valley and ask for
a replacement. Hopefully this was just an isolated example because I
really like the concept and the price. I'll repost after the
replacement arrives. I wonder if other have had the same experience
that I did...
Chuck
The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it. -George Orwell
On May 11, 9:56 am, Chuck <[email protected]> wrote:
> On May 6, 5:03 pm, "Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > OK, It seems that it is hard to be with out a decentcaliperfor measuring
> > in the shop. In particular I like to use them for checking the thickness of
> > the wood going through the planer. They are also handy for measuring the
> > depth of holes, the height of the TS blade, small gaps, etc.
>
> > For several years I used a General brand, plastic, dialcaliperthat
> > measured hundredths of an inch. I paid about $25 for it 7 years ago. It
> > worked but one that displayed fractions would be better. About 2 years ago
> > I purchased a stainless steel dialcaliperthat displayed in fractions of
> > 64'ths and in hundredths of an inch. It was much easier to use. IIRC about
> > $29.
>
> > Friday a week ago I ordered the newDigitalFractioncaliperfrom Lee
> > Valley. Features include, Stainless Steel, LCD display with the largest
> > numbers being almost 1/2" tall, It will display in increments of .01 mm,
> > .001" and 1/128" fractions. It comes in a decent protective plastic caring
> > case.
>
> > Thecalipercame with 2 batteries, 1 was a spare, and instructions that
> > are......somewhat lacking, buy hey, its acaliper, what's to learn. Either
> > way thecaliperis very easy to use and is intuitive. 3 buttons either turn
> > the unit on or off, toggles between decimal mm's, decimal inches, or
> > fractions of an inch, and resets to zero.
> > Accuracy is pretty good, if you open it up to 4 1/2" reset to zero and
> > close, the display will read -4 1/2". Do that in the decimal inches display
> > and you might get -4.4995, almost always within one half of .001". Good
> > enough for woodworking. While working within the tolerances of 1/128" of an
> > inch is certainly good enough also for 99.9% of your wood working needs
> > sometimes working with those tiny increments of a fraction can be a bit of
> > strain on your mental resources if you are trying to visualize and recognize
> > the measurement. 3/4" is easy to visualize but 96/128" requires a bit of
> > thought. Fortunately all fractions are immediately reduced to the lowest
> > possible denominator but again if you are planing and shooting for 3/4", how
> > close are you if the board measures out at 97/128", or 99/128"? This IMHO
> > this is where the reset to zero button shines. Simply open thecaliperto
> > 3/4", press the zero reset button, and then measure your wood. If you are
> > dead on, you get "0". If you are a little wide at 99/128" you get a reading
> > of 3/128" which IMHO is a lot easer to visualize than 99/128".
>
> > Lee Valley has them at an introductory price of $24.99 plus shipping. IMHO
> > a very good deal if you have been thinking of getting acaliperfor the
> > shop.
>
> After having read this post I just HAD TO have this tool! I went
> immediately to the Lee Valley site and ordered mine. When I arrived
> home from work yesterday, it was there - woohoo!. I whisked it away so
> the wife wouldn't know I bought ANOTHER gadget (got away clean) and
> eagerly opened it. First of all, you are right about the directions,
> it looks like they were translated on a free internet translation site
> - not good (but pretty comical).
>
> After I finally figure out how to get the damn battery in (the
> directions were just plain wrong about the procedure), I went to test
> it out. UNFORTUNATELY, something was very wrong with the tool. It was
> completely wrong and, even after changing the battery, powering down
> and restarting several times, the tool is still giving completely
> erratic readings. I'm going to send it back to Lee Valley and ask for
> a replacement. Hopefully this was just an isolated example because I
> really like the concept and the price. I'll repost after the
> replacement arrives. I wonder if other have had the same experience
> that I did...
>
> Chuck
>
> The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it. -George Orwell- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
I did the same thing. Got it yesterday, put it in my pants (she'll
never look there) and snuck it into the workshop. I found out the
same thing about the battery, after I went and dug up a jewler's
screwdriver to take that little screw out (maybe that's where the data
port its). Anyway, I haven't tried it with my setup bars, but it
appears to be accurate. I put it on a 3/4 piece of maple and got
97/128. Then I tried it with my analog caliper and it was a p-hair
over the 3/4 mark. I'll try it against my set up blocks tonight.
-Jim
On May 11, 9:56 am, Chuck <[email protected]> wrote:
> On May 6, 5:03 pm, "Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
>
>
>
> > OK, It seems that it is hard to be with out a decentcaliperfor measuring
> > in the shop. In particular I like to use them for checking the thickness of
> > the wood going through the planer. They are also handy for measuring the
> > depth of holes, the height of the TS blade, small gaps, etc.
>
> > For several years I used a General brand, plastic, dialcaliperthat
> > measured hundredths of an inch. I paid about $25 for it 7 years ago. It
> > worked but one that displayed fractions would be better. About 2 years ago
> > I purchased a stainless steel dialcaliperthat displayed in fractions of
> > 64'ths and in hundredths of an inch. It was much easier to use. IIRC about
> > $29.
>
> > Friday a week ago I ordered the newDigitalFractioncaliperfrom Lee
> > Valley. Features include, Stainless Steel, LCD display with the largest
> > numbers being almost 1/2" tall, It will display in increments of .01 mm,
> > .001" and 1/128" fractions. It comes in a decent protective plastic caring
> > case.
>
> > Thecalipercame with 2 batteries, 1 was a spare, and instructions that
> > are......somewhat lacking, buy hey, its acaliper, what's to learn. Either
> > way thecaliperis very easy to use and is intuitive. 3 buttons either turn
> > the unit on or off, toggles between decimal mm's, decimal inches, or
> > fractions of an inch, and resets to zero.
> > Accuracy is pretty good, if you open it up to 4 1/2" reset to zero and
> > close, the display will read -4 1/2". Do that in the decimal inches display
> > and you might get -4.4995, almost always within one half of .001". Good
> > enough for woodworking. While working within the tolerances of 1/128" of an
> > inch is certainly good enough also for 99.9% of your wood working needs
> > sometimes working with those tiny increments of a fraction can be a bit of
> > strain on your mental resources if you are trying to visualize and recognize
> > the measurement. 3/4" is easy to visualize but 96/128" requires a bit of
> > thought. Fortunately all fractions are immediately reduced to the lowest
> > possible denominator but again if you are planing and shooting for 3/4", how
> > close are you if the board measures out at 97/128", or 99/128"? This IMHO
> > this is where the reset to zero button shines. Simply open thecaliperto
> > 3/4", press the zero reset button, and then measure your wood. If you are
> > dead on, you get "0". If you are a little wide at 99/128" you get a reading
> > of 3/128" which IMHO is a lot easer to visualize than 99/128".
>
> > Lee Valley has them at an introductory price of $24.99 plus shipping. IMHO
> > a very good deal if you have been thinking of getting acaliperfor the
> > shop.
>
> After having read this post I just HAD TO have this tool! I went
> immediately to the Lee Valley site and ordered mine. When I arrived
> home from work yesterday, it was there - woohoo!. I whisked it away so
> the wife wouldn't know I bought ANOTHER gadget (got away clean) and
> eagerly opened it. First of all, you are right about the directions,
> it looks like they were translated on a free internet translation site
> - not good (but pretty comical).
>
> After I finally figure out how to get the damn battery in (the
> directions were just plain wrong about the procedure), I went to test
> it out. UNFORTUNATELY, something was very wrong with the tool. It was
> completely wrong and, even after changing the battery, powering down
> and restarting several times, the tool is still giving completely
> erratic readings. I'm going to send it back to Lee Valley and ask for
> a replacement. Hopefully this was just an isolated example because I
> really like the concept and the price. I'll repost after the
> replacement arrives. I wonder if other have had the same experience
> that I did...
>
> Chuck
>
> The quickest way of ending a war is to lose it. -George Orwell- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -
Just in case anyone was following this; I got the replacemnt caliper
from Lee Valley today. Works like a charm and seems to be dead on
accurate! Their customer service was excellent and the exchange was
completely painless.
Chuck
Russ wrote:
>> Yes - four minutes, and it also has a data out port and specs for the
>> signal it puts out.
>>
> Data port??!!! SCHWINNNGGG!!! I hope you're not just teasing me!
He's not teasing. However, on mine at least the actual port isn't
there...just bare pads and a silkscreened rectangle where the jack would go.
Still, someone with access to a scope should be able to figure out the
pinout of the pads assuming they haven't left out other components.
Chris
"Leon" <[email protected]> wrote:
> OK, make that $26.50
>
>
And looks like a good deal even at the regular price of $39.50.
That's the usual way with Chinese tools. Just keep going through them till
you find a good one.
"Chuck" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> On May 11, 9:56 am, Chuck <[email protected]> wrote:
> Just in case anyone was following this; I got the replacemnt caliper
> from Lee Valley today. Works like a charm and seems to be dead on
> accurate! Their customer service was excellent and the exchange was
> completely painless.
>
> Chuck
>
"Tim Douglass" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> It sounds like a great tool, but the above is why I like an analog
> dial. I have a fractional dial caliper and I can easily visualize how
> close things are with just a glance at the dial. I guess I just old
> fashioned or something.
Yeah, like the real person on the other end of the line, some things are
best left alone.
On Sun, 6 May 2007 16:03:43 -0500, "Leon"
<[email protected]> wrote:
>Accuracy is pretty good, if you open it up to 4 1/2" reset to zero and
>close, the display will read -4 1/2". Do that in the decimal inches display
>and you might get -4.4995, almost always within one half of .001". Good
>enough for woodworking. While working within the tolerances of 1/128" of an
>inch is certainly good enough also for 99.9% of your wood working needs
>sometimes working with those tiny increments of a fraction can be a bit of
>strain on your mental resources if you are trying to visualize and recognize
>the measurement. 3/4" is easy to visualize but 96/128" requires a bit of
>thought. Fortunately all fractions are immediately reduced to the lowest
>possible denominator but again if you are planing and shooting for 3/4", how
>close are you if the board measures out at 97/128", or 99/128"? This IMHO
>this is where the reset to zero button shines. Simply open the caliper to
>3/4", press the zero reset button, and then measure your wood. If you are
>dead on, you get "0". If you are a little wide at 99/128" you get a reading
>of 3/128" which IMHO is a lot easer to visualize than 99/128".
It sounds like a great tool, but the above is why I like an analog
dial. I have a fractional dial caliper and I can easily visualize how
close things are with just a glance at the dial. I guess I just old
fashioned or something.
--
"We need to make a sacrifice to the gods, find me a young virgin... oh, and bring something to kill"
Tim Douglass
http://www.DouglassClan.com
"Robatoy" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
> Ohhhh and those digital cameras...now there's a battery-racket. THIS
> time, I bought one which takes rechargeable AA's and I bought a Maha
> charger and Powerex batteries like the cops use in their radios. (At
> least around here they do.)
> Last camera had a 'proprietory' battery (Nikon) never again.
>
>
Yes!, I have a 5 year old Fuji digital that uses 4 AA batteries. I too use
a Maha charger and the 2.7 Powerex batteries. My first set of 12 lasted
about 5 years.
"jtpr" <[email protected]> wrote in message
news:[email protected]...
>
> Leon,
>
> Thank you for posting the review. Tell me, does it have auto off?
>
> -Jim
>
Yes, after a couple of minutes.
Leon <[email protected]> wrote:
> Lee Valley has them at an introductory price of $24.99 plus shipping. IMHO
> a very good deal if you have been thinking of getting a caliper for the
> shop.
I've been wanting something like this for awhile and the price is
right. Thanks for the tip on the tool and the other hints on how to
use it.
--
If you want to reply via email, change the obvious words to numbers and
remove ".invalid".
I'm in almost exactly the same situation: replacing a plastic General
from the BORG that I was forever flipping over to read the
decimal->fraction table. I was very close to picking up their regular
electric caliper (and carrying on with a table) when this came along
with the perfect features, and I had to snap it up.
I must say the heft and rigidity of the metal is a step up. Leon's right
about the reasonably-well-but-not-perfectly translated instructions, but
I actually got something out of them because I hadn't realized you
could use the head of the calipers to measure depths (as well as the
post at the end.)
My only complaint is that the unit lacks a thumb wheel, which makes
measurement of small or irregular objects something of a juggling act.
Well, I also have trouble with the tiny fraction increments, but they
pretty much have to work that way, so I can make due.