I mostly use a digital calliper, it is a Mitutoyo but I tend to use that one over others more because I like the feel of it rather then what it measures. It does shut completely off which some others don't which gives good battery life.

I only have a 0-1" mic and seldom use that ( calculator to convert to metric). Also in a spell of madness I bought a digital Mitutoyo 0-1" one but have used that even less as I find them cumbersome and therefore harder to get a consistent reading. anything over the inch the calliper does for me.

So I would say not much advantage

Edited By JasonB on 26/04/2023 11:50:48

I've had an Aldi cheapie for a number of years. Accuracy seems very good, downside is that the battery runs down even if it's not used. I generally use a Mitutoyo vernier, never needs a new battery!

I could manage without my calipers but micrometers are essential IMO.

I have 3 digital calipers, a vernier caliper, and a micrometer. The micrometer is for when accuracy matters.

The three digital calipers are cheap (Aldi), medium (ArcEuro), and medium+(Dasquai). They're all about the same accuracy (0.02mm across the full range), but the dearer models get results more reliably – less fiddling about and double checking.

Lidl gets most use because I don't love it. It can be dropped, stood on, and used as a scribe etc. When it breaks I'll buy another one.

The ArcEuro has a better feel to it, and resets to zero more reliably than the Lidl. With the Lidl, I usually measure 3 or more times to make sure, and never quite trust it. The ArcEuro has better repeatability – twice is usually enough to confirm, so gets used for less rough measuring and when I'm in a hurry. The Dasqua feels very smooth and has 'Absolute Zero', but it was expensive enough to worry about breaking it. So like my height gauge, it's reserved for clean work.

Dasqua batteries last longer than the other two: I suspect it's because the Dasqua has a sealed battery box, and resists condensation.

I prefer digital to analogue calipers mainly because the display is unambiguous, whereas dials require careful reading and more thought. They're also subject to mechanical problems like sticky movements and slop. I think a digital display is worth the cost of the batteries!

The vernier caliper is rarely used – not as accurate, and easy to misread.

Dave

I managed run of the mill model engineering for many years using a Lidl £10 special.

However, I had to ugrade to Mitutoyo when machining a large and expensive crankcase casting for rolling element bearing seats (so tight tolerances).

It all rather depends on skill and feel plus the job in hand. Many people could not make use of the better sensitivity of an up market tool. I play piano, but a Steinway grand would be wasted on me.

Martin

I'm still using my original Lidl job, been really reliable

Got about 3 other long lost "replacements" lying about somewhere…

Like most I bought a cheap digital calipers and used it a lot. It wore out with a lot of backward/forwards movement in the moving jaw. I then went down to the local engineering suppliers (long since gone) and bought the most expensive 6" calipers there, made in Switzerland. I have happily used it for more than 15 years but it has now seen better days.

I also, a few years ago, bought Mitutoyo CD-6"ASX calipers for office use. This good but not as good as the workshop TESA calipers.

I also have a set of M&W micrometers from 0" – 3" (the 0" – 1" I bought during my apprenticeship) and a Mitutoyo 0mm – 25mm micrometer which are used for accurate work.

JA

Because I'm old I prefer micrometers for anything needing close fits, however I find it very easy to get things 0.5mm out when using metric mic, so I use digi caliper to get near, then switch to mic. A lot of the time the DRO gets me near enough to go straight to mic.

Use digital calipers majority of the time which do me for most of the stuff I do with model boats and RC nowadays. Been a while since I last used the micrometers and vernier I've got. Dasqua gets my vote for being decent quality, smooth and value for money got 100 and 150mm ones, the 150 does Imperial, Metric and Fractions and gets used most.

I think I bought my Vernier caliper from Axminster about 18 years ago. Other than stripping it down once to clean the contact faces it has behaved and not ate batteries. Watching Clough42 on the tube a while back, he was querying battery drain on some of the cheaper brands. The easy choice is one of the named brands if you worry about your choices all the while.

Agreed, a vernier caliper doesn't need batteries but a certain degree of skill is required to read it and a digital caliper does need batteries.

Tony