I would also recommend a vernier/dial version over digital. I have a less expensive, but by no means cheap, digital height gauge and it drains the battery when not in use, which is irritating if I forget to remove it. As above I have since bought a second hand vernier mitutoyo, a joy to use.

If it is only for occasional use then go vernier NOT digital. Digital ones fail, because of electronic faults. mechanical ones will last as long as you do!

I purchased a top of the range digital Mitutoyo, for peanuts, because it didn't work. I took a chance on repairing it and managed to effect a good repair. I thought that this was a warning, so sold it on as a worker that had been repaired.

If I had spent that kind of money on a new one, I would have been mortified! If you buy a cheap one, don't expect it to last.

Andrew.

Just to put a contrary point of view. I have a tall "dial type" mechanical height gauge that get's used on the surface plate. It's the type that has a rack and pinion to set the height with a big knob, the dial shows mm by 0.01 mm, and there are resettable mechanical "digital" counters for whole mm both up and down. Height is about 50 cm. Very nice but use with care since it is easy to actually lift the base slightly when using the knob to put the pointed on the reference of measuring surface. Also much too tall to easily use on either mill to get the material height datum.

I have two short digital gauges, one is a Wixey type made really woodworking to set saw height, the other I made from a short capacitive scale (and is even shorter that the Wixey). Why two? Well one is left and the other right handed, so I can use at either end of the little CNC mill table without having to try seeing over the back of the mill. Being able to easily set the gauge to zero on a reference surface is also a boon. I wouldn't be without any of them.

Only problem with the Wixey is that the base is aluminium so very light. It came with a little magnet in the base to stick it down to a wood saw table, but you can imagine what happens to that on a mill! Once you get a bit of swarf stuck on the magnet a bit proud, you start getting odd zero errors, so the magnets came off.

Yet another vote for a Vernier type.

There are no batteries to go flat at the least convenient time. And they never need to be be rebooted after misbehaviour !

(I use digtal callipers, but have a slight reservation, not without foundation, about repeatability ).

OK, so digital types have the facility to change from Imperial to Metric at the touch of a button, and to change the position of the Zero point.

But a pen and paper to record the start and finish readings is no great disadvantage.

Decide whether you want Imperial or Metric, but don't rush to buy the first one that takes your eye.

You might get lucky and find one with both scales.

You will need a magnifier to examine the vernier more closely..

Beyond 300mm they become unwieldy, so don't go for larger than you will need.

HTH

Howard

So why are there so many threads on here regarding motors and controllers that have stopped working?

Andrew

Maybe a good compromise would be a mechanically driven (no batteries) digital display, rather than an electronic/LCD one. I've seen micrometers with this set-up, but I don't recall seeing it on a height gauge.

Keep a small supply of batteries for your gauges. Allendale sell them.

I bought this 150mm digital unbranded version new and cased from a bloke standing behind a pasting table in the middle of a field one gloriously hot Sunday afternoon some years ago – £30 if I remember correctly. It is smooth, accurate, very reliable and a pleasure to use. It lives and works for most of the time on top of a 12" square granite inspection plate (another car boot acquisition) where used in conjunction with a box of older Matrix imperial slips I can – for instance – mark out in confidence without having to rely on my ropey old eyes.

I would recommend one with a carbide scribing jaw for obvious reasons and try and remember to turn the power of after use, that way the battery will last "forever".

Rik

I bought a low cost height gauge a few years back, which was perfectly adequate at the time. But it stopped working after a couple of years (after eating it's way through my battery supplies).

Then I was lucky and got given a scrap Mitutoyo because the battery cover was broken. This has probably lasted me 10 years now and is perfect for me. The numbers are big and easy to read and I wouldn't want to be without the ability to zero anywhere, which I use frequently and has to be one of the major benefits of digital. Easily flipping from Metric to Imperial may be useful for some, but not me.

Of course, the insulating tape still holds the battery cover on.

Cheers Will

Andrew T, I bought a sylvac digital caliper from Allendale just before Christmas while on sale for £55, I read somewhere they have a lifetime warranty and are Swiss made, might be worth a look if you're in the market for some digital calipers, they claim to have extremely long battery life also, I am very impressed with the quality, for £55 delivered, absolute bargain.

As far as the vernier height gauge, Shardlow might be worth a look, they have a rack and pinion adjust mechanism, so you can adjust it one handed without holding the base, must have cost a fortune new, they turn up on ebay in their box with the bits for £50-£70ish now and then, it's far superior to the mitutoyo one it replaced.

I was given a vernier hight guage some years ago when our workshop went digital. At 18" it's a little large for my surface plate but I would not change it for a digital just to acquire the ability to zero set. I does take a little longer to set by vernier than glancing at a readout but then it's not called on for use that often so what the heck.

regards Martin