DIGITAL CALLIPERS @ LIDL

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Returned fron holiday to find that LIDL are doing a Digital Calliper, or Angle Gauge for £9.99, until Wednesday 5th October.

If you, or know of anyone who would want one, go for it.

There may be some left after the Wednesday closing date.

For anyone concerned about how good,

My calliper is many years old, in regular use, and still fine despite my having broken off the thumb wheel and now needing an O ring to hold the battery cover in place!.

Howard

[Howard LewisParticipant @howardlewis46836]

Special on offer until 5th October

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

I noticed that, but I already have 3 of them and there is something that I have noticed also. The first one is still in use, excellent value, but the successive calipers bought about 3 years apart are mechanically inferior, while being electronically more advanced. That was enough for me to transplant the reading head from the last one into the body of the first. They are not in the same class as my Mitutoyo or Tesa, but only a fraction of the cost.

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

I got one but my battered original is still going strong

I got the angle thingy as well

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

Ady, what do you think of the quality of your new calipers?

Edited By old mart on 02/10/2022 19:03:07

[Ady1Participant @ady1]

Seems fine, not as smooth as my original which has been opened and closed about a million times

I always open/close the jaws on these cheapo jobs before measuring, to get a decent zero

[old martParticipant @oldmart]

The rough movement of the more recent ones is the problem, the slideways look like they have been hand ground by a monkey.

[Pete RimmerParticipant @peterimmer30576]

Posted by old mart on 02/10/2022 19:31:20:

The rough movement of the more recent ones is the problem, the slideways look like they have been hand ground by a monkey.

The last cheapo Lidl ones I bought a couple of years back had gouges and angle grinder marks down the sliding edges. I took them back.

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Posted by Ady1 on 02/10/2022 18:59:36:

I got one but my battered original is still going strong

I got the angle thingy as well

Store the angle gauge with the battery out; it drains quite quickly, but other than that, a very handy gizmo.
The drain on the caliper is quite high too, compared to a high end model, but I gets more use, so less of a problem in some ways.

Bill

[Henry BrownParticipant @henrybrown95529]

I bought one a couple of years ago, it was rubbish even after I tried to sort it out. Hope no one else gets one as bad as I did!

[HuubParticipant @huub]

I have both (angle and callipers) from Lidl. They perform well and are accurate enough for hobby users. I don't remove battery's from any gauge and I don't switch them off. Batteries cost only a few penny's (Netherlands) and the on/off button of my lathe gauge has worn.

I have a calliper (€30,–) that keeps the zero point even when switched off. That is really nice to have. It saves a lot of time and prevents false zeroing.

[Paul LousickParticipant @paullousick59116]

We don't have LIDL in Australia but have ALDI which are both German based companies (not related) and sell some similar items. I use their digital calipers for everyday use. Not as good as my Mitutoyo but great for the price and have done so for many years.

Most of their tools are of reasonable quality AND if there is a problem come with a 60 day refund or replacement warranty and a 1 or 2 year manufacturers warranty.

[Andy_GParticipant @andy_g]

I got a set of callipers from Lidl something like 10 years ago. They've been great to use – smooth and accurate and are still going strong. No real difference in feel or accuracy to the Mitutoyo ones at work. I saw them come up in Aldi last year, so picked up a set as a backup.

They new ones are absolute *crap*:

Very rough action;
Poorly ground (a rough, rather than a satin surface);
FULL of grinding grit and residue (absolutely black with it inside);
Not really hardened (I know you shouldn't do it, but scribing with the tip of the jaws bends them – I've been getting away with that on the other set for years with no visible effect…)
When you close them fully, the internal jaws catch on each other when you open them again.

The reading varies a lot with jaw pressure,

The new ones remember their setting when "off" which would be handy for poor men's DROs (whereas the old ones reset their zero whenever they're switched on).
Shortly after, I picked up a set of callipers from Lidl and was equally unimpressed  

Full of grit and really badly finished. They're not the same as the Aldi ones, but of an equivalent standard.

My 'good' ones (that I though were Aldi) turn out to be old Lidl ones (circa 2007).

From top to bottom: Old Lidl, current Aldi, current Lidl:

Old (good) Lidl after 10+ years of abuse. If you run a fingernail across the closed jaws, you can barely feel the joint.

Current Aldi (new) – you could trip over the step between the jaws…

Current Lidl (brand new) – likewise, there is a pronounced misalignment of the jaws.

What the pictures don't really show is the difference in the 'ground' surfaces. The old ones are satin smooth with flat surfaces and square corners – not much different from Mitutoyo ones at work. The newer ones (Aldi & Lidl) are rough and uneven – I doubt that they're ground – more like waved past a belt sander.

I took the Aldi ones to pieces to clean the grit out and stone off the burrs – the grey is loose grit (& look at the grinding on the jaws!):

Inside the current Lidl ones (I didn't take the back off, just slid the jaw out). Grit again (this is straight out of the box – they haven't even been in the shed yet).

I cleaned them up as best I could without taking the back off (which means peeling the label on the rear back) as I was thinking of returning them. They still feel like cheap callipers, but at least they don't make your teeth itch every time you move them.

The battery in the old calipers lasts for years; I've had to change the batteries in the newer ones several times in the last year.

Not the bargain that they once were IMHO.

('current' in my description was ~ May last year)

Edited By Andy_G on 03/10/2022 09:43:10

[Douglas JohnstonParticipant @douglasjohnston98463]

Yes, I have to agree, the old ones from the likes of Aldi/Lidl were decent quality but the more recent ones can be awful. I was tempted to buy a spare last year and it was just hopeless. The electronics worked ok but the movement was as rough as hell. It went back the next day for a refund and I won't be tempted again.

Doug

[Mick B1Participant @mickb1]

I bought the angle gauge a couple of years back but don't really use it, or think much of it for that matter. You have to zero it against a known flat surface, it seems to use its battery even when switched off, and its resolution is 0.1 degrees.

My motheaten old M&W Vernier protractor that someone gave me has slightly better resolution at 5 MoA, uses no batteries and doesn't need zeroing, so it's this that ends up doing most angle work that needs gauging.

[Andy_GParticipant @andy_g]

I happened to be in Lidl today and saw that they had the calipers. Out of curiosity, I took one out of its box and slid it open. AAARGH! It felt like it had been on the beach. I quietly boxed it back up and put it back on the shelf.

[Anonymous]

You get what you pay for, I guess.

Thing is, you don't have to pay a great deal of money to get something really good.

A couple of years ago, I bought these iGaging ones for CDN$69 on sale (then, about £40) and they are super in all respects. I regularly forget to turn them off and I've yet to replace the battery.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Time to roll-out the “quote” that is often attributed to john Ruskin:

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey."

MichaelG.

.

Ref. __ **LINK**

https://victorianweb.org/authors/ruskin/quotation.html

[Robert HoltonParticipant @robertholton69149]

I one I bought a couple of years ago. It is brilliant I use it all the time. I checked it against my Moore and Wright micrometer, and it compares spot for measurements.

I have also one from Aldi which was great but it gave up the ghost. So that sit in a drawer.

I also have a Mitutoyo non digital imperial vernier which though a brilliant tool , I no longer use.

If I were rich I would buy a Mitutoyo digital vernier. but I will make do with the budget ones from Lidl/Aldi.

Rob

[Robert HoltonParticipant @robertholton69149]

As we have a Lidl 1/2 a mile away, I thought having read all your depressing posts re the caliper they have in stock at the moment, I thought I'd go and have a look.

they took a bit of finding, because Lidl can be a bit chaotic. But after a search I spotted them. I noticed someone else had opened a box to look, so I did the same. It did feel a bit rough , so I returned it to it's box and tried another. That was much smoother. So I bought it.

Got it home and checked against my 3 year old one and My Mitutoyo imperial caliper (non digital) I checked them all on a piece of 5/8" ground bar, and they all measured spot on.

Gave it a clean to remove any possible grit, and it is ok.

I am pleased with my £9.99 purchase.

Oh yes I forgot to say the difference in quality against the Mitutoyo is so obvious, but what should we expect ? The one would cost around £150 and the Lidl one at £9.99 …….. say no more, eh !

Rob

[Tony Pratt 1Participant @tonypratt1]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 03/10/2022 22:24:28:

Time to roll-out the “quote” that is often attributed to john Ruskin:

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey."

MichaelG.

One of my favourites!

Tony.

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 03/10/2022 22:24:28:

Time to roll-out the “quote” that is often attributed to john Ruskin:

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey."

MichaelG.

.

Ref. __ **LINK**

https://victorianweb.org/authors/ruskin/quotation.html

Clever chap Ruskin. He also said: 'A thing of worth is what it can do for you, not what you choose to pay for it.'

He's absolutely right though: price proves nothing. It's our job to avoid paying too much or too little. Almost impossible to go wrong with a Lidl Caliper though: money back if it's junk.

Dave

[Robert HoltonParticipant @robertholton69149]

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 04/10/2022 13:37:26:

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 03/10/2022 22:24:28:

Time to roll-out the “quote” that is often attributed to john Ruskin:

"There is hardly anything in the world that someone cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price alone are that person's lawful prey."

MichaelG.

.

Ref. __ **LINK**

https://victorianweb.org/authors/ruskin/quotation.html

Clever chap Ruskin. He also said: 'A thing of worth is what it can do for you, not what you choose to pay for it.'

He's absolutely right though: price proves nothing. It's our job to avoid paying too much or too little. Almost impossible to go wrong with a Lidl Caliper though: money back if it's junk.

Dave

Absolutely right this Ruskin chap, but he was a rather odd sort of person, no matter how clever.

Anyway I wasn't trying to say the Lidl product was as good as a far more expensive item. Just saying that at that price it is good and It does the job really well.

Rob

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Posted by Robert Holton on 04/10/2022 14:10:44:

Posted by SillyOldDuffer on 04/10/2022 13:37:26:

Posted by Michael Gilligan on 03/10/2022 22:24:28:

Time to roll-out the “quote” that is often attributed to john Ruskin:

…

…: price proves nothing. It's our job to avoid paying too much or too little. Almost impossible to go wrong with a Lidl Caliper though: money back if it's junk.

Dave

…

Anyway I wasn't trying to say the Lidl product was as good as a far more expensive item. Just saying that at that price it is good and It does the job really well.

Rob

I agree Rob. I use inexpensive Digital Calipers most of the time – they're more than good enough for rough work and there are no tears when I break one. (I'd need counselling if I dropped a pricey Mitutoyo on a concrete floor and then stood on it as happened to my poor Lidl!)

I suppose 50% of my caliper work is just confirming sizes: checking drill diameters and making sure set-ups aren't grossly wrong. I also use them to mark out key reference points on work as a double-check; the actual cutting is done with DRO or machine dials, but the extra sanity-check catches silly mistakes. (I make lots of silly mistakes…) I can abuse cheap calipers too, for example by using them as a scribe.

Judging by photos and comments, the latest batch of supermarket calipers are below par. But all three of those bought in the past by me are acceptable. Their accuracy is in the same ball-park as more expensive models, but there are differences:

• Cheap calipers don't hold zero as well the better ones so the operator wastes a little time checking and resetting zero between measurements. Main problem is remembering to check!
• The feel of cheaper slides is OK rather than silky. Apart from feeling nice, silky movements make it easier to apply consistent jaw pressure which speeds up measuring. Doesn't make much difference for what I use calipers for, which is ±0.05mm or 4 thou.
• The battery compartment is more likely to be sealed. Keeping cutting fluid out is one benefit but I suspect the way cheap calipers tend to flatten batteries quickly may be due to condensation and dirt causing the battery to discharge prematurely. The idea is unproven, but the battery in my sealed caliper seems to last longer than the same battery size in an unsealed caliper, even though both calipers draw the same 'off' current – a few microamps.
• Cheap calipers don't come with extras like 'Absolute Zero', which can be useful.

Although I have a more expensive caliper I don't use it much. The type of work I do doesn't call for high-accuracy, and when accuracy is needed I prefer a micrometer. Inexpensive calipers do what I need without breaking the bank. The exception is taking many measurements off an object I'm going to copy. Then the extra reliability and speed of the silky instrument pays off. When dozens of measurements have to be tabulated my better instrument clips about 33% of the total time.

Dave

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

In case it wasn’t obvious … What prompted me to roll out ‘my’ Ruskin quote was the fact that people were commenting that the year-on-year quality of the Lidl products is reducing.

In my opinion, IKEA is often guilty of the same sin.

In this context; maintaining a price, but presenting a poorer product for that price is equivalent to Ruskin’s “sell a little cheaper”

MichaelG.

[Author]

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