Measuring Devices

[ken snyder]

Ive been using balance scales since electronics were vacuum tubes. Calipers are only used for roughing, they are the absolute least accurate method of measuring anything. There is absolutely no reason to have an expensive set of calipers, anything that gets beyond the accuracy of even the cheapest calipers will not use a caliper to measure it. The average person probably will find good use in battery powered measuring devices, while I learned to cuss batteries a long time ago!

 

[Trickymissfit]

Can't beat quality electronics like the Chargemaster for weighing in volume. I always have a balance beam for periodic QC. Either, for calipers as long as they are of high quality. I have seen a of manual calipers from name companies that are poor and don't return to zero

I've never had a problem with the Mitutoyos loosing their zero, unless I get a grain of powder down in the gear and rack. Then I just reset it back to zero. With a Starrett you have to take the head apart. Can't remember how a Brown & Sharpe resets, but bet it's like a Starrett. That's the nice thing about digital calipers in that all you need to do is go back and reset the zero. I Have one digital pair that has an out put link to dump the data into a PC, but where the cable is at I can't say (if I even have one). One pair I have has an added feature to setup a working window (maybe Fowlers). The bad thing about digitals is the battery going dead on you. I always keep a pack of batterys close by.

I have two or three pairs of B&S mics, and they are good quality (better than their machinery). Still I never could get the feel out of them I wanted. Now days it Starrett, but f Lufkin were still producing mics that's all I'd own. Had a B&S wth the digital head on it for a couple years, and finally pitched it after the head slipped about a half dozen times when I needed it the most. I also like to keep it simple.
gary

 

[Loner]

Trickymissfit is right along the lines I think in. Buy the best you can afford. Bite the bullet
and pick good stuff up used when you come across it even if it isn't where your current
peak interests lay. IE (reloading stuff in the middle of snowmobile season)
If you want the best powder scale available it's called a Prometheus. I have better places
to spend my money however.

 

[Trickymissfit]

Ive been using balance scales since electronics were vacuum tubes. Calipers are only used for roughing, they are the absolute least accurate method of measuring anything. There is absolutely no reason to have an expensive set of calipers, anything that gets beyond the accuracy of even the cheapest calipers will not use a caliper to measure it. The average person probably will find good use in battery powered measuring devices, while I learned to cuss batteries a long time ago!

If you buy cheapo calipers you get cheaper measuring. If your working down to .001", then you need something a little better. The one gig I see guys do all the time with calipers (98% of them out there) is to try and measure an I.D. accurately. Ain't ever gonna happen! (note: Fowler does sell some that use pins to measure I.D.'s, but all I've seen were 12" and larger). The real problem with any pair of calipers is that there is a slide that has to have some backlash built in it to make it move. Nature of the beast, and you need to know that from the start.

I once bought a digital head like the ones they use on a Bridport head. And built a head space measuring device (also seating depth). Thing worked great, and had about $80 in it altogether. Still it violated rule one; keep it simple. I finally gave it away as I was spending hours fooling around with it. It's still the best one I have ever seen or used.
gary

 

[Trickymissfit]

Trickymissfit is right along the lines I think in. Buy the best you can afford. Bite the bullet
and pick good stuff up used when you come across it even if it isn't where your current
peak interests lay. IE (reloading stuff in the middle of snowmobile season)
If you want the best powder scale available it's called a Prometheus. I have better places
to spend my money however.

I've heard of that measurer, and maybe seen photos, but never seen one in the flesh. The Harrell is very nice, and filled a spot I was after (a Lyman with a Homer Culver insert). Dosn't do stick powder all that well, but for fine grained stuff it's there everytime. What I'd really like to have is a mint condition B&M
gary