Metric

[Everette]

Watching the post on centering the domino and the conversion between metric and inch convinced me that I needed a digital caliper, which would do this for me.  I have a nice starrett dial calipers that I have had for years.  But it does not help me with metric.  So I started a search and came upon the following
http://www.mini-lathe.com/Mini_lathe/Reviews/HF_digital_caliper/caliper.htm

Which led me to
http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/Displayitem.taf?itemnumber=47257

I decided I could not do wrong, so I took off to the local harbor freight and picked one up and I'm impressed.  I am not normally a Harbor Freight guy, but I do pick up some thing every once and a while which I think is a good deal.

Everette

 

[Dan Clark]

About a year ago, I bought a digital caliper for Rockler.  About $35, I believe.  It worked OK but it was sticky and didn't do fractions.  And, there was no auto-off.  If you forgot to turn it off and picked it up a couple of weeks later, the battery was dead!  (Serious PITA.)

About 3 weeks ago, I was in Woodcraft and saw the Wixey fractional digital caliper.  It shows decimal imperial AND fractions at the same time.  Hit a button and you can see the measurement in millimeters.  At $49.99, I wasn't going to buy it until I picked it up and felt smoothness of the action.  At that moment I lost perspective and reached for the wallet.

I've only had it for three weeks but love it.  Worth every cent.

Regards,

Dan.

 

[Everette]

This one is auto on and auto off.  It is heavy and feels good.  The only down side I see so far is it is not SS.  So it may rust at some time. But I have some of those bags that pick up the moisture.  But for $16 I can take the chance.

Everette

 

[extiger]

to satisfy particular needs on a machine of mine -- the WoodRat  -- I bought a variety of digital scales from this website    chipsfly.com    They all have inches/fractional/metric. The little shorty is only 4" long, perfect for a shop apron pocket. Not quite as cheap as Harbor Freight, but the fractional capacity is really nice at times.

Gary Curtis
Northern California