Digital caliper for guitar work--what features are needed?

[Donelson]

I've wanted for years, but have never had, a digital caliper, for general purpose guitar work. Seems like a good "gift suggestion" this time of year! There are tons of different ones at all sorts of prices from $10 to well over $100. Just search for "digital caliper" on Amazon.

What features would any of you recommend as useful for a digital caliper to be a good guitar tool?

Thanks in advance to any & all!

 

[braderrick]

I don't have one either and would like to get one soon. I have noticed that the ones that stewmac sells has a notch for measuring fret height and such.

 

[Hack On Wheels]

Most of what I've done so far (making a body and starting on a test neck) has really only needed a couple good rulers, but I did pick up a set of calipers from Lee Valley that I think could come in handy. They do fractional inches which is a feature I hadn't previously seen on any calipers I had used.

Dirt cheap calipers might not be very reliable, but you don't need a $100 set either unless you need very high precision.

 

[guitarbuilder]

I bought one a few years ago at Harbor Freight and the display only went out to hundreths of an inch. In my opinion, that is fairly useless for accurate guitar work, so I bought another that went out to thousandths of an inch.

 

[Jack Wells]

Nothing wrong with good ole dial calipers. They read to 1000th inch and never need a battery.

 

[OpenG Capo4]

Mine only reads to hundredths. And it doesn't have the thing on the end for measuring depth.

This is the one that I have. It was like $10 from Harbor Fright:

This one for $19.99 is probably much better:

 

[flatfive]

I got this one (currently $16) from Amazon. It gets good reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-Stainless-Digital-Caliper-Extra-Large/dp/B000GSLKIW

I have it about a year and it's worked fine so far.
Seems accurate and the ability to display inches and mm is handy.

 

[guitarbuilder]

Nothing wrong with good ole dial calipers. They read to 1000th inch and never need a battery.

The same logic could apply to a slide rule.... I had a college instructor who went out of his mind when students started to buy those new fangled calculators. He insisted we use sliderules in class....

I think the low cost, ease of use, and accuracy of a digital caliper is enough to offset an occasional battery purchase.

 

[Mojotron]

I got this one (currently $16) from Amazon. It gets good reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-Stainless-Digital-Caliper-Extra-Large/dp/B000GSLKIW

I have it about a year and it's worked fine so far.
Seems accurate and the ability to display inches and mm is handy.

Yep - I use one like that. In fact, I use a caliper so much, I got another one. They are extremely useful for guitar making and setup.

 

[jimdkc]

I got this one (currently $16) from Amazon. It gets good reviews.

http://www.amazon.com/Neiko-Stainless-Digital-Caliper-Extra-Large/dp/B000GSLKIW

I have it about a year and it's worked fine so far.
Seems accurate and the ability to display inches and mm is handy.

That looks like it's identical to Harbor Freight's $19.99 model... which they occasionally run on sale for $14.99. I have the Harbor Freight version and it's great for the money.

I'd like to have one like this that also reads out in fractional inches (down to 128ths!):

http://www.rockler.com/product.cfm?page=18651&rrt=1

Edit: Just found a fractional one on Amazon for $16.00 (only 1/64th resolution when viewing fractional, however...)

http://www.amazon.com/Carrera-Precision-CP7906-Electronic-Fractional/dp/B0018DC6JQ

 

[Guitarnut]

Kobalt Digital from Lowes...$29. I've used this one on every guitar I've built...you don't know how much you need them until you have used them.

Inside and outside measurement, SAE or Metric, half-thousandths display, depth gauge, thumbwheel, auto power-off, all metal housing. Even comes with an extra battery and a pretty tough case.

 

[jimdkc]

I've used this one on every guitar I've built...you don't know how much you need them until you have used them.

Ain't that the truth! Once you start using one, it becomes indispensable!

 

[Bongocaster]

I've got very nice Mitutuyo vernier calipers that read in inch fractions and thousandths. Got them used for very cheap for some odd reason

I've got a HF level dial caliper that just will not return to zero repeatedly. Will those less expensive digital models do the same or are they better.

Either one is good enough for what I'm doing most of the time.

 

[jimdkc]

I've got very nice Mitutuyo vernier calipers that read in inch fractions and thousandths. Got them used for very cheap for some odd reason

I've got a HF level dial caliper that just will not return to zero repeatedly. Will those less expensive digital models do the same or are they better.

Either one is good enough for what I'm doing most of the time.

Mitutuyo is good stuff... but outta my price range! I did use them back when I was a calibration tech for an electronics company back in the 80's.

My HF Digital returns to zero nicely.

 

[Bolide]

Nylon body is a big plus to avoid scratching wood.

I was surprised by a recent pair of Mitutoyos I recently purchased did not have the depth guaging tail that calipers normally do. This feature is highly useful in guitar work. Otherwise, like anything Mitu they were great.

For years I used a pair of General Tools student grade dial calipers (not quite as good as these
http://www.amazon.com/General-Tools-English-Plastic-Caliper/dp/B00004T7UB
but in the area) that cost less than $12.00; plenty good for guitar work.

 

[jefrs]

Imo you are going to get a better made, more accurate, manual calliper for the money than a digital calliper. So much so that we do not use digital callipers at work. Ours have lasted for years and years, and are re-calibrated every year without problems.
Mitutoyo 532 manual graduation 0.02mm +/-0.03mm £40 (everything you need incl tail)
Mitutoyo 500 digital resolution 0.01mm +/-0.02mm £125 ("economy" model i.e. this about as cheap as a pro digital calliper gets, but once the display goes, that's it)

 

[mcgeorgerl]

Some of the inexpensive ones ones have too many main components made of plastic - I'd avoid those.

I'd never use anything with less than a .001 readout because I hate it when the darn things round up. It's .625 and not .63... the difference is almost the thickness of two sheets of paper. All of mine at home and work go out 4 places.

I've seen some that read in fractions. If that's what floats yer boat... go ahead. I'll never own a set since a decent hook ruler is faster, needs no battery and, since doesn't have a rack and pinion/dial set up, it doesn't have a gap that will get get clogged with dust and chips.

The thing to remember is that you'll be limited to about 6" of measuring length unless you want to start paying significantly more for 12" or 24" versions. And they're too unwieldy to continually use for stuff that we'd typically measure (less than 2").

For inexpensive shop tools I go right to CDCO. They're not Starrett but I think they're better than Harbor Freight.

 

[MickM]

Nothing wrong with good ole dial calipers. They read to 1000th inch and never need a battery.

So true.



The same logic could apply to a slide rule.... I had a college instructor who went out of his mind when students started to buy those new fangled calculators. He insisted we use sliderules in class....

I think the low cost, ease of use, and accuracy of a digital caliper is enough to offset an occasional battery purchase. [/QUOTE]

Digital is fine if you need to see the little lit up numbers and I guess you can use it for a kitchen utensil when it gives up the ghost! For the life of me I can't figure out how Leo built the Tele and Strat without digital technology.

Seriously, what ever yanks your noodle is cool. Variety is the spice, right??

 

[Bolide]

So true.



The same logic could apply to a slide rule.......
Seriously, what ever yanks your noodle is cool. Variety is the spice, right??

Good points made. I am an inveterate vernier caliper snob (as with using a finger bowl, those who can read a pair of vernier calipers silently congratualate themselves when they do so), but the entire discussion on relative accuracy with dial calipers was put to rest decades ago.

ime the difference in "difficulty" between reading dial and digital calipers is not worth considering, as Jack Wells points out no batteries needed, the only time I would see a real advantage of digital over dial is if you were in a place with statistical quality control program in effect using the digitals as a direct data input source.

Accuracy is of course important, but we must avoid the "Close enough for government work: Measured with a micrometer, marked with a crayon, cut with an ax." mentality and remember that this is wood we are talking about, and wood will happily rediminsion over five thousandths with a slight change in humidity. Tool room precision is great in a tool room. While you can't be too accurate, you can be too precise, and this precision can cost you accuracy.

 

[Allthesound]

+1 for Mitutuyo brand got mine used as well , best $$ i spent on any of my guitar building tools.