As a rule of thumb I enjoy pinch sticks and callipers and compasses. You can't measure a snake in inches because they don't have feet, but you can measure a rattlesnake in meters as they have rhythm!
Fractional Dial Calipers are my favorite. Digital ones always have a dead battery. Most machinist dial calipers are in thousands of an inch that need conversion. But "Fractional Dial Calipers" such as from IGaging or others are perfect for my needs. They are far more intuitive to use (as mentioned by David Sweeney's comment, you can easily see just under or just over 1/8" etc), are reasonable priced and don't have the downsides of a battery. Most of them also have an inner scale on the dial if you still want to get the measurement in thousands if for some crazy reason you still need that instead of the fraction. I've got all three kinds of calipers, and the the fractional dial one is now my go to for woodworking and general shop use.
You missed the height measure on the head end of the caliper, note how the halves of the head are flush when the jaws are closed, that can be used to get a bigger registration surface when measuring the height of a ledge or so. I use my wood-shop pair as a small pinch rod some of the time, that may constitute a useful hack. Finally, I am tremendously bothered by digital calipers as they usually give the seeming of greater precision than they really can give. The way a sliding caliper is built is too flexible to give anything better than 1/20th (0.05) mm or so unless you are really good at using them. #TeamVernierScale all the way!
Came here to comment about the height measure on the head too! I use this mode whenever I do layouts because it's much much easier to get it precise than with the pointy ends. Just rest the lower jaw against the side of the workpiece and score a line with your marking knife. In my experience the digital calipers are way slower to get a read off of, and way more fiddly to set to a correct measure than an ordinary pair of sliding ones. I started out with a pair of digitals, but have never looked back since I got my first pair of manual ones.
Huge advantage of the non-digital ones is no need to worry about batteries. I hate trying to put the battery in my digital one so I'm planning to get a dial one.
The newer digital ones with a "CR" series lithium battery are better than the older digi's that use the A76 batteries, but for woodwork I too prefer an analog dial to a readout, but my eyes are getting older, the day will come when I appreciate those big displays.
I have battery anxiety, too - but I don’t regret switching to digital calipers, because they’re just easier to read. I want to like dial calipers more, but being able to read the display quickly from a certain distance without having to take them off is a great advantage, expecially on larger, heavier workpieces.
I agree. I got a cheap one so I don't trust it to not drain. I keep the battery outside with a piece of tape, but every time I put the battery in it's to measure just one thing so it's a bit of a hassle. The simple ruler ones are the best.
Guitar building and repair, dial caliper is a must. Not so much for actually measuring thickness of woods, but for setup accuracy, hole diameter, and metal parts sizes.
I occasionally use the depth finder for stabbing myself when I inevitably drop the stupid caliper and move my hand fast enough to get below the falling object but not accurately enough to catch the falling object.
40 years a wood worker, Machinist for 12 years and Engineer for maybe 25 ears. Yes I agree there is a time for accurate and a time for cool - close enough. When do I really use the caliper. Hole placement, Thickness of rough cut lumber after planed down into boards and dado/groove widths... In those places close needs to be close..005 is close enough.
Couldn’t live without it. First tool I bought (engineer talking) apart from bits and dimensioning boards to a 10th of a mm, I use it to measure the stem of a screw to know what size pilot hole I need! Good video, keep it up!
I am a traditional woodworker but I have a CNC machine and the digital caliper is necessary. The mechanical ones that I have had for years are in fractions but I do have some on decimals. I dont use the decimal that go to thousands of an inch. I recently bought a 12 inch one that does MM, fractions and decimals. It is great because the 6" one is most used the 12 inch is handy for my woodworking. The digital one is a necessity for CNC work because you have to super precise.
Love my dial caliper. I have a vernier style caliper and a micrometer. I used to know how to read them. Not any more. I use my calipers to measure rods, holes, and depths. Okay, sometimes I also measure plane shavings!
I absolutely love the my iGaging calipers that have fractions on the dial. It makes it super simple to go "it's a hair over 3/8" rather than digital that will give me fractions up to 128. That said I mostly use it for setting and checking other tools. Stuff like checking my table saw fence is accurate to the tape on the saw. For project parts I mostly just use it if I'm working off a plan to check thicknesses or to setup a mortise gauge.
This. If you use imperial measurements, a fractional dial caliper is a game changer. I also have the iGaging calipers and think they're fantastic (especially for woodworking). My expensive Mitutoyo's sit in a drawer 99% of the time.
You are dead on. I thought I would like the fraction reading but it means nothing. I end up moving it to try to figure out the next closest "real fraction". I have the igauging ones as well and they are my favorites.
I watch so many people stress over exact accuracy to a plan etc and to me that takes a huge amount of the fun out of woodworking. Like you said most woodworking doesn't require that level of accuracy. I love watching traditional guys that know what they are doing. A lot of times they do things faster than power tool only guys because they are stressing over absolute perfection vs what really is needed. IDK I get it I just prefer a less stressful woodworking experience.
I use them all the time. I have a simple vernier and a digital. The vernier one is in my measuring tool drawer by my workbench, the digital is on my worktable. Vernier for wood, digital for other stuff :^) I would love some dial calipers!
Back before World War 2 the use of calipers and micrometers was not common among machinist. They used a "spring caliper" which is related to the divider but with a curved end instead of straight. For instance when measuring the diameter of something they were turning on a lathe, they put a heavy chalk mark on one side and scraped the spring caliper over it and measured the amount of chalk removed. This is a very accurate way of measuring diameters. They called it a "3/8 drag" looking for a chalk removal of 3/8 inch. Neat way of doing things. I played with it, and found it fun to do. I would not want to make my living trying to measure that way. WW2 changed the way of measuring forever. Now we have the type caliper you are talking about. Having a machinist background, I usually stay away from them in the wood shop, however I do use them occasionally. Like you I prefer the dial type over the digital. Calipers can be great, but being more interested in older ways, there has always been a way to measure accurately even long before calipers. They do however take a lot of the work out of measuring. Thanks for the information, and another informative video. I have been enjoying your chanel for many years. Keep up the good work.
I was an electro/mech tech by trade (retired). As such I have a slew of calipers. My digital one. Received as gift years ago. Comes out of its case only when the person who gave it to me is visiting. 99% of the time I use the one I bought as a poor apprentice years ago (I think its older than you, James). Its similar to the one you're missing.
I've had both types for years and use them pretty much as you've demonstrated. And you are also right when you say that each type is FUN to use!! I can play with either one and kill all sorts of time!! Gotta get old but you don't have to grow up!!
Thanks so much, James. I have both dial and digital calipers and use them so seldom that the battery goes dead between uses on my digitals unless I take it out every time. And I have never used the depth gauge. I have used them mostly to measure dowels and when I'm thickness planing. And you are the first person to show how to read the dial. I was only guessing up to today. Now I'll be more comfortable using them and perhaps they won't just live in the case in the drawer. Thank you! And by the way, Thank you for emphasizing the fun of woodworking. So may youtubers and pod casters are all about building and expanding a business, something I want no part of. I've already climbed the mountain and I'm getting off (retiring) in the next year. The last thing I want is another stressful job. Pit-touie. I started woodworking to relax, spend time, and have fun. I appreciate above all when I learn things that will help improve my skills. Thank you!
Coming from drag racing and using calipers, micrometers and dial indicators on engines etc. it never occurred to me to use them on wood until I watched Matthias Wandel. Calipers work as good as anything for marking and finding the center of a piece of wood and I use the dial indicator on the table saw to move the fence maybe once rather than repeatedly to size a thin piece. I've never seen the foot device you have, now something else I just know I need.
I am a machinist that trasitioned to an engineer then an inspector and then a Quality Manager. I am also a hobbyist woodworker and I completely understand your thoughts on just how much accuracy do you need. I use my calipers (Oh, and by the way, the last set you showed are called vernier calipers because they use the vernier scale for displaying the measurement) for verificaiton of a drill bit size or any predetermined sized object, just habit I guess. I have used them to set a table saw fence but not very often. When I use my calipers (I have one that displays in., mm, and fractions also) I am looking at mostly 64ths of an inch worth of difference. Great explanation, thank you!
So far I`ve only used mine for measuring drill bits or antique Auger bits that I`m restoring. I will be using it for routing cavities in a guitar I`m building. Mine is digital ( I prefer that ) and I use a similar chart to the one you have.
You should do episodes on measure things. Reference points Accuracy / precisions. Measuring from left to right; right to left or from the center. Why use slots and enlarge holes? It is all very interesting on how different approach can give you different results.
I hate joints that don't line up so to help reduce this I use the digital measuring devices. Have gotten carried away on this from time to time. I try to remember "It just don't matter in this case". Thanks for sharing
I am an engineer, and I do have a basic Vernier calliper, so no dial or digital, and I find it so useful, I am a woodturner too so that is obvious, but for measuring depth or the inside of a mortice they are so handy :)
Thanks, James! Not a machinist anymore, but I still have my old Brown and Sharp dial calipers I bought back 34 years ago. You and Shannon and others have said exactly what you just said: they’re useful and often needed, but no longer do I need them like I was holding half thou tolerances back in my youth, but for the practicality they offer. By the way, the ones without the dial or digital screen are called vernier calipers. We often still called them “verniers” even though they had the dial or digital readout.
under six inch measurements are indeed very important...ok-ok maybe 7 inch...for drilling and hole measurements and....other very important things...especially for hand tool experts... 5:20 - "I am in the shop for fun and that's the reason I use hand tools". Legend. All that with a completelly straight face. A rock of a man! 😄😅
i love using calipers in my woodworking for all of the ease of use features you described. also as a novice woodturner they are almost manditory for me
Thanks for making a video off my request!!!! After have one for a week or two, I found myself starting to fall down the hole of over precision and eventually starting to become annoyed. Thanks for the helpful reminder!⭐️👌
I have a digital caliper, usually to transfer part sizes accurately. But also for the fun of measuring plane shavings thickness. Almost always message my machinest brother whenever I get one under 1 thou.
As a retired surveyor and former machinist, I learned long ago to prioritise tolerances, which have varied between tens of feet to tenths of thousands of an inch. Meanwhile, as you sad, it’s all about reality. I just finished a cross-stitch backing board that needed hundreds of holes to accept metal pins made from salvaged H-frame wire stakes. I chose the next bit size down in size by fitting a finished pin into the holes in the bit holder and then reamed each drilled hole with a piece of pin, which had the business end squared and thinned slightly on the grinder to create a clean properly sized reamer. No measurements required. As an inspector once commented to a visiting engineer on a job site (one who had no sense of humour or sarcasm 😂 ) “We never use numbers from the plan. Those are just a guide!” 🤯🤣
I also use my calipers mostly for holes and things that make them or go in them. While I generally don't use high-accuracy measuring devices for furniture building (a hand plane or chisel can make two pieces fit together almost perfectly) I do use them when making jigs. An accurate jig can be your best friend in the shop.
There is a 4th type of caliper, that is also manual. General sells them and rather then using tenths, it has a typical imperial scale and some also have metric as well. They will do everything the other calipers can do, just not to the same tolerance. Great video
Use my digital calipers all the time for the size of small parts and for measuring progress on the planar and drum sander. It's also very helpful in getting machines set up precisely.
Hi James, I have a pair from iGaging (Starrett makes them too) that uses a dial / rack and pinion but is marked in 1/64th increments. One rotation of the dial is a full inch. I think you would really love one like this!
As a former mechanical designer, I used to design parts with tolerances in plus or minus thousandths of an inch for machinery and hundredths of an inch for Sheetmetal. Now as a woodworker, I think of tolerances in terms of 1/32 and sometimes hundredths of an inch. There is no point in going for a tighter tolerance, since wood is relatively unstable.
Great video! I have an old set of calipers that I still use where the display can't be read at all. It is still useful for comparing two pieces to each other. I bust out the digital ones when necessary.
Excellent tutorial on the use and limitations of calipers. A while back I went on a kick of getting every kind and type known to man. Big mistake. I now have a drawer full of useless measurement tools. Wish this video had been up then. Thank you for sharing. Have a great 2023 and stay safe.🙂🙂
I use my dial caliper quite a bit, it easy & fun. Sometimes I do go down that rabbit hole of accuracy, and don’t really have a rule set for tennon & mortise to know when they will fit nicely. I still have to do that by feel.
I like the dial caliper so I don't have to worry about a battery. It's useful to transfer measurements from one board to another. And don't forget that you can use the back of the jaws to transfer measurenents as well.
I would like to know ways to use calipers; I think I'm using mine correctly to measure, e.g,, the non-standard size of my table saw's miter gauge groves, but have little idea how to use them routinely in the shop. This video was eye-opening to me. Thanks.
If you look at the head, the backside of the head slides also by the same amount, so you can rest it on the face of the wood. It is square, so it is easy to use it to transfer measurements
I like my dial caliper. Started with a digital - battery always dead, got a really cheap dial caliper - dropped it and it lost repeatability. Now I have a bit better quality dial caliper (around $50 cdn) with a dual scale - thousandths and fractions, saves having to measure in thousandths and then go to one of those charts to convert to fractions,
Something that I find myself reminding my precision obsessed woodworking friends is wood movement. Measuring to 1/1,000 is cool, but can you cut/plane to that accuracy? And wait 5 minutes or a day or so, and find out the wood has moved 1/500 or even 1/100... Work to the accuracy that's needed for the project and the materials will support.
Yes - we talk about accuracy a lot, but what we often really mean is granularity, and often it’s more about the ease of use of measuring instruments: it’s much nicer and more important when they tell us if we’re there yet, rather than giving a specific measurement. Like story sticks and things like that. The “best” calipers I have are digital: very decent ones bought on sale, quite accurate of course, and the display gives me a single value, I don’t have to futz around reading one value off the beam and another off a dial or via the vernier thingy. But my favourite calipers are an old set with really chunky jaws and a locking screw: the scale is totally useless, but they’re the best thickness gauge. My personal holy grail for woodworking would be dial calipers with a range of 100 mm (about 4 inches) and 100 increments on the dial: wide enough for most tasks, I would only need to look at the dial to take a value, and the spaces between the lines on the dial would allow me to “see” 1/3 of a mm or so (about a 1/64 of an inch). Of course the digital ones are fine, but in woodworking terms, 39.89 mm and 40.17 mm are pretty much the same, yet they look off on the display: you’re golden, but it feels like a bad day, because not a single number on the display is the same. I still prefer the single value I can get off a digital display, but I wish I could dumb it down by a factor of 10, and I’d love to have dial calipers with the specific granularity mentioned above.
I'm right with you on the fun of the dial and the flexibility of the calipers. I almost never take the measurement off of the calipers and use it on another measuring device. I use the iGaging ones with fractions on the dial.
I mainly use calipers when planing boards to a thickness to fit in a dado. I can measure the dado, and lock the calipers in place then plane until the wood fits into the calipers. I don't even need to know what the actual measurement is. I mean, you could just use the dado if the piece is small enough, but if I'm building a bookshelf and have a 1.5' x 6' side with dadoes, it is much better to just use a caliper.
I got some digital calipers that I figured would be my go-to, but 99% of the time I use my harbor freight analog dial calipers. I didn’t like it at first because I didn’t know what the 10, 20, 30 etc numbers on the outside of the dial meant. And honestly, I still don’t know what they mean, but I did eventually figure out that “line 38” is 3 lines less than “line 41”. Which is the only interpretation I really need if I just need a bunch of boards to be equal thickness for a piece of furniture.
Many uses in the shop, but for planing Kumiko strips so that they fit just so in the saw kerf, which, despite what the blade says, isn't 1/8th, nothing better.
I have recently started using a digital caliper. This is not because I am looking for spurious accuracy, though. As I have got older, I have found that my arms are too short to hold my old slide one far enough away to read it. The digital reading is nice and big!
I wish I had bought one with the dial instead of digital. A visual reference is easier to figure out relative size than to determine what 41 / 64ths is!
If you want a battery-free dial caliper in fractions of an inch, iGaging, Shop Fox, Oshlun all sell them. Starrett also makes one at a much higher price.
I was given a Mitutoyo from a retired toolmaker, it's the slide version with 0.02mm graduations. I read it to the actual measurement just for fun, but I never try and replicate that anywhere else 😅 I use them for measuring round things like handles or dowels because the ruler just won't do that. I also use it for stuff under 100mm as my rule has .5mm graduations for the first 100mm and they're a bugger to read! The working to a 0 function of the digital ones would be useful, but these were free so...
I used to just have a set of vernier calipers, but my eyes aren't the best and I got tired of second guessing myself on the vernier scale. Buying a dial caliper felt a little bit like surrendering but boy howdy is it ever easier to use
I'm an engineer but usually just use a combo square or ruler, and just break out the calipers or micrometers when there's a good reason. My cutting is less accurate than my marking and measuring already.
Excellent tips, James! Thanks! 😃 I usually need a bit more precision when working with electronics and rc stuff. (To make holes to mount boards, stuff like that.) So I have a good digital caliper, but... I already lost one because the battery leaked! So I keep it without it, which makes things more difficult... So I'm really considering getting an analog one for woodworking! Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
I am a machinist with Mitutoyo digital calipers but they are not accurate for most of the work I do. Just good for basic checks on thing, not true dimensional measurements. (also have dial calipers) That being said, while I do cut everything more accurately than it needs to be I do NOT try to hold cuts on boards to 1/10,000 of an inch like I do with high spec Stainless Steel parts.
I like making smaller stuff since I don't have a real workshop yet. When making things like chisel handles or scales for perfect handle screwdrivers I use my calipers a lot. I use them to find center and such also
I use calipers for wood all the time. Beats the heck out of squinting to see 1/32 and 1/64th lines on my scale. Analog fits my brain better, but I use digital because there is no rack and pinion to get clogged by sawdust.
On either Lee Valley or Highland Woodworking, they have a manual set of calipers designed for woodworkers. The dial face has the fraction of an inch listed. You can easily see the 16ths of an inch and much more fine than that. The thing that drives me crazy with the digital ones is when they display in 128ths of an inch I can't mentally convert that to a meaninuful number in my head. Check them out.
Probably the best caliper for woodworking (at least in freedom-land) is the fractional inch dial caliper. It's got a dial that measures in 1/64th increments and spins once per inch (compared to a regular dial caliper that spins 10x per inch). It's exactly the right amount of precision for woodworking, and I find it a lot easier to use than the fractional mode on digital calipers which always leave me scratching my head wondering what reasonable fraction is closest to 57/128. Or at least they do when the battery isn't dead. Also don't forget that there's 4 measurements you can do with a caliper: outside using the main jaws, inside using the inside jaws, depth using the depth rod and steps using the back of the caliper head. Everyone always misses that last one, and it's way easier than trying to struggle with holding the depth rod off the edge of a step.
I use my Verniers a lot. Mainly for drilling (and screws), checking mortise depth/width and as a check on how well I've planned for thickness (more awareness than necessity). Also, I prefer to take chisel sizes from vernier, transfer 'dots' and set gauges off them. Other things I do is benchmarking stuff - I'll check how deep a bit goes over a turn, note how thick my thick/thin shavings are and noting kerf sizes. They're not very good for checking how bouncy a floor is.
Dear Mr Wright. Thank you so much for all the amazing content! Please, do you know the reason why most folding rules have outside reading scales? Is there an advantage to it? Because to me inside reading seem to make more sense. Thanks again!
i use calipers everyday in my small semi professional woodshop. i actually have 3, one at the drill presses, one at the woodlathe and one that "floats around" between the router table and my workbench. two are digital medium priced(lee valley) and the drill press one is an old mitiyota vernier caliper. i use them just as you describe. yes they are way too precise for woodworking and the fractions given by the digital calipers are hilarious, 117/128 or 45/64 as examples
For round things I like to use a diameter gauge. I have numerical and fractional ones that work great on diameters 1/2" and smaller. For larger I DO use my calipers, though.
Me too.....my calipers get used more than any other measuring device. Mine is analog, but measures in fractions of an inch. Shop Fox makes a nice one, iGage, and of course Starrett. They are all pretty much the same because I have all three, and you can get them for a reasonable price, with the exception of Starrett. ;-)
I like mine (igaging, I think?) that lets me limit the fraction to the 32’d instead of 128th, etc. I don’t even usually need 32’d accuracy. Love the feet you showed, I hadn’t see those before, pretty cool.
Most of the time I don't even turn my digital calipers on. I just getting a measurement to transfer. I just care that it fits, not what the actual dimension it is.
I bought a digital caliper a while ago, and I use it mostly for checking the thickness of wood I've planed and the width of dadoes for that wood. It took me a while to remember to turn the caliper off, and I killed a battery. Not a life-changing problem but an annoyance. I discovered I had to buy half a dozen batteries at a time at the big box store, so I did. I taped the card holding the unused batteries to the plastic case for the caliper. I've since learned to shut off the caliper, so I haven't killed a battery, but when I do, I'll know where to find one.
I use the callipers with a sliding scale but it is getting more difficult to see the little lines, will have to try the dial sort, that looks easier to see, useful information, thanks
I am over 60. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to read the dial caliper. And I used to use a slide rule in high school. I think I will stick with my digital caliper and replace batteries. What is needed is a caliper that finds the middle of a measurement. An machinist in Australia used to make and sell a divider that had three points. Two outside ones and the center one was the exact center of the distance. He does not make them any more. It is a beautiful looking device. I tried to make one on my 3D printer. No luck.
Honestly, I use mine a lot for depth, using the end of it to measure how deep a mortise is, then checking my tenon, or measuring the inside dimensions of my mortise against the tenon.
Actually the third option works with a vernier scale i think it’s called in English, which is just as accurate or more even than the digital (1/20th of a mm normally), if you weren’t a student in the 80’s or before that, they don’t seem to teach it anymore
Machinists,. Went through that argument with one once. I had a friend looking for a drill for a 1 1/4 Beal wood tap. The machinist in the club says you must get 1. bla bla" ,bit. I said 1 1/8" will do. "No no no" "I want to do it right" I try and remind them of wood movement with humidity. Still no agreement. Weeks later I ask "find your bit?" "No, I got 1 1/8" lol (FYI) Beal mfg. Calls out to use 1 1/8" in instructions printed with the tap.
Hackles? You have hair back there? :-) (Nice video, and +1 on the Harbor Freight ones. For what I do in the shop, I'm not going out to buy a Starrett!)
My old Blosta (scale type) are on my desk permanently and probably used most days ( I am a cad draftsman ( uk draughtsman ) and an armchair weekend woodworker ) I also use mine as a marking gauge. My battery is dead in my cheap shed set :( and my micrometer is seized.
As a rule of thumb I enjoy pinch sticks and callipers and compasses. You can't measure a snake in inches because they don't have feet, but you can measure a rattlesnake in meters as they have rhythm!
Fractional Dial Calipers are my favorite. Digital ones always have a dead battery. Most machinist dial calipers are in thousands of an inch that need conversion. But "Fractional Dial Calipers" such as from IGaging or others are perfect for my needs. They are far more intuitive to use (as mentioned by David Sweeney's comment, you can easily see just under or just over 1/8" etc), are reasonable priced and don't have the downsides of a battery. Most of them also have an inner scale on the dial if you still want to get the measurement in thousands if for some crazy reason you still need that instead of the fraction. I've got all three kinds of calipers, and the the fractional dial one is now my go to for woodworking and general shop use.
You missed the height measure on the head end of the caliper, note how the halves of the head are flush when the jaws are closed, that can be used to get a bigger registration surface when measuring the height of a ledge or so.
I use my wood-shop pair as a small pinch rod some of the time, that may constitute a useful hack.
Finally, I am tremendously bothered by digital calipers as they usually give the seeming of greater precision than they really can give. The way a sliding caliper is built is too flexible to give anything better than 1/20th (0.05) mm or so unless you are really good at using them. #TeamVernierScale all the way!
Came here to comment about the height measure on the head too! I use this mode whenever I do layouts because it's much much easier to get it precise than with the pointy ends. Just rest the lower jaw against the side of the workpiece and score a line with your marking knife.
In my experience the digital calipers are way slower to get a read off of, and way more fiddly to set to a correct measure than an ordinary pair of sliding ones. I started out with a pair of digitals, but have never looked back since I got my first pair of manual ones.
Huge advantage of the non-digital ones is no need to worry about batteries. I hate trying to put the battery in my digital one so I'm planning to get a dial one.
The newer digital ones with a "CR" series lithium battery are better than the older digi's that use the A76 batteries, but for woodwork I too prefer an analog dial to a readout, but my eyes are getting older, the day will come when I appreciate those big displays.
Every single time I forget to turn mine off. Then it’s new battery time.
I have battery anxiety, too - but I don’t regret switching to digital calipers, because they’re just easier to read. I want to like dial calipers more, but being able to read the display quickly from a certain distance without having to take them off is a great advantage, expecially on larger, heavier workpieces.
I agree. I got a cheap one so I don't trust it to not drain. I keep the battery outside with a piece of tape, but every time I put the battery in it's to measure just one thing so it's a bit of a hassle. The simple ruler ones are the best.
Get one marked in 64th, not thousands. Because that's what drill bits are sized with
Guitar building and repair, dial caliper is a must. Not so much for actually measuring thickness of woods, but for setup accuracy, hole diameter, and metal parts sizes.
I occasionally use the depth finder for stabbing myself when I inevitably drop the stupid caliper and move my hand fast enough to get below the falling object but not accurately enough to catch the falling object.
40 years a wood worker, Machinist for 12 years and Engineer for maybe 25 ears. Yes I agree there is a time for accurate and a time for cool - close enough. When do I really use the caliper. Hole placement, Thickness of rough cut lumber after planed down into boards and dado/groove widths... In those places close needs to be close..005 is close enough.
Couldn’t live without it. First tool I bought (engineer talking) apart from bits and dimensioning boards to a 10th of a mm, I use it to measure the stem of a screw to know what size pilot hole I need! Good video, keep it up!
I am a traditional woodworker but I have a CNC machine and the digital caliper is necessary. The mechanical ones that I have had for years are in fractions but I do have some on decimals. I dont use the decimal that go to thousands of an inch. I recently bought a 12 inch one that does MM, fractions and decimals. It is great because the 6" one is most used the 12 inch is handy for my woodworking. The digital one is a necessity for CNC work because you have to super precise.
Love my dial caliper. I have a vernier style caliper and a micrometer. I used to know how to read them. Not any more. I use my calipers to measure rods, holes, and depths. Okay, sometimes I also measure plane shavings!
I absolutely love the my iGaging calipers that have fractions on the dial. It makes it super simple to go "it's a hair over 3/8" rather than digital that will give me fractions up to 128. That said I mostly use it for setting and checking other tools. Stuff like checking my table saw fence is accurate to the tape on the saw. For project parts I mostly just use it if I'm working off a plan to check thicknesses or to setup a mortise gauge.
I agree. It's one of my favorite tools.
Exactly. No battery, no conversions, and seems to be a really nice tool.
This. If you use imperial measurements, a fractional dial caliper is a game changer. I also have the iGaging calipers and think they're fantastic (especially for woodworking). My expensive Mitutoyo's sit in a drawer 99% of the time.
You are dead on. I thought I would like the fraction reading but it means nothing. I end up moving it to try to figure out the next closest "real fraction". I have the igauging ones as well and they are my favorites.
I watch so many people stress over exact accuracy to a plan etc and to me that takes a huge amount of the fun out of woodworking. Like you said most woodworking doesn't require that level of accuracy. I love watching traditional guys that know what they are doing. A lot of times they do things faster than power tool only guys because they are stressing over absolute perfection vs what really is needed. IDK I get it I just prefer a less stressful woodworking experience.
It's very important to measure down to 10 microns when your part is 1 millimeter. For the time you're building a microchip out of wood
It may not be important for your work piece but it's nice for setting up planes and routers.
Do you build those from silicone trees? :)
I use them all the time. I have a simple vernier and a digital. The vernier one is in my measuring tool drawer by my workbench, the digital is on my worktable. Vernier for wood, digital for other stuff :^) I would love some dial calipers!
Back before World War 2 the use of calipers and micrometers was not common among machinist. They used a "spring caliper" which is related to the divider but with a curved end instead of straight. For instance when measuring the diameter of something they were turning on a lathe, they put a heavy chalk mark on one side and scraped the spring caliper over it and measured the amount of chalk removed. This is a very accurate way of measuring diameters. They called it a "3/8 drag" looking for a chalk removal of 3/8 inch. Neat way of doing things. I played with it, and found it fun to do. I would not want to make my living trying to measure that way. WW2 changed the way of measuring forever. Now we have the type caliper you are talking about. Having a machinist background, I usually stay away from them in the wood shop, however I do use them occasionally. Like you I prefer the dial type over the digital. Calipers can be great, but being more interested in older ways, there has always been a way to measure accurately even long before calipers. They do however take a lot of the work out of measuring. Thanks for the information, and another informative video. I have been enjoying your chanel for many years. Keep up the good work.
I understand your ideology of fun on the mechanical caliper I do enjoy mine. Thank you for this video.
I was an electro/mech tech by trade (retired). As such I have a slew of calipers. My digital one. Received as gift years ago. Comes out of its case only when the person who gave it to me is visiting. 99% of the time I use the one I bought as a poor apprentice years ago (I think its older than you, James). Its similar to the one you're missing.
Thank you, nice video. I moved away from digital calipers because the battery maintenance was too annoying.
I do a lot of two sided cnc wood projects, and stock thickness matters. As with you, I use the caliper more than a tape measure in the shop.
I've had both types for years and use them pretty much as you've demonstrated. And you are also right when you say that each type is FUN to use!! I can play with either one and kill all sorts of time!! Gotta get old but you don't have to grow up!!
Thanks so much, James. I have both dial and digital calipers and use them so seldom that the battery goes dead between uses on my digitals unless I take it out every time. And I have never used the depth gauge. I have used them mostly to measure dowels and when I'm thickness planing. And you are the first person to show how to read the dial. I was only guessing up to today. Now I'll be more comfortable using them and perhaps they won't just live in the case in the drawer. Thank you!
And by the way, Thank you for emphasizing the fun of woodworking. So may youtubers and pod casters are all about building and expanding a business, something I want no part of. I've already climbed the mountain and I'm getting off (retiring) in the next year. The last thing I want is another stressful job. Pit-touie. I started woodworking to relax, spend time, and have fun. I appreciate above all when I learn things that will help improve my skills. Thank you!
Coming from drag racing and using calipers, micrometers and dial indicators on engines etc. it never occurred to me to use them on wood until I watched Matthias Wandel. Calipers work as good as anything for marking and finding the center of a piece of wood and I use the dial indicator on the table saw to move the fence maybe once rather than repeatedly to size a thin piece. I've never seen the foot device you have, now something else I just know I need.
I am a machinist that trasitioned to an engineer then an inspector and then a Quality Manager. I am also a hobbyist woodworker and I completely understand your thoughts on just how much accuracy do you need. I use my calipers (Oh, and by the way, the last set you showed are called vernier calipers because they use the vernier scale for displaying the measurement) for verificaiton of a drill bit size or any predetermined sized object, just habit I guess. I have used them to set a table saw fence but not very often. When I use my calipers (I have one that displays in., mm, and fractions also) I am looking at mostly 64ths of an inch worth of difference.
Great explanation, thank you!
So far I`ve only used mine for measuring drill bits or antique Auger bits that I`m restoring. I will be using it for routing cavities in a guitar I`m building. Mine is digital ( I prefer that ) and I use a similar chart to the one you have.
You should do episodes on measure things. Reference points Accuracy / precisions. Measuring from left to right; right to left or from the center. Why use slots and enlarge holes? It is all very interesting on how different approach can give you different results.
I hate joints that don't line up so to help reduce this I use the digital measuring devices. Have gotten carried away on this from time to time. I try to remember "It just don't matter in this case". Thanks for sharing
I am an engineer, and I do have a basic Vernier calliper, so no dial or digital, and I find it so useful, I am a woodturner too so that is obvious, but for measuring depth or the inside of a mortice they are so handy :)
Thanks, James! Not a machinist anymore, but I still have my old Brown and Sharp dial calipers I bought back 34 years ago. You and Shannon and others have said exactly what you just said: they’re useful and often needed, but no longer do I need them like I was holding half thou tolerances back in my youth, but for the practicality they offer. By the way, the ones without the dial or digital screen are called vernier calipers. We often still called them “verniers” even though they had the dial or digital readout.
callipers, vernier or otherwise, tend to send users down the route of treating inches like a decimal unit...
under six inch measurements are indeed very important...ok-ok maybe 7 inch...for drilling and hole measurements and....other very important things...especially for hand tool experts... 5:20 - "I am in the shop for fun and that's the reason I use hand tools". Legend. All that with a completelly straight face. A rock of a man! 😄😅
Weekday first! I love calipers. When doing mortises it’s so nice to use the caliper to measure depth.
i love using calipers in my woodworking for all of the ease of use features you described. also as a novice woodturner they are almost manditory for me
Thanks for making a video off my request!!!! After have one for a week or two, I found myself starting to fall down the hole of over precision and eventually starting to become annoyed. Thanks for the helpful reminder!⭐️👌
I have a digital caliper, usually to transfer part sizes accurately. But also for the fun of measuring plane shavings thickness. Almost always message my machinest brother whenever I get one under 1 thou.
As a retired surveyor and former machinist, I learned long ago to prioritise tolerances, which have varied between tens of feet to tenths of thousands of an inch. Meanwhile, as you sad, it’s all about reality. I just finished a cross-stitch backing board that needed hundreds of holes to accept metal pins made from salvaged H-frame wire stakes. I chose the next bit size down in size by fitting a finished pin into the holes in the bit holder and then reamed each drilled hole with a piece of pin, which had the business end squared and thinned slightly on the grinder to create a clean properly sized reamer. No measurements required. As an inspector once commented to a visiting engineer on a job site (one who had no sense of humour or sarcasm 😂 ) “We never use numbers from the plan. Those are just a guide!” 🤯🤣
I also use my calipers mostly for holes and things that make them or go in them. While I generally don't use high-accuracy measuring devices for furniture building (a hand plane or chisel can make two pieces fit together almost perfectly) I do use them when making jigs. An accurate jig can be your best friend in the shop.
There is a 4th type of caliper, that is also manual. General sells them and rather then using tenths, it has a typical imperial scale and some also have metric as well. They will do everything the other calipers can do, just not to the same tolerance. Great video
Use my digital calipers all the time for the size of small parts and for measuring progress on the planar and drum sander. It's also very helpful in getting machines set up precisely.
Hi James, I have a pair from iGaging (Starrett makes them too) that uses a dial / rack and pinion but is marked in 1/64th increments. One rotation of the dial is a full inch. I think you would really love one like this!
I used to have a pair of those. But I found working smaller measurements. I prefer to use a decimal measurement. But that's just me.
As a former mechanical designer, I used to design parts with tolerances in plus or minus thousandths of an inch for machinery and hundredths of an inch for Sheetmetal. Now as a woodworker, I think of tolerances in terms of 1/32 and sometimes hundredths of an inch. There is no point in going for a tighter tolerance, since wood is relatively unstable.
Great video! I have an old set of calipers that I still use where the display can't be read at all. It is still useful for comparing two pieces to each other. I bust out the digital ones when necessary.
Totally agree; I love my dial cali's way more than the digital ones. And... I don't have to screw with a battery.
Excellent tutorial on the use and limitations of calipers. A while back I went on a kick of getting every kind and type known to man. Big mistake. I now have a drawer full of useless measurement tools. Wish this video had been up then. Thank you for sharing. Have a great 2023 and stay safe.🙂🙂
I use my dial caliper quite a bit, it easy & fun. Sometimes I do go down that rabbit hole of accuracy, and don’t really have a rule set for tennon & mortise to know when they will fit nicely. I still have to do that by feel.
I like the dial caliper so I don't have to worry about a battery. It's useful to transfer measurements from one board to another. And don't forget that you can use the back of the jaws to transfer measurenents as well.
I would like to know ways to use calipers; I think I'm using mine correctly to measure, e.g,, the non-standard size of my table saw's miter gauge groves, but have little idea how to use them routinely in the shop. This video was eye-opening to me. Thanks.
If you look at the head, the backside of the head slides also by the same amount, so you can rest it on the face of the wood. It is square, so it is easy to use it to transfer measurements
I like my dial caliper. Started with a digital - battery always dead, got a really cheap dial caliper - dropped it and it lost repeatability. Now I have a bit better quality dial caliper (around $50 cdn) with a dual scale - thousandths and fractions, saves having to measure in thousandths and then go to one of those charts to convert to fractions,
Something that I find myself reminding my precision obsessed woodworking friends is wood movement. Measuring to 1/1,000 is cool, but can you cut/plane to that accuracy? And wait 5 minutes or a day or so, and find out the wood has moved 1/500 or even 1/100...
Work to the accuracy that's needed for the project and the materials will support.
Yes - we talk about accuracy a lot, but what we often really mean is granularity, and often it’s more about the ease of use of measuring instruments: it’s much nicer and more important when they tell us if we’re there yet, rather than giving a specific measurement. Like story sticks and things like that.
The “best” calipers I have are digital: very decent ones bought on sale, quite accurate of course, and the display gives me a single value, I don’t have to futz around reading one value off the beam and another off a dial or via the vernier thingy. But my favourite calipers are an old set with really chunky jaws and a locking screw: the scale is totally useless, but they’re the best thickness gauge.
My personal holy grail for woodworking would be dial calipers with a range of 100 mm (about 4 inches) and 100 increments on the dial: wide enough for most tasks, I would only need to look at the dial to take a value, and the spaces between the lines on the dial would allow me to “see” 1/3 of a mm or so (about a 1/64 of an inch).
Of course the digital ones are fine, but in woodworking terms, 39.89 mm and 40.17 mm are pretty much the same, yet they look off on the display: you’re golden, but it feels like a bad day, because not a single number on the display is the same. I still prefer the single value I can get off a digital display, but I wish I could dumb it down by a factor of 10, and I’d love to have dial calipers with the specific granularity mentioned above.
I'm right with you on the fun of the dial and the flexibility of the calipers. I almost never take the measurement off of the calipers and use it on another measuring device. I use the iGaging ones with fractions on the dial.
I haven't used those types of calipers since I did QC in a small manufacturing company in the 90's
I mainly use calipers when planing boards to a thickness to fit in a dado. I can measure the dado, and lock the calipers in place then plane until the wood fits into the calipers. I don't even need to know what the actual measurement is.
I mean, you could just use the dado if the piece is small enough, but if I'm building a bookshelf and have a 1.5' x 6' side with dadoes, it is much better to just use a caliper.
Thank you for not throwing all engineer/woodworkers under the bus.
I got some digital calipers that I figured would be my go-to, but 99% of the time I use my harbor freight analog dial calipers. I didn’t like it at first because I didn’t know what the 10, 20, 30 etc numbers on the outside of the dial meant. And honestly, I still don’t know what they mean, but I did eventually figure out that “line 38” is 3 lines less than “line 41”. Which is the only interpretation I really need if I just need a bunch of boards to be equal thickness for a piece of furniture.
Excellent! usability over exactness.
I don't use much combination squares so i often use them (dados, mortises, holes)
Many uses in the shop, but for planing Kumiko strips so that they fit just so in the saw kerf, which, despite what the blade says, isn't 1/8th, nothing better.
I have recently started using a digital caliper.
This is not because I am looking for spurious accuracy, though. As I have got older, I have found that my arms are too short to hold my old slide one far enough away to read it.
The digital reading is nice and big!
I wish I had bought one with the dial instead of digital. A visual reference is easier to figure out relative size than to determine what 41 / 64ths is!
thank you . on holes use a 1/16 smaller then fallow with a reamer .
If you want a battery-free dial caliper in fractions of an inch, iGaging, Shop Fox, Oshlun all sell them. Starrett also makes one at a much higher price.
I was given a Mitutoyo from a retired toolmaker, it's the slide version with 0.02mm graduations. I read it to the actual measurement just for fun, but I never try and replicate that anywhere else 😅
I use them for measuring round things like handles or dowels because the ruler just won't do that. I also use it for stuff under 100mm as my rule has .5mm graduations for the first 100mm and they're a bugger to read!
The working to a 0 function of the digital ones would be useful, but these were free so...
I use mine to measure the distance from the fence to each end of the blade on my radial arm saw to insure that I will have a great rip cut.
I used to just have a set of vernier calipers, but my eyes aren't the best and I got tired of second guessing myself on the vernier scale. Buying a dial caliper felt a little bit like surrendering but boy howdy is it ever easier to use
I'm an engineer but usually just use a combo square or ruler, and just break out the calipers or micrometers when there's a good reason. My cutting is less accurate than my marking and measuring already.
Excellent tips, James! Thanks! 😃
I usually need a bit more precision when working with electronics and rc stuff. (To make holes to mount boards, stuff like that.) So I have a good digital caliper, but... I already lost one because the battery leaked! So I keep it without it, which makes things more difficult...
So I'm really considering getting an analog one for woodworking!
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
I really like using the tops of the jaws for measuring depth for grooves and similar. Much easier to balance the caliper
thank you for the video. enjoy your time off with your family
Thank you, I will
Calipers are the best for anything round. And they're great for a "go/no go" gauge.
I am a machinist with Mitutoyo digital calipers but they are not accurate for most of the work I do. Just good for basic checks on thing, not true dimensional measurements. (also have dial calipers) That being said, while I do cut everything more accurately than it needs to be I do NOT try to hold cuts on boards to 1/10,000 of an inch like I do with high spec Stainless Steel parts.
I like making smaller stuff since I don't have a real workshop yet. When making things like chisel handles or scales for perfect handle screwdrivers I use my calipers a lot. I use them to find center and such also
I use calipers for wood all the time. Beats the heck out of squinting to see 1/32 and 1/64th lines on my scale. Analog fits my brain better, but I use digital because there is no rack and pinion to get clogged by sawdust.
I use my simple little brass callipers very frequently indeed… though now wondering if I might need to upgrade a tad!
Thanks again James
On either Lee Valley or Highland Woodworking, they have a manual set of calipers designed for woodworkers. The dial face has the fraction of an inch listed. You can easily see the 16ths of an inch and much more fine than that. The thing that drives me crazy with the digital ones is when they display in 128ths of an inch I can't mentally convert that to a meaninuful number in my head. Check them out.
Primary use of mine is to make sure I planed to the correct thickness all the way down the board. Thickness gauge maybe?
Another great video, James! Thank you!
Probably the best caliper for woodworking (at least in freedom-land) is the fractional inch dial caliper. It's got a dial that measures in 1/64th increments and spins once per inch (compared to a regular dial caliper that spins 10x per inch). It's exactly the right amount of precision for woodworking, and I find it a lot easier to use than the fractional mode on digital calipers which always leave me scratching my head wondering what reasonable fraction is closest to 57/128. Or at least they do when the battery isn't dead.
Also don't forget that there's 4 measurements you can do with a caliper: outside using the main jaws, inside using the inside jaws, depth using the depth rod and steps using the back of the caliper head. Everyone always misses that last one, and it's way easier than trying to struggle with holding the depth rod off the edge of a step.
Have you done a video on a story stick yet? This is a good video with great information. Thanks James.
I have done a couple on story sticks and pinch rods. those are a lot of fun!
Thanks for sharing.
I use my Verniers a lot. Mainly for drilling (and screws), checking mortise depth/width and as a check on how well I've planned for thickness (more awareness than necessity). Also, I prefer to take chisel sizes from vernier, transfer 'dots' and set gauges off them.
Other things I do is benchmarking stuff - I'll check how deep a bit goes over a turn, note how thick my thick/thin shavings are and noting kerf sizes.
They're not very good for checking how bouncy a floor is.
Dear Mr Wright. Thank you so much for all the amazing content! Please, do you know the reason why most folding rules have outside reading scales? Is there an advantage to it? Because to me inside reading seem to make more sense. Thanks again!
I do not know the reason. There probably is one but I don't know.
i use calipers everyday in my small semi professional woodshop. i actually have 3, one at the drill presses, one at the woodlathe and one that "floats around" between the router table and my workbench. two are digital medium priced(lee valley) and the drill press one is an old mitiyota vernier caliper.
i use them just as you describe. yes they are way too precise for woodworking and the fractions given by the digital calipers are hilarious, 117/128 or 45/64 as examples
For round things I like to use a diameter gauge. I have numerical and fractional ones that work great on diameters 1/2" and smaller. For larger I DO use my calipers, though.
I need some calipers mainly for thickness plaining
Me too.....my calipers get used more than any other measuring device. Mine is analog, but measures in fractions of an inch. Shop Fox makes a nice one, iGage, and of course Starrett. They are all pretty much the same because I have all three, and you can get them for a reasonable price, with the exception of Starrett. ;-)
I like mine (igaging, I think?) that lets me limit the fraction to the 32’d instead of 128th, etc. I don’t even usually need 32’d accuracy. Love the feet you showed, I hadn’t see those before, pretty cool.
Measuring your drill bits is important because some idiot might have put the 3/16ths bit back in the 1/4 slot in the holder
Most of the time I don't even turn my digital calipers on. I just getting a measurement to transfer. I just care that it fits, not what the actual dimension it is.
Let's see if you try n breakdown the measurements 😆 I can't never remember
Also reading the non digital keeps your fractions sharp.
I use a sliding vernier caliper a lot - I just find it easier with a vernier to eyeball whatever accuracy/approximation I need.
Don’t forget you can use the head as depth gauge too
I bought a digital caliper a while ago, and I use it mostly for checking the thickness of wood I've planed and the width of dadoes for that wood. It took me a while to remember to turn the caliper off, and I killed a battery. Not a life-changing problem but an annoyance. I discovered I had to buy half a dozen batteries at a time at the big box store, so I did. I taped the card holding the unused batteries to the plastic case for the caliper. I've since learned to shut off the caliper, so I haven't killed a battery, but when I do, I'll know where to find one.
I use the callipers with a sliding scale but it is getting more difficult to see the little lines, will have to try the dial sort, that looks easier to see, useful information, thanks
I am over 60. I cannot for the life of me figure out how to read the dial caliper. And I used to use a slide rule in high school. I think I will stick with my digital caliper and replace batteries. What is needed is a caliper that finds the middle of a measurement. An machinist in Australia used to make and sell a divider that had three points. Two outside ones and the center one was the exact center of the distance. He does not make them any more. It is a beautiful looking device. I tried to make one on my 3D printer. No luck.
Honestly, I use mine a lot for depth, using the end of it to measure how deep a mortise is, then checking my tenon, or measuring the inside dimensions of my mortise against the tenon.
Actually the third option works with a vernier scale i think it’s called in English, which is just as accurate or more even than the digital (1/20th of a mm normally), if you weren’t a student in the 80’s or before that, they don’t seem to teach it anymore
Right on. We used to use them all the time and my engineering classes. They were fantastic for scale drawings.
Machinists,. Went through that argument with one once. I had a friend looking for a drill for a 1 1/4 Beal wood tap. The machinist in the club says you must get 1. bla bla" ,bit. I said 1 1/8" will do. "No no no" "I want to do it right" I try and remind them of wood movement with humidity. Still no agreement. Weeks later I ask "find your bit?" "No, I got 1 1/8" lol (FYI) Beal mfg. Calls out to use 1 1/8" in instructions printed with the tap.
Hackles? You have hair back there? :-) (Nice video, and +1 on the Harbor Freight ones. For what I do in the shop, I'm not going out to buy a Starrett!)
My old Blosta (scale type) are on my desk permanently and probably used most days ( I am a cad draftsman ( uk draughtsman ) and an armchair weekend woodworker ) I also use mine as a marking gauge. My battery is dead in my cheap shed set :( and my micrometer is seized.