Harbor Freight Digital Caliper- $10

tomandjerry00 · Feb 24, 2015

I know a lot of new reloaders have been looking for them, so wanted to share. Harbor Freight has their calipers on sale for $10 this month:

http://www.harborfreight.com/oct-tab1.html?hftref=cj

Pick up some $6.99 tie-down straps and get a free flashlight/gloves/batteries/etc while you're there!

http://www.retailmenot.com/view/harborfreight.com

Boom Boom · Feb 24, 2015

If you plan to use those calipers with any frequency, buy several. They tend to crap out quickly from anything resembling serious usage.

chale127 · Feb 24, 2015

On a side note these are very accurate, but as said, do not hold up over time if you use them often

I have a friend in a Calibration lab for a large defense contractor, i had him check mine against a standard and it was good to .001

trickg · Feb 24, 2015

That's the one I have and use. At that price, it's easy to afford several of them, and possibly still cheaper over the long haul to buy several of those rather than one that's made a bit better.

jjbduke2004 · Feb 24, 2015

chale127 said:
On a side note these are very accurate, but as said, do not hold up over time if you use them often

I have a friend in a Calibration lab for a large defense contractor, i had him check mine against a standard and it was good to .001

I took my Frankford Arsenal calipers to work and compared them against the pin gauges and gauge blocks: right on the money!

Melnic · Feb 24, 2015

I have 2 at home and 3 at work.
We also have a mitutoyo caliper that our mechanical guy uses that is much better.
Yes, about .001 accurate.
The one I use for reloading tends to read .001 smaller when it comes to measuring bullet diameter around 30 cal.
I have a dial caliper as my backup which I've had for about 25 years I got in college.

Some folks here will say HF calipers are no good. Well, they are $10 calipers. But they are better than having no caliper at all. Even as a backup, they are handy. But use them to measure Constancy and not necessarily accuracy. I have a single 308 bullet that I know the caliper says is .307 (off by 0.3%). I also use that 150gr bullet and a few chunks of lead I cut to check my scale.

Jmorrismetal · Feb 24, 2015

Yep, if you test them against standards they are just as accurate as "good" calipers.

I still prefer my Brown & Sharpe, Starret and Mitutoyo calipers but they all cost a lot more. I think dials are a better way to go for as little as they are used for setting up dies in a reloading room but they are cheap enough to have a few extra batteries.

If you need more accuracy than they can deliver you are using the wrong tool.

iH8DemLibz · Feb 24, 2015

Have had a pair for close to 10 years.

They hold up just fine and are very accurate.

Will go through a lot of batteries if you use the auto-off feature.

Skins_Brew · Feb 24, 2015

Man I love me some harbor freight!

Pro tip for you guys though, avoid the diamond carbide oscillating grout accessory!

smdub · Feb 24, 2015

iH8DemLibz said:
Will go through a lot of batteries if you use the auto-off feature.

Some of the newer chinese ones are apparently very good on batteries. I have a couple mitutoyos that will run ~2yrs (I have to use them near anything w/ a VFD as the EMI drive the chinese ones nuts.) The chinese ones I have kill batteries in 3-4mo. A coworker got a 12" chinese one about a year ago and still on same battery. He says he has a 6" at home going on almost 2 yrs. Looks like the chinese finally copied a good one

I'd recommend a digital for most. Some gun stuff is metric and dials don't automatically convert

It also prevents errors. As a hobby machinist I'm well versed that a reading near 1.8 on the slide and 93 on the dial really means 1.793 and NOT 1.893. Casual users will make that mistake (more then once). Digital ones are dead simple. Just remember to close them to 0.000 before each use to check that the zero wasn't changed. Thats a good idea w/ ANY caliper. Close it on your finger at the base of the jaws and draw your finger out to clean the jaws, then close it all the way to check zero. Should become habit when you turn them on.

MigraineMan · Feb 24, 2015

I've got three of these HF calipers at work - two in the lab, and one on my desk. They grow legs, and wander all over the place. Otherwise they do the job (which, first and foremost, is to keep my co-workers the hell away from my good Mitutoyo calipers.) I'll buy more as these get consumed.

John from MD · Feb 24, 2015

Beware, if you buy them, also buy at least a 1" standard from Mitatoyo, Brown and Sharpe etc. The are accurate when you first buy them (mostly) but they do get out of cal. I find it easy to check them to the standard and mark the offset on them until they really go south.

John

alucard0822 · Feb 24, 2015

Funny thing, I have a couple of the harbor freight digital calipers, they work great, have lasted several years, and have identical internal markings and design to a $70 snap-on caliper I bought several years ago in the shop, only difference I can tell is the measurement mark insert.

this is the onehttps://store.snapon.com/Calipers-Blue-Point-174--Caliper-Digital-Electronic-U-S-Metric-0-6-0-150mm--P647455.aspx

Boom Boom · Feb 24, 2015

John from MD said:
Beware, if you buy them, also buy at least a 1" standard from Mitatoyo, Brown and Sharpe etc. The are accurate when you first buy them (mostly) but they do get out of cal. I find it easy to check them to the standard and mark the offset on them until they really go south.

John

Noticed the same problem with a cheap set at the office. Used a Mitutoyo to recalibrate them. The cheap pair fell apart (literally) a few months later.

iH8DemLibz · Feb 24, 2015

alucard0822 said:
Funny thing, I have a couple of the harbor freight digital calipers, they work great, have lasted several years, and have identical internal markings and design to a $70 snap-on caliper I bought several years ago in the shop, only difference I can tell is the measurement mark insert.

this is the onehttps://store.snapon.com/Calipers-Blue-Point-174--Caliper-Digital-Electronic-U-S-Metric-0-6-0-150mm--P647455.aspx

YUP!

Several companies are putting their names of the Horror Fright calipers.

One of the few purchases from them that I've been really satisfied with.

PapiBarcelona · Feb 24, 2015

They are good for the modern guy in the garage.

I've got about a decade or so in the machining/metrology trade and the one time I cringed was what I saw at a Ford dealer. Mechanic opened up his toolbox drawer with the wrenches, screw drivers and pliers was laying one of his micrometers, and that wasn't even the funny part.

This guy measured a brake rotor's thickness, I thought he was torquing a lug nut. I still have never seen anyone to this day bear down that hard on a micrometer. I guess he was getting it to read what he wanted it to read? Your brake rotor is out of spec. LOL

iH8DemLibz · Feb 24, 2015

PapiBarcelona said:
They are good for the modern guy in the garage.

I've got about a decade or so in the machining/metrology trade and the one time I cringed was what I saw at a Ford dealer. Mechanic opened up his toolbox drawer with the wrenches, screw drivers and pliers was laying one of his micrometers, and that wasn't even the funny part.

This guy measured a brake rotor's thickness, I thought he was torquing a lug nut. I still have never seen anyone to this day bear down that hard on a micrometer. I guess he was getting it to read what he wanted it to read? Your brake rotor is out of spec. LOL

As is the micrometer.

PapiBarcelona · Feb 24, 2015

Just dont keep em' loose and rattling around in your drawers. :lol2:

Most of these measuring tools are so cheap these days even name brand. You can find some good deals if you buy used stuff.

lsw · Feb 24, 2015

PapiBarcelona said:
They are good for the modern guy in the garage.

...the one time I cringed was what I saw at a Ford dealer. Mechanic opened up his toolbox drawer with the wrenches, screw drivers and pliers was laying one of his micrometers, and that wasn't even the funny part....

Some years ago i was conducting interviews for mechanic & technician jobs at our shop. I had some tools laying out on a bench and was was asking applicants to name them and tell me what they were used for. This one guy picks up a micrometer and says it's a C clamp!

John from MD · Feb 24, 2015

lsw said:
Some years ago i was conducting interviews for mechanic & technician jobs at our shop. I had some tools laying out on a bench and was was asking applicants to name them and tell me what they were used for. This one guy picks up a micrometer and says it's a C clamp!

I guess he was the guy you hired, right? :rolleyes:

John

Harbor Freight Digital Caliper- $10

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