It’s the same old story here, you get what you pay for.
I’ve had $10 digital calipers from Ebay which went straight into the trash after arriving from China and currently I have some nice middle of the road calipers from Princess Auto in 6 and 8 inch sizes and a large 30″ plastic caliper for measuring flywheels or brake shoes. I also have some cheaper 6″ ones on the bench which work quite well and are used on a daily basis.
Reading in fractions is handy but it is only a ballpark reading and metric is mandatory for working on foreign motors and for measuring bearings. The better quality calipers have a back light and read down to half a thou which does come in handy but isn’t necessary. If I’m doing fine turning or fitting on the lathe, then I use micrometers as there can be too much error using calipers. The digital calipers do get used for rough turning though and a decent electronic caliper will not drain the battery either when they are turned off. A spare battery should be kept in the case anyway. I still have a vernier caliper but it is put away and collecting dust along with my old slide rule.
Here, grab a coffee, sit back, and listen to what AvE has to say about digital calipers in these two videos.
