dropped dial caliper

[BCRider]

I'd say shorten vs deburr as well. Too easy to end up messing up the precision fit between the jaws.

You COULD stone at quite an angle so rather than try to straighten you just chamfer. That would avoid risk to the good portion. But I know I use my own calipers on some very small features which relies on a nice sharp corner point. And a "chamfer repair" would ruin that. So for my thinking it supports the idea of just carefully grinding BOTH jaws back to remove the burr. I'd do both together with the jaws closed and held pretty well square to a stone. The marking dye the trimmed ends and using some good magnification cut back the taper on the ends until the color is a super fine and barely visible line. That'll ensure both are the same length and leave flat ends that are so narrow that they don't compromise the shallow feature measurements mode.

You can use your same backlight trick as you grind the ends square to check progress. When you get blackout then the damage is gone.

[gmax137]

Just to follow up, I pretty much followed BCRider 's advice above. The burr was very small and just a couple minutes with a small stone had it fixed.

As an additional question, I see You-Tuber's routinely using their calipers to scribe lines. Is this accepted practice? The calipers are (I think) hardened so lightly scribing shouldn't cause too much wear, but I have always wondered if this practice is a bad idea (thinking measuring tools are *tools* not consumables). I have convinced myself that the "cosine effect" from holding the calipers at the necessary slight angle is small/negligible in light of the caliper accuracy.

[oxford]

As an additional question, I see You-Tuber's routinely using their calipers to scribe lines. Is this accepted practice? The calipers are (I think) hardened so lightly scribing shouldn't cause too much wear, but I have always wondered if this practice is a bad idea (thinking measuring tools are *tools* not consumables). I have convinced myself that the "cosine effect" from holding the calipers at the necessary slight angle is small/negligible in light of the caliper accuracy.

I can’t say if it is good for them or not but I’ll do it. Honestly calipers are cheap enough (even good ones) to not have a second pair, use them as tools and replace as necessary.

[gellfex]

Just to follow up, I pretty much followed BCRider 's advice above. The burr was very small and just a couple minutes with a small stone had it fixed.

As an additional question, I see You-Tuber's routinely using their calipers to scribe lines. Is this accepted practice? The calipers are (I think) hardened so lightly scribing shouldn't cause too much wear, but I have always wondered if this practice is a bad idea (thinking measuring tools are *tools* not consumables). I have convinced myself that the "cosine effect" from holding the calipers at the necessary slight angle is small/negligible in light of the caliper accuracy.

I'd lose 80% of my productivity if I didn't scribe with my calipers! I have like 5 pairs, mostly Mitutoyo, but a few cheapies. I just resign myself to them being a slow consumable because being precious about them would reduce their usefulness. I sharpen the tips occasionally, and stone the end when I drop them on my regrettably cement floor. I just use a fine diamond hone flat on the jaw face for that, the material taken off the larger flat while deburring the tip is negligible.

FWIW, I found the EZ-Cal to be a fine tool for the low money, the huge display is sweet! I just wish the power timeout was a option rather than a set feature. I also recently bought a $20 digital 1/10 deg protractor from Amazon and have found that to be a great value too compared to my far more expensive analog dial machinist protractor.

[JRouche]

As an additional question, I see You-Tuber's routinely using their calipers to scribe lines. Is this accepted practice?

I do it all the time. Doesnt take much pressure to scribe a line in layout fluid. JR

[RB211]

I do it all the time. Doesnt take much pressure to scribe a line in layout fluid. JR

I rounded off the edge on my HF caliper doing this. Would never treat a Mitutoyo this way

[Randy]

I see You-Tuber's routinely using their calipers to scribe lines. Is this accepted practice?

It is if you accept it. Many of us do. Periodically regrinding the points probably won't significantly impact their utility or life.

[JRouche]

I rounded off the edge on my HF caliper doing this. Would never treat a Mitutoyo this way

Haha! HF, rounded the tips didja? Geee, must have been a bad year for steel that year. I have Mits and been doing it for 22 years now and they are still sharp enough to draw blood. JR

See, still sharp as ever. I should sue JR

[JRouche]

I use my caliper as a rough guess when cutting metal. I rely on my micrometer as the end all say all.

The cal is a rough gauge till I get to use my Micrometer.

That is how I cut metal, good for bad I dont care. Its my process. JR

[RMinMN]

The cheap digital caliper I bought has hardened jaws, hard enough that a file skates on them. Cheap enough to use them to mark out lines and not worry. They are a "consumable" fast estimator, gets you close to final size to where you should be using a micrometer for final measurement. At under $15 delivered to my door, they make buying a "real" Mitotoyo out of the question. Spend the money on the micrometer, not the caliper.

[BCRider]

I use mine as scribers all the time. Direct but lightly on aluminium and brass sometimes but mostly on Dyekemed or felt inked surfaces. It been 20 something years of this and i still don't need to sharpen the tips.

The one thing I do fairly often is to check the gib screws on the slide. Keeping them snug but drag free keeps the readings more consistent and accurate. I routinely trust the to within plus/minus a thou without issue thanks to this treatment.