Top 10 Long Range Dial Caliper

The Fowler Extended Range stainless steel dial caliper has dial graduations of 0.001″ with 0.001″ accuracy, can take measurements up to 24 inches, has a sliding jaw with a lock, and a covered rack. Extended beam lengths allow measurements up to 24 inches. This caliper has a knurled lock screw to hold the sliding jaw in position and help ensure a consistent measurement. A covered rack prevents dirt and debris from clogging the gear, and helps prevent measurement errors. This caliper is used for measuring inside dimensions (ID), outside dimensions (OD), depth, and step.

The caliper measures 0.10″ per revolution of the dial. The black dial has 0.001″ graduations, and the beam has engraved 0.10″ graduations. The outside jaw depth is 3.125″. The hardened stainless steel components, including the bar, measuring surfaces, rack, gears, and depth rod, offer corrosion resistance, increased accuracy, and long life. Self-contained movement eliminates gear misalignment, while the dual pinion drive mechanism reduces wear on the rack and pinion. An adjustable dial enables setting zero. Spring anti-backlash control offers increased accuracy over standard gear configurations. Backlash is the amount of clearance between mated gear teeth in the caliper controls that prevents the gear teeth from jamming. It is undesirable to have much backlash due to the lack of precision offered by the increased amount of play between gears. Certain gear designs can minimize or eliminate backlash; spring anti-backlash systems use a spring to add a compressive force, thereby minimizing backlash. The hardened stainless steel is polished to a satin chrome finish, to help prevent glare. This caliper comes with a fitted case.

Dial calipers are measuring instruments commonly used for inspection in manufacturing to provide the precise measurements of an object. A pair of jaws attached to a long beam with a marked scale is used to measure inside, outside, and step measurements in standard or metric units. An additional depth probe slides along the beam to take depth measurements. One jaw is fixed to the end of the scale, while the other jaw slides along it to take measurements. A circular dial indicator is fixed to the movable jaw on a toothed gear rack that transfers movement of the jaws to the dial needle. The base measurement is taken from the long beam, which provides the initial whole measurement in inches or centimeters, and added to the dial reading, which provides fractional measurements in inches or millimeters. A locking mechanism provides the ability to take differential measurements for determining the difference in measurements between two objects. Compared to digital calipers, dial calipers are more durable, but are more susceptible to shock damage and prone to getting dirt in the gears, which can cause accuracy problems. Vernier calipers are more durable than dial calipers because they do not have internal moving parts, but they can be more difficult to read. Dial calipers are commonly used in fields such as metalworking, mechanical engineering, machining, and carpentry.

The Fred V. Fowler Company manufactures inspection and measurement instruments such as electronic indicators, calipers, bore gages, and digital scales. The company, founded in 1946, is headquartered in Newton, MA.

What’s in the Box?

• Fowler Extended Range dial caliper
• Fitted case

The Mitutoyo ABSOLUTE 500 series caliper with exclusive AOS sensor technology is a Digimatic caliper that is made of durable hardened stainless steel and uses Mitutoyo’s ABSOLUTE linear encoder technology, which allows you to “set and forget” the origin and measure in awkward or difficult locations. This series also utilizes the patented Advanced Onsite Sensor (AOS) offering improved measurement dependability by increasing resistance to harsh workshop conditions.

The New electromagnetic inductive (AOS) sensor has improved resistance to environmental conditions such as dirt, oil and water that can cause false readings. This new feature will improve quality control and productivity in your workplace.

This digital caliper has LCD readout and function control buttons on the caliper face, including Origin to set and retain the original measuring point, and Zero/ABS (Absolute Scale) to zero-set the LCD display. It uses the metric measuring system.

Although identical to dial and vernier calipers in its ability to make precise measurements, the digital caliper also has an LCD, which clearly shows values and increases reading reliability over the other types, and reflects all ABSOLUTE system activities. The Absolute Scale (ABS) function tracks the origin point you set, even after shutoff. Once on again, the caliper can immediately start measuring, without zero resetting or concern of over speed errors. The LCD can be “zeroed out” before making and comparing incremental measurements without having to subtract the first measurement from the second.

The calipers use the ABSOLUTE electrostatic capacitance linear encoder which helps prevent over speed errors. They measure outer diameter (OD), inner diameter (ID), depth, and step, where the butt end of the fixed jaw measures one end of a work piece before its upper/lower or inner/outer “steps” are measured. LCD Resolution is 0.01mm. Also included are origin-setting, zero-setting, and on/off automatic shutoff function buttons. A Digital LCD Data Reading Hold function is available with the optional Data Hold Unit (sold separately). An alarm alerts the user to low voltage and scale contamination and counting value composition errors. A rolling thumb wheel makes fine adjustments and a thumb screw locks the scale’s position. Response speed is unlimited. Each caliper includes, and is powered by, one SR44 silver oxide cell battery that lasts approximately 3.5 years with continuous normal use.

Calipers measure the distance between two opposing sides of an object. They make inside, outside, depth, or step measurements, according to their type. Calipers are commonly used in architecture, metalworking, mechanical engineering, and machining. The simplest calipers have two legs to mark the two points and require a ruler to take the measurement. More complex calipers use two sets of jaws instead of legs and have up to two graduated scales. Vernier, dial, and digital calipers give direct and accurate readings and are functionally identical, having a calibrated scale with a fixed jaw, and another jaw with a movable pointer that slides along the scale. The vernier caliper has a scale sliding parallel to the main scale for an additional, fractional reading to improve measurement precision. The dial caliper has a circular dial with a pointer on a toothed gear rack replacing the second vernier scale. As with the vernier, this second measurement is added to the reading from the main scale to obtain the result. The digital caliper takes a differential by zeroing the display at any point along the slide, with an LCD that displays a single value in English and/or metric units.

Mitutoyo manufactures precision measuring tools, metrology equipment, and systems. The company was founded in Tokyo in 1934 and formed Mitutoyo America Corporation in 1963, which is headquartered in Aurora, IL.