Calipers

[Glock]

This season I have decided to start learning about fin adjustments. I have Fin Whispering, which I am looking forward to reading. That said, I am going to need a set of calipers. What do you suggest? I looked on Performance Ski's website and they have one from Radar and one from D3. They look similar, but the D3 calipers are $30 more. I want to buy a nice caliper that is going to last a while.

[gt2003]

I know @skihard has a really nice set of digital calipers. Rod, hook this gentleman up!

 

[gt2003]

Calipers

[Wayne]

I would also recommend the slot caliper. It makes getting repeatable DFT measurements much easier.

 

However I was taught how to use the old vernier calipers so I use a normal 8-inch caliper with the analog dial. No batteries to replace so it always works. If there was a non digital slot caliper I would have bought one.

[Bruce_Butterfield]

I finally broke down and replaced my old dial calipers last year. Here is probably the best caliper you can get for the money. Almost as good as the mitutoyo at a fraction of the price. Look at the reviews, particularly the video comparison.

 

Calipers HERE

 

Happy now @gt2003?

[liquid d]

Keep the Glock handy when adjustments fail; it will make you feel better.

[gt2003]

@Bruce_Butterfield = Long Link Panda...

 

[bigtex2011]

I agree with @Bruce_Butterfield . bought me a pair a few months ago. work great

[thager]

Calipers right?

[pregom]

I too bought the same caliper that @Bruce_Butterfield mentions. It works great. I was able to check the "factory setting" of my Radar Senate. DTF in particular was way off...

[Deanoski]

I have a pair of harbor freight cheap ones for 12yrs. tips and depth are spot on to a friends goode slot calipers DFT is different on every caliper.

[Wish]

A Harber Freight just opened up 4mn from my house. My garage will be so chuck full of cheap tools...including some new calipers.

[Glock]

Thanks guys. Looking forward to getting more technical in my skiing.

[gregy]

I finally decided to get a nice caliper last year.

 

Mitutoyo Coolant proof

[303Skier]

I've been using a harbor freight 8" digit caliper for 5 years. Works great!

[skialex]

I must be nuts!

 

[liquid d]

Recognizing your problem is the first step.

[Glock]

@skialex I have to ask why? And no slot caliper in there? It seems like the standard is to not use the slot caliper?

[andjules]

@skialex you might be the best person to offer a first-hand comment on what we might notice between cheap & fine calipers, and to what extent it makes a difference?

[SkiJay]

Before Fin Whispering released, my ski buddies called me Dr. Caliper. I respectfully relinquish this title to @skialex. Very impressive!

[skibug]

I have found more variance in digital calipers (especially the Harbor Freight type). I stick with dial versus digital. Personal preference.

 

http://www.starrett.com/metrology/product-detail/Dial-Calipers/Slide-Calipers/Precision-Hand-Tools/Precision-Measuring-Tools/3202-8

[Wish]

@skibug nooooooo....Crap!.. there goes my plans to use my Harbor Freight gift card and hit the new store down the road. May do it anyway just to see how they compare to my dial style.

[skialex]

@Glock forth from the top is a slot caliper, I use it only for Goode skis.

@andjules yes that was the idea behind this picture. I gathered all the calipers I own and one from a friend, took a random ski, measured depth as it is the most consistent and no good skills are necessary.

The results were very consistent with all calipers but the cheap one had to be zeroed and checked many times, whereas with the Mitutoyios one try was enough for a confident result( l always check more than one).

Today is a bank holiday and I will do the length, DFT measurements and report back, there will be deference at least with the 12' coolant proof and the slot caliper.

@SkiJay maybe Dr caliper but you are the Fin Whisperer, your book is the best ski literature ever, thanks I read it cover to cover!

@skibug my dial caliper is great but takes more time to see the readings and sometimes I misread.

[skialex]

Ok I have used my calipers a lot over the years but never before measured a ski with all of them at the same time. The ski I used was very flat around the fin and had no wing on.

Length reading was exactly the same with all the Mitutoyios including dial and the 12", slot caliper also gave the same reading (tips).The generic one gave a -0.003 difference and I had to repeat and zeroed it many times.

DFT, I put the ski tip down, clamp it and leveled it and used the heads method (even with the slot caliper) numbers were consistent, only the 12" gave a 0.005 difference, I believe due to its size (not only longer but proportionally larger than a 8"). The generic gave me a hassle again to end up with the same reading as the others, this is not good if this is your only caliper that you trust using.

Overall I have to say that it worth spending money on a Mitutoyio 8" digital or dial (if you can read the numbers) and a slot caliper if you're riding Goodes or both if you are a fin tweaker like me.

You have to trust your instruments And be able to put correct factory or shared numbers iand work from there with confidence if you want to.

[Wish]

Wait, are you saying I gotta drop well over $100 to get a decent pair of digital calipers???

[pregom]

@skialex is one of your calipers the iGaging ABSOLUTE ORIGIN ? (see link to Amazon in the comment from @Bruce_Butterfield above). That's the caliper I bought last October and, given it's my only caliper, I'd like to hear your opinion on how much trust I can have on its readings.

[skialex]

@pregom I do not know, which one you mean on the picture?

All the 8" Mitutoyio give me results within 0.0005. Tell me which one and I'll check it tomorrow morning at my garage

[The_MS]

And we all wonder why the numbers set at the factory are off when you get a new ski.

Calipers are all different, start with factory numbers and tweak from there. Any good set of calipers work as long as you are comfortable using them. You will get accustomed to any good set you buy. I have been using the Goode dial caliper since day 1.

[pregom]

@skialex I bought is this iGaging caliper. If you have it too, I'd like to hear how it stacks up against the others. Thanks.

[ntx]

@skialex do you realize that .003 is about the thickness of a piece of paper. The instrument is only as good as the user. Most of you are worried about the wrong thing. I only use my CMM to set fins

 

I would look for carbide tips on calipers. They are difficult to find but will last forever.

[skialex]

@pregom The iGaging caliper looks very similar to Absolute Digimatic calipers I have and I'm pretty confident that it is one of the finest measuring instruments. If it is a 8" then you have an excellent tool and you would not want anything else unless you are riding A Goode.

Maybe due to the nature of the sport the absolute best is the 8" coolant proof, if it getmoist the numbers go crazy but it's usually an easy fix f you wipe it with a dry cloth.

[dchristman]

@wish you need carbide tips and IP67 rated. You're not going to find that at Harbor Freight :)

[Wish]

I looked at Harbor Freight today and held the calipers in my hand and used them. May I just say ...bahahahhahahaaaa...sad tool.

 

[SkiJay]

Food For Thought:

 

As long as a cheapo caliper can reproduce its own numbers, it's a keeper.

 

Unfortunately, sharing numbers will always be full of variables. Some calipers are thicker than others, so even if they are both quality tools, they will get different DFT and FD numbers. The tail of the ski is sloped (affecting DFT) and the base is concaved (affecting FD). Then there's the various techniques used by the people taking the measurements. Next comes the ski itself. No two skis are exactly the same, so putting factory settings on two different skis will yield slightly different results—even if the fin numbers are within .0005" of each other. There's the host of different binding systems, each changing the way the ski responds to the skier. And of course there's the skiers themselves. Do they have big feet (binding placement), are they tall, short, strong, weak, aggressive, or smooth? Do they use lots of the ski's tip or overuse their rear leg? There are even environmental factors like the water etc.

 

Using factory specs or another skier's numbers, will always be just a starting point. From there you have a choice. You can stick with that ballpark "starting point" and adjust your skiing to it. Or you can fine-tune a personal setup from there. Either way, it doesn't matter if your caliper is exactly the same as the one originally used. All that matters is that if you choose to fine-tune, your caliper needs to produce consistent, repeatable numbers.

 

Quality calipers get you consistency, dependability, and a hand tool that feels nice to use. But so long as a cheapo Harbor Freight can reproduce its own numbers consistently, that's all that's really needed for ski setup. And it's way less heartbreaking when your buddy drops them.

[baja]

I recently helped a friend get his ski set up to "factory recommended settings. He had a new expensive high quality dial caliper. In the end it was his technique that produced the large variation from spec. As the Fin Whisperer @SkiJay says above reproducing the measurements consistently is what you need. My friend was hopeless on DFT until he tried my Slot Caliper but I showed him the Mapple method with a vertical ski and he was able to repeat his DFT with his dial caliper.

[skialex]

My thumb does not have the strength to keep the caliper leveled when measuring DFT so I always hold the ski vertically even when using the slot caliper as @baja suggests but it is crucial to hold the caliper as straight as possible

[Wish]

Andy measured everything with ski vertical. Been doing it that way ever since I watched him few yrs back. Seems easier.

[liquid d]

ok, by popular demand, one of the "closest to the pin" prizes at the Hall of Fame Golf Tourney will be a set of calipers!

Now, get your entries in!

[BrennanKMN]

If you've got the money and are willing to spend it Starrett and Mitutoyo are the way to go. If I was just measuring my ski I probably wouldn't drop $200 on a caliper, but I use my calipers for all kinds of other tasks so the money is well spent.

[Glock]

Is there any reason to not just buy a slot caliper? This way I can measure dft on Goode skis with the slot and all other skis the traditional way. Seems like the slot is pretty user friendly.

[gsm_peter]

I have 5 caliper. Only metric though....

 

Shall we create a new group?

ACC. Anonymous Caliper Collectors

o:)

[jbwann]

What is most reasonable caliper purchase? Slot? I just want solid repeatable measurement. Digital is fine.

[ALPJr]

@perfski has the D3 calipers on sale.

[Rednucleus]

I see both D3 & Radar calipers for sale there. Any preference one over the other?

[mike_mapple]

glad to know im not the only one with more than 5+ Calipers...between myself and what my dad left me I might have closer to 20, and most are duplicates of others lol.

[teammalibu]

I should post a pic of my old 18 inch vernier caliper.

[BraceMaker]

@teammalibu please keep that to yourself

[skiep]

Adjustment

[pregom]

@jbwann - unless you have a Goode ski, you don't need a slot caliper. All fin setting numbers are published and shared using the heads method to measure DFT (see here for instance. A few years ago I bought this caliper and I've been happy ever since.

[BS74]

I had a Harbor freight 6 inch spare caliper. I put a one inch slot it it with a cutting wheel and it works great.:You can zero it at back of fin just like Goode slot. Now get consistent readings. You won't be able to use the caliper from being totally closed. $20 for digital 6inch.