Recommendation for reliable, low cost DIAL caliper?

[hbfs]

I don't intend to do much fin tuning in the near future and mostly just need something rudimentary to set my fin to stock and occasionally check it. I've decided to get a dial caliper to avoid the problems with humidity, temperature, moisture, and low battery that come with digital calipers. I'm also not yet skiing at a level where micro-tweaks with a premium Mitutoyo or Starett caliper is gonna be what's making the difference for me, so I would prefer to keep cost at or below $60.

 

What reliable, low cost dial caliper can you recommend for $60 or less?

[Horton]

I think for an economy caliper you probably want to go digital. Personally I hate the digital ones but they do work most of the time. You definitely need it to be at least 8 in

[UWSkier]

Buy two of the Harbor Freight ones. They work fine.

[hbfs]

@Horton Please excuse my ignorance but why would digital be better than dial for economy calipers?

[MDB1056]

+1 for Harbor Freight caliper

[Horton]

@hbfs I just think the digitals usually cost less. I own maybe 5 digitals and one dial. I only use the dial.

[BG1]

https://www.shars.com/products/measuring/caliper/8-dial-caliper

I'm not sure if Harbor Freight sales an 8" dial caliper. I've been impressed with everything I've seen from Shars, including their "cheap" caliper. They sale higher end calipers also.

[ral]

It is easier to build a precise cheap digital caliper than it is to build a cheap precise dial caliper.

[oldjeep]

12" dial caliper from Northern. https://www.northerntool.com/shop/tools/product_200710042_200710042

$50

 

I've got dial and digital calipers, only complaint about the digital is that the battery seems to go dead too quickly.

[BraceMaker]

@hbfs small LCDs and cheap circuit boards now cost pennies. Precise miniature gear racks machined to high accuracy over 8" now cost more than the circuit boards so for cheap calipers the prices have swapped.

 

I will say with cheap digitals you really should get some sort of accurate reference ~6" long like a micrometer calibration standard. Even with fairly expensive digitals if you zero the jaws full closed then pull them out to 6+ inches and measure you'll find they tend to lose steps. Close your digital. Zero it then go open/closed/open/closed a few times and see what the display reads.

[skibug]

Pony up the extra $60 and by a Starret 8" Dial caliper. Treat it well and you will have it for life....and it will ALWAYS be accurate.

 

[oldjeep]

@skibug I've got Mitutoyo and Northern tool calipers. There isn't even $5 worth of difference between them which surprises me, but I would no longer spend the extra money on the name brand stuff for my purposes.

[VONMAN]

8" Dial caliper for sure. Only way to go. Don't have to mess with dead battery. And like @skibug said "Treat it well and you will have it for life....and it will ALWAYS be accurate".

[teammalibu]

I have a Mitutoyo 8” dial caliper that I used daily for over 30 years and it still works like new and is always accurate! The only good use for a digital caliper is slot caliper if you want to copy the Goode fin numbers!

[skialex]

Some great advice here... whatever you decide, buy 8”, 6” is short for measuring length and 12” is not only longer but proportionally bigger and can give slightly different results than an 8” when measuring length and dft. Also it’s much heavier making more difficult to hold it flat when measuring dft, even when you hold the ski upside down vertically.

[dchristman]

If you're just looking to do an occasional check to make sure the fin didn't move, make a template like this for a quick visual inspection - no need to remove your wing:

 

Just borrow a caliper with its skilled operator/ski tuner to check for factory or make adjustments.

 

[sixball]

plus one on the one's at Harbor Freight. They work and when on sale very cheep. I have a hi end set that we used well racing but the Harbor Freight have been repeating and no big deal if something went wrong like drop in dirt or water.

[HMan66]

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000NEA0P8/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o06_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[ski6jones]

I have that same one @oldjeep linked. Works great for skis.

[DW]

A quality caliper is a staple for a fin tuner no question. I like to keep those on dry land and the HF one sees its place on or near water and the one I use has been accurate and repeatable since day one even after multiple battery changes.

 

Since noted in this thread and concern over accuracy, how many fin tuners have a calibration block? Specifically, a ~7" one just to make sure the scale is accurate over the extended distance. Simple solution is a metal bar of known length, can get one at HD, Lowes, Menards.

[APB]

ive got a few of the ones that radar sells..... works great. set up many skis with them.

 

https://radarskis.com/products/calipers

[BraceMaker]

@DW search micrometer standards usually around 20 bucks.

 

Very accurate and if using digital zero on the block for length and closed for dft

[chrislandy]

I've used Vernier's for years without any problem, simple, easy and nothing to run out of batteries or break when knocked. I went to the dark side and bought some digital ones, each time I used it I had to change the battery. Turned out that if you stored it in the case it pressed the on button all the time! I still use the Vernier's more often

[hbfs]

Thank you all for your suggestions and advice. I ended up going with @BG1's recommendation for Shars, but with a model that had both inch and metric measurements.

 

A little icing on the cake - a machinists forum on Google search mentioned that Shars sells from their Ebay store at significantly reduced prices, so the total cost shipped even came in under $60.

[BS74]

I bought a digital from Harbor freight, 8 in., around $35.00