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I have to say I prefer a good old dial on a height gauge. I got a digital one for the cabinet shop that works in fractions of an inch. Neat but when your at 93/128 ths trying to set a shaper cutter to 3/4 which way do you go.
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Greg
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I would think that a digital height gauge would be just as inaccurate as a digital caliper. I only use my digicals for approximate measurement, even my Mitutoyo one.
Busy Bee 12-36 lathe, Busy Bee Mill drill, Busy Bee 4x6 bandsaw, Homemade 9x17 bandsaw, Ad infinitum.
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I have an eight inch dial height gauge that I've had for about 11 years and it is much smoother in operation than this digital one I just got. I needed a taller one so I thought I'd try a digital one this time. This is my first digital measuring device. This might have been a mistake. Time will tell, I guess.
Ed
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08-16-2013, 06:53 AM
(This post was last modified: 08-16-2013, 06:54 AM by DaveH.)
Callipers by nature are slightly inaccurate whether they are digital, dial or vernier. It is nothing to do with how the measurement is recorded but how the callipers are held whilst taking a measurement.
A digital height gauge will be just as accurate as a dial or vernier one.
DaveH
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(08-16-2013, 06:53 AM)DaveH Wrote: A good digital height gauge will be just as accurate as a dial or vernier one.
DaveH
Fixed that for you Dave...
I've got a few 'disposable' (China) digital gauges. 6-8" calipers and a height gauge. The problem with them is holding 'zero'. You close the jaws with the thumb wheel and hit the zero button and the display shows 0.0000". Remove your thumb and the display goes to 0.0005".
Or close the jaws, remove thumb, and hit zero button. The display flickers the negative (-) symbol or bounces back and forth between 0.0000" and +/- 0.0005". The way the jaws come together is just a little
springy if that makes sense.
That's good enough for me for a quick rough measurement but if I'm splitting hairs I'll grab one of my Mitutoyo Absolute calipers. Once the jaws are clean and closed and set to zero it stays there. If I close the jaws and get a 0.0005" reading I know I've got a spec of dust between the jaws. A quick wipe with a sheet of paper and the display goes to 0.0000".
I've also got a Starrett vernier height gauge but that thing is a real workout on the eyes to use.
Willie
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I did not have a height gauge but have wanted one to go with the granite surface blocks I've gotten from Enco in the past.
I bought the same scale from Enco during the sale. It was less than $90 delivered to my door. They suggest that the accuracy is .0015 and repeatability is .0005 ... what I would expect from the technology and the price.
I have to admit that I am reasonably impressed with the heft of unit. Regretfully the scale is not as free on the vertical bar as I would like but I think I can work that out.
The unit that I got had been on the shelf long enough for the battery to be DOA. Easy enough to replace. All in all better than the nothing that I had and I fell worth what I've spent.
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(08-16-2013, 07:36 PM)arvidj Wrote: I did not have a height gauge but have wanted one to go with the granite surface blocks I've gotten from Enco in the past.
I bought the same scale from Enco during the sale. It was less than $90 delivered to my door. They suggest that the accuracy is .0015 and repeatability is .0005 ... what I would expect from the technology and the price.
I have to admit that I am reasonably impressed with the heft of unit. Regretfully the scale is not as free on the vertical bar as I would like but I think I can work that out.
The unit that I got had been on the shelf long enough for the battery to be DOA. Easy enough to replace. All in all better than the nothing that I had and I fell worth what I've spent.
I have to agree Arvid. I think we can make these work for what we need them for. I've used my dial height gauge on just about every project and I'd be lost without one. The digital version has some nice features, once we figure out how to use them.
Ed
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