Nothing Lasts Forever

[ChazzC]

It finally happened:

IIRC, I put a fresh Energizer Silver Oxide (China) in about 4 years ago – I'd forgotten what a PITA it is to get the battery cover off.

 

[petertha]

Really? The cover has a little latch & should pop right off, especially if its a real Mitutoyo. Now what you see inside might be dismaying (green/white chemical guts & internal corrosion). It pays to have a peek under the hood every year. Batteries are spit cheap these days but the instruments are not.

 

[ChazzC]

Really? The cover has a little latch & should pop right off, especially if its a real Mitutoyo. Now what you see inside might be dismaying (green/white chemical guts & internal corrosion). It pays to have a peek under the hood every year. Batteries are spit cheap these days but the instruments are not.

Real Mitutoyo from the mid-80's. To release the latch you need to push down at the top edge and slide the cover out. It's easier on my cheaper digital calipers since the batteries don't last as long and the cover latches get more exercise.

I've never had a Silver Oxide battery leak, nor any issssues with the larger LiOn coin cells; but Alkaline & cheap LiOn button cells should be checked more often (not sure what I'm going to use as a "check batteries" reminder if they do away with Daylight Saving.

 

[Steamchick]

Hmmm. Makes my mechanical Vernier Calliper look outdated, and less accurate(?), but with a "longer life". My Grandfather's - that I still use - is now around 100years old... - He bought it "Abroad" on his sea trips as it had a metric (cm/mm) scale, as well as the Imperial scale in Fractions to 128ths of an inch... The metric scale was not available in the UK at the time.
Must remember to change the battery in my pacemaker, if I get one fitted... I wonder if you live if the battery leaks on one of those?
K2

 

[GreenTwin]

I saw the most cringy thing I have ever seen in a video the other day.
I should have saved the link.
The person very carefully takes a measurement with their digital vernier caliper, and then used the caliper to very forcefully scribe a piece of metal with the tips of the caliper jaws.

Ouch !

.

 

[Steamchick]

Do they not understand how fragile these expensive measuring instruments are? I do something similar, but with a small difference. I pre-coat the workpiece with felt-pen ink and let it dry. Then it can be marked with the gentlest of touches with a marking gauge point, vernier, or edge of the micrometer that leaves an indicator line that is more accurately positioned than I can do with a rule and scriber! And more accurate than I can machine to a line! - And (so far) it has not (knowingly) damaged any measuring instrument...
When parting-off to a length, I use the depth gauge part of the vernier, to measure from the end of the workpiece to the edge of the parting tool (vernier locked at the exact dimension I require) - then after taking a small cut with said parting tool I check the length being cut-off with the vernier jaws - and adjust the lathe accordingly. But NEVER measure with a rotating workpiece! (A practice that could be observed regularly on the shop floor at one place I worked! - They greased the micrometers so they would not grip! - AAARRRGGGHHH!). - So much for piece-work making good parts? - Safely?
K2

 

[Fidlstyks]

In line with the thread, those pill batteries are super when considering the way an akaline battery leaks out and eats the inside of my gadgets.
But as for rough treatment, I can still remember my dad giving me a dial caliper pushing 40 years ago now. They are Enco and cost $60. I keep them in their original case and only take them out to use them.
I treated them like an expensive Gold Pocket Watch. I still use them.
Since then, I have went to many auctions, flea markets and swapmeets. I have had nice dial calipers thrown in with deals, and paid as little as $5.00 for them.
At some point they became disposable assetts. I have a pair I have scribed with for over 20 years. Mostly in layout die. Probably seldom to scratch steel. The points are still sharp, as they are hard stainless. It saves alot of time and has paid for themeselves. Of course when machining, I used edge finders and now the digital readout on the mill. So scribe lines are superficial.
I get more excited seeing some one operate them while dusty, knowing they are binding inside the gear rack. Now that hurts. Idiots choice. I keep my cases clean too.
Growing up out of the 60s through the 70s, I had a huge regard for my tools, everything I have is accredited to as javing saved it, my family has old Mayflower passed on money, land and goods. My family saved everything. We even reused nails and wore clothes till the fell off our bodies.
Maybe when they took shop and mechanics out of schools and went to CNC, tools of all types are about free second hand. At auctions, Hispanics are the main competitors. They love and appreciate tools.
I had a man accuse me of abusing a wood chisel for a steel chisel once, I had about 50 of them. It did not really matter. I was into scraping at the time and had bought it at another junkers estate sale. One would be shocked at the money made off that chisel, made new in the 60s? And maybe cost a only couple of bucks for a set. I was probably chopping off the ends of AC coils with it.
Grandpa knew an old farmer who had bought a new car, maybe a 1970 Lincoln, he piled feed sacks buckets of feed on the hood and trunk and used it like a truck.
Other people would not drive their cars on gravel roads.
When I see people drink alchohol, I tell them to put a piece of wood in a closed jar of Vodka, see what it does.
Better yet, pour some certain Cola soda pop on rusty or dirty wheel stud bolts. Phosphoric acid eats crap, and people drink it.
Lots of things look wrong, but some times it makes sense, other times, no sense.
Just never put the calipers on a spinning piece!

 

[ChazzC]

Quinn (and some others) frequently do as @Steamchick bluing the part before lightly scribing; but then they also only use calipers for approximate measurements, changing to a micrometer for the final dimension.

I like the concept of using a calibrated device to scribe a line to work up to, but also believe in using the right tool for a job (maybe that’s just another reason to acquire more tools ), so I got one of these:

https://a.co/d/7N0d1U3


Only used it a couple of times before adding DRO scales to my Mini-Lathe. But the purchase did come with a bonus: I decided I wanted to add a fine adjustment screw so I found a suitably sized Fowler 7" vernier caliper on eBay to use for parts and now have another vernier (that probably won't get used much).

 

[ChazzC]

Hmmm. Makes my mechanical Vernier Calliper look outdated, and less accurate(?), but with a "longer life". My Grandfather's - that I still use - is now around 100years old... - He bought it "Abroad" on his sea trips as it had a metric (cm/mm) scale, as well as the Imperial scale in Fractions to 128ths of an inch... The metric scale was not available in the UK at the time.

I have a "couple" of vernier calipers:

They are amongst my "Seldom Used Tools" that can be seen in these two posts on HSM Forum:

https://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/forum/general/2098986-unused-tooling?p=2099887#post2099887

https://bbs.homeshopmachinist.net/forum/general/2098986-unused-tooling?p=2099901#post2099901

Must remember to change the battery in my pacemaker, if I get one fitted... I wonder if you live if the battery leaks on one of those?
K2

There was a reasonably recent episode of NCIS where a terrorist was implanting mini bombs instead of replacement batteries for pacemakers:

 

[Richard Hed]

I saw the most cringy thing I have ever seen in a video the other day.
I should have saved the link.
The person very carefully takes a measurement with their digital vernier caliper, and then used the caliper to very forcefully scribe a piece of metal with the tips of the caliper jaws.

Ouch !

.

I see that quite often

 

[RM-MN]

People have tested Mitotoyo calipers against cheap calipers and found that they are about equal for accuracy. Buy a $10 digital with the stainless steel body (not the carbon composite) and use them for casual measuring. Go ahead and use the sharp points to scribe on steel. Then when you need an accurate measurement, bring out the micrometer, not the caliper. Calipers are for quick measurements, micrometers are for accurate measurement.