measuring blade thickness with a caliper.

I use a dial micrometer which reads in thousandths of an inch. You can get one for thirty bucks or so. Easy to read; very accurate.
 
Yeap I use a dial micro meter. Been lots of generations of machinists using them for years measuring machined parts. I guess it's good enough for me. Your mileage may vary!
 
Dial Caliper

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Micrometer

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Jesenius said:
I fully agree with You...

I don't like flame wars of any kind. I think You guys see more practical imperial measurement because You grown with it. That is reason why Europeans use metric system. I can't judge which one is more practical, I used metric since I started to go into elementary school long time ago but when I have seen YT videos where guys used 2x4" instead of 50x100mm I liked it. :) But surely I will use metric when do anything need to be measured... Almost forgot: I use caliper instead I have micrometer too...
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it just gets confusing when you are talking to 3 people about a parts tolerance and one person uses microns, the second person uses thousandths, the third uses a fraction and the print is in millimeters. i like metric because it is easier to figure; half of 1 17/64" or half of 32mm.
 
If you grind to zero before sharpening, does your edge then have negative width? And do we risk slicing through the space-time continuum if we use that knife? :eek:
 
Dial Caliper

How about a Vernier Caliper ?
Confession, I would need a minute to remember how to read one, & they can be inaccurately read based ones tolerance definition.
Btw, I am fluent with either system, but prefer metric.

Those digital calipers make it so easy. Push a button & spells out in either system.
The cheapies I have were about 20$ And when measuring against my gaugeblocks, they are spot on every time.
Very remarkable !
 
Lieblad said:
Dial Caliper

How about a Vernier Caliper ?
Confession, I would need a minute to remember how to read one, & they can be inaccurately read based ones tolerance definition.
Btw, I am fluent with either system, but prefer metric.

Those digital calipers make it so easy. Push a button & spells out in either system.
The cheapies I have were about 20$ And when measuring against my gaugeblocks, they are spot on every time.
Very remarkable !
Click to expand...

yea i got a digital one at harbor freight for 11 with a coupon and it is spot on with the one my friend has.
 
I used to work in the Tool&Die industry, both as a machinist and engineer. It was mainly automotive and we had to know metric and imperial interchangeably. When working on molds, we were measuring in tenths of a thousandth of an inch(0.0001"). You get used to working in tight tolerances. Out is the shop, it wasn't uncommon to be able to sift through a box of shim stock and discern between .0015" and .002" by feel. It is amazes me what the human senses are capable of.

Now... I hit hot stuff with a big hammer and measure with my "Didgit-All" calipers.

 
i helped make automotive drive axle components. we had some parts with internal tolerances of 0.05mm or 0.002", not that precise until you find out that is after cold forging and no other machining.
 
The only thing I have to add to this is that the tips of callipers are notoriously inaccurate and cheep calapers are even more so. There are a few things that affect this but one thing is leverage. Also the tips wear and if the tip is not a crisp sharp edge and your using the tip to mesure then your already set up for problems. A general rule as a machinist, i trust our calapers to a tolerance of .005. If it needs to be tighter then that then we use a mic. I only use a mic to mesure edge thickness. Most mics at least good ones are carbide faced and have good sharp edges. How I do it is start closed and slowly open it up while I'm testing. What I'm looking for is the blade to catch in both directions. When it just catches and can't move left to right it's in between the anvils of the mic. This will give you a rather accurate measurement. Also I find using a mic a lot easer then callipers. Easy way is to run you pinky and ring finder through the D section of the mic with the thimble up between your thumb and pointer finger. Slide the edge back and forth across the gap between the anvils and slowly open it with your thump and pointer finger. As soon as it catches your there.
 
JTknives said:
The only thing I have to add to this is that the tips of callipers are notoriously inaccurate and cheep calapers are even more so. There are a few things that affect this but one thing is leverage. Also the tips wear and if the tip is not a crisp sharp edge and your using the tip to mesure then your already set up for problems. A general rule as a machinist, i trust our calapers to a tolerance of .005. If it needs to be tighter then that then we use a mic. I only use a mic to mesure edge thickness. Most mics at least good ones are carbide faced and have good sharp edges. How I do it is start closed and slowly open it up while I'm testing. What I'm looking for is the blade to catch in both directions. When it just catches and can't move left to right it's in between the anvils of the mic. This will give you a rather accurate measurement. Also I find using a mic a lot easer then callipers. Easy way is to run you pinky and ring finder through the D section of the mic with the thimble up between your thumb and pointer finger. Slide the edge back and forth across the gap between the anvils and slowly open it with your thump and pointer finger. As soon as it catches your there.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the clarification :thumbup: English is not my native language and it would be it difficult to me to explain this ............
 
JTknives said:
The only thing I have to add to this is that the tips of callipers are notoriously inaccurate and cheep calipers are even more so.
Click to expand...
I had always felt the same way about calipers, they were for measuring ±.002" range..... until I found Mitutoyo calipers. They are expensive, but they do work and are VERY accurate. https://www.amazon.com//dp/B00I3UA89C/

JTknives said:
Also I find using a mic a lot easer then callipers. Easy way is to run you pinky and ring finder through the D section of the mic with the thimble up between your thumb and pointer finger. Slide the edge back and forth across the gap between the anvils and slowly open it with your thump and pointer finger. As soon as it catches your there.
Click to expand...
JT, you words describe exactly my procedure to measuring with a mic. While I do sometimes still use calipers, a mic does seem easier and more accurate when the edge gets <.010"

Ken H>
 
Rick Marchand said:
I used to work in the Tool&Die industry, both as a machinist and engineer. It was mainly automotive and we had to know metric and imperial interchangeably. When working on molds, we were measuring in tenths of a thousandth of an inch(0.0001"). You get used to working in tight tolerances. Out is the shop, it wasn't uncommon to be able to sift through a box of shim stock and discern between .0015" and .002" by feel. It is amazes me what the human senses are capable of.

Now... I hit hot stuff with a big hammer and measure with my "Didgit-All" calipers.

Click to expand...


Where do I get one of those? That looks like the tangible tool I've been waiting for. :D
 
Snicker... yer mom, Willie, yer mom!


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