Calipers: Do You Get What You Pay For?
Generally, you think that if you pay more for something, it must be better, right? But that’s not always true. Even if it is true at the lower end, sometimes premium brands are just barely better than the midrange. [Project Farm] looks at a bunch of different calipers — a constant fixture around the shop if you do any machining, 3D printing, or PCB layout. The price range spans from less than $10 for some Harbor Freight specials to brands like Mitutoyo, which cost well over $100. Where’s the sweet spot? See the video below to find out.
The first part of the video covers how much the units weigh, how smooth the action is, and how much force it takes to push it down. However, those are not what you probably care most about. The real questions are how accurate and repeatable they are.
If you just want a summary of the first part of the video, skip to the ten minute mark. The table there shows that the three instruments that have the most consistent force on the slide range in price from $27 to $72. The $454 pair (which, to be fair, included a micrometer) was number six by that measure. The smoothness factor, which is somewhat subjective, came in favor of the most expensive pair, but there was a $25 caliper that was nearly as good in the number two slot.
Using a calibration block and some special techniques, he attempts to see how accurate they all are. We wish he’d used millimeters instead of inches, but in the inch range, none of them are bad. Only one set had a real problem of not making consistent readings.
If you want to jump right to the tables again, jump to the 17:20 mark. With two exceptions, they were all mostly accurate and fell into three groups. We wondered if there are three different chipsets involved. The cheapest caliper in the first group cost $27 and was as good as the expensive Mitutoyo. The second group ranged from $18 to as much as $40 and were only 0.000675 inches (only 0.017145 mm) off from the higher group.
Which was the best? That table is at about the 18:00 minute mark. In all fairness, the best, by his estimation, did cost $144, so it was the second most expensive set in the review. But that’s still cheaper than the Mitutoyo, which placed third. The fourth-place set was good, too, and came in at $27. For a few bucks less, the sixth-place caliper was also good.
Do you know how to do all the measurements your calipers are capable of? Ever wonder what’s inside those things? We did too.
youtube.com/embed/z5KtKAee0jw?…
hackaday.com/2025/08/11/calipe…
