How Accurate Are My Calipers? Dial vs. Digital

I’ve always wanted to know how accurate my calipers were so I asked my father-in-law if he would test them for accuracy at the machine shop he works at. This may not be too interesting to some but I thought the results were. I have nothing bad to say about my iGAGING digital caliper or my Harbor Freight dial caliper. Both of them do the job and are more than accurate for my woodworking needs. I was really surprised about the Harbor Freight dial caliper though. I wasn’t expecting my father-in-law to tell me that…well just watch the video and you’ll see what I mean. Let me know if you have any questions and thanks for watching!
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iGAGING ABSOLUTE ORIGIN Digital Caliper

Review that sold me on the iGAGING:
Digital Caliper Round-Up (:6:) 1st Place: iGaging OriginCal Absolute Origin ~UNBOX & REVIEW~
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Harbor Freight Pittsburgh Dial Caliper
Well…I don’t see it on their website anymore. I looked when I started this video and it was there. If it happens to show up again I’ll place the link to the item here but for now…here’s a link to their calipers.

Feeler gauge I bought for the video

More HF caliper videos/reviews
Harbor Freight Dial Caliper Review

Harbor Freight 6" Dial Calipers for reloading

Bored of lame tool reviews? Shake hands with cheap Chinese calipers.

Harbor Freight Digital Calipers - two years later
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“Son Of A Rocket“
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0
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#harborfreight #igaging #calipers

[justinprewitt]

That’s great that you can get that close to accurate with that price range of calipers.

[slumberyardhandcrafted]

I don’t own a set of calipers. This was a nice guide that compared easily acquired brands/models.

[billsbuilds]

Surprising results for sure! The next time I need a new tarp I’ll have to check these out... 👍🏻😉👊🏻

[MikeyMakey]

Wow! Well I will have to pick up a set of HF's dial calipers. Thanks for this video!

[CReevesMakes]

Nice! Thanks for all the information. I always wondered about the HF calipers. I panic when I have to use my expensive digital set in the shop. Its good to know I can grab the HF one and still get awesome accuracy for wood projects. Thanks Chris!

[michaelwooda]

Get the 4 inch harbor freight calipers... super handy size.and easy to carry.

[OOTurok]

I have that same Pittsburgh dial caliper, & it's accurate down to 0.0005"
I didn't expect that kind of accuracy, because I only intended to use it for my woodworking... but WOW!
Makes me want to give their micrometers a look.

[allcustomz]

Nice work been waiting to watch also think dials are for accurate but nice video

[ROWLESmade]

Damn!!! HF surprises you sometimes...lol

[TNYHWKONE]

I have several sets of Mitutoyo dial calipers. One set for 30 years. You can not expect anything better than
+/- .001 for daily use. The big thing is when you slide them back and forth, and they jump teeth. You could be off .010 or more in a heartbeat, and not know until you zero again.

[ariesmars]

I wish the HF dial calipers where metric, everything is based on metric. I don't know why anyone would use SAE anymore.

[ttfweb]

For anything less than a couple of thousandths, you should probably use a mic anyway. Seems like he HF ones are pretty good. I'd be concerned with bending over time, also gear wear in the dial.

[birdtique]

Well... I know how to clean my caliper, now...

[oddballcraftscreations]

HA, so for the 2 or so people that voted for the HFT calipers on IG, what do we win? Huh, huh?? LOL