There are endless options for measuring sizes, and we use different tools for different purposes. Rulers, meter sticks, tape measures? Check. Vernier calipers, both mechanical and digital? Check. Precision micrometers? Check.
Counting twelve-inch floor tiles? Check.
Precision matters, as does scale. A tape measure is helpful when moving furniture, even if it can’t determine the thickness of a sheet of paper like a micrometer can. Micrometers: really useless for determining if that new cabinet’s going to fit beside the CNC machine.
These Mitutoyo dial calipers – good for up to 12 inches in 0.001-inch increments – are kind of like a super-precise ruler. They’re in decimal inches, not metric, which makes them ideal for use with our lathe: also inch-only. (The calipers are more precise, so you know when you’re off by 0.003 inches.)
Not that we need that level of precision machining every day. But it’s good to know the option’s on the table.