iGaging Digital Micrometer w Data Output 0-3"/0.00005"/0.001mm

I have a set of digital calipers that I use for my reloading. They work fine and do the job for me. They are even nice and of good quality. My first impression out of the box of these iGuage tubing calipers was that it was an instrument, not a tool. It was wrapped in a plastic zip lock with a piece of oil paper. The instructions sheet was American English. It comes in a hard plastic case with foam inside to harbor the instrument. The calipers came with two batteries. Instructions say a battery lasts a year. That's a first for me in my 65 years, a company that provides twice the batteries required. It is so precise that it has a friction dial to maintain comparative measurements. I am very happy. I would call this caliper a jewel and absolutely worth the money spent. Thank you iGauge for making me feel like a scientist.....

I was a bit skeptical about purchasing anything but a major name brand for a set of mics like this, because I've been bitten before when it comes to the lack of quality, but I'm pleasantly surprised with these. They measure very well for my needs, and the quality of the metallic parts looks great! The ratcheting handles are plastic, vs the nicer metal ones on tools you spend 4 times or more for high end name brand, but even at that, it works great if your looking to save some $$$. The only small defect I noticed whatsoever, was the plastic seam around the base of the clamping area was molded a bit too tightly for the base metal and it pulled apart some. This doesn't affect the performance of the tool and it still clamps good in my stand. All in all, I'm quite satisfied with these.

I own about $3000 worth of Mitutoyo, Fowler, and Starrett precision measuring instruments, which I bought around 20 years ago. and decided to give these a try since the 3-piece set alone costs what a single vernier micrometer used to cost, plus the LCD readout is easy to zero and the resolution goes down to 0.00005! I knew the set was of course, made in China. Well I received the item from Amazon Prime yesterday (after just a 2-3 day ship time), and boy, am I impressed! These are not cheap plastic thingees. The castings are quite hefty and pretty much free of any casting flash, porosity, or imperfections. No, they don't have the pretty, textured, powder coating like on the Mitutoyos, just plan gunmetal blue paint. Yes, the thimble and ratchet are plastic whereas the ones on the Big Three above (were) aluminum, but they have a precision feel when you rotate them, fine teeth on the ratchet, and just the right resistance. The thickness of the carbide inserts at the spindle and anvil aren't as generous as the Big Three used to be, but they are carbide. I checked to see how well the tips meet on the 0-1" micrometer and they were perfectly aligned, and the finish on the lapped carbide surfaces are as good as the Big Three. Even the white lettering on the insulated handles were without flaw. The locking lever doesn't have any slop and holds the spindle firm. None of the Philips screws on the micrometer were over torqued and stripped (maybe the ones on the handle might be barely perceptible, perhaps). The LCD readouts were flawless: crisp, no crooked readouts, with a resolution to 0.00005". Overall, the micrometers have a solid, quality feel to them. The contents of the kit are impressive, with three spare batteries (the micrometers already had batteries installed, although one was dying), a nifty wrench to remove the battery cover (so you don't need a quarter), calibration standards for the 2 and 3" micrometers, and even a ball end attachment for curved surfaces. The foam cushioned storage case for everything was superb. How do the micrometers work? I used it to check out the tolerances of a pair of 1-2-3 Gauge Blocks (also sold by Anytime Tools) and the results were impressive indeed. The gauge blocks have an advertised tolerance of +/- 0.0001" but I got readings between 0.0000-0.0001 on all surfaces. Many of the surfaces measured accurate to 0.00005"! I then rechecked zero on the micrometers and they were spot on back to 0.0000". Anytime Tools? You can depend on me to buy tools from them any time!

They arrived in a very timely manner and with no apparent problems. I have not yet actually used any of them. So, far I have simply "played" with each of them a little. I will discover how they really perform once I actually start measuring any of the projects I have...

Arrived earlier than expected and came with everything that is needed. Very happy

Instructions are useless and have no steps for calibration. Using the included 1” reference to calibrate the device, the screen sets to 1.000 in inch unit of measure and 25.400 in mm unit of measure when you press and hold the set button. Then reversing the drive initially shows the measure increasing appropriately until the display starts to blank out and reading is incorrect (skipped). At this point the device can’t be reliably used. In inch mode, after opening the caliper past 1/2” from “1.000” the display blanks and jumps and then reverts to 25.xxx mm. Makes no sense. It is complete junk and not fit for purpose.

Extremely good micrometers. Can and have compared to the best in the world for accuracy. I actually like the fine threads for bore gauge setting. Not sure how fluid proof they are so I don't try. A ridiculous good value for the quality.

I only needed to use this once, so I didn't want to pay a hundred bucks for a good one. I figured I could take a bunch of measurements, then average them out, provided the fluctuation was in the ten-thousandth range. Surprisingly, this guy took very accurate readings, fluctuating between the ten-thousandth and hundred-thousandth range, but I only needed to be accurate up to the thousandth. Note that for kicks, I tried to use this in metric, but it was very sporadic, but inches gave consistent readings. Just as an example, here are some of the readings I took: .01385, .0135, .0136, .01335, .0138, .01355. I rounded up to .014 and I'm fine with that, which is what factor specs reports.

Merveilleux précis

Came quickly and appears to be as advertised. Thank you

You pretty much get what you pay for. I’m using it to measure the thickness of the case mouth of my brass. Good enough for what I need it for, but I wouldn’t use it for machining. Once I zeroed it and used it for my purpose, it wouldn’t go back to a perfect zero even after cleaning the contact points. A little disappointed.