Caliper tutorial

[evansd2]

This is great for anyone who is new to calipers:

https://makezine.com/2015/11/13/how-to-use-your-digital-calipers-7-tips/

[timjedwards]

I always forget about the zeroing button and do the math instead. The best math is auto math!

[randy.cohen]

I have a set of calipers I bought maybe 35 years ago that were about $1000. Now you can get a caliper at Harbor Freight that is 100th the price but for most uses is just as good as my expensive calipers. At today’s prices they’re a steal and everyone should have one (how thick is this material I’m about to laser?). My expensive set only reads in decimal fractions (mm or Inch) where the Harbor Freight cheapy I have also reads actual fractions, like 3/128ths. Really handy.

[jeanneleigh]

Thanks for this! I did not know about the step or depth measurement - glad to have learned this today!

[evansd2]

@jeanneleigh

I did not know about the step

I first learned about step measurement here, in @nathan_p’s no math crumb tray post.

Cutting Without the Crumb Tray - The NO MATH Edition

There’s a great tutorial here on cutting without the crumb tray when you want to work with thicker material. If you want to know the numbers and theory behind it, go read that first, and then come back. Thank you, @henryhbk! This method uses the digital calipers you should already have, and the not-used-often-enough ZERO button. We’re going to go through the steps from the tutorial above, but without any math or writing down numbers. The first step is to find the height of your crumb tray’s su…

While it’s useful there, the place I get the most use out of it is when material is already on the bed and I forgot to measure it. I use the step function to measure the material without removing it from the GF.

[shop]

comparative measurements is the one that i thought, “how did i not think about this?” when i read the page.

[marmak3261]

I am convinced that @evansd2 is the ThisOldTony of the Glowforge forum. Just amazing what you contribute!

[evansd2]

@marmak3261

the ThisOldTony of the Glowforge forum

I’ll assume this is a compliment Who’s this Tony guy, and is he handsome/funny? If so, I’ll definitely take it.

OK I’ve googled. I got nothin’ on Tony.

[marmak3261]

Oh yes, he is definitely funny and is handsome in an everyman sort of way. Depends upon how much beard he has according to my tastes.

He is one of the top machinist YouTuber channels. Others may have more and more detailed how to videos, but no one entertains like he does.

Check out his multimeter April Fool’s video. It is a riot.