Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)The caliper is made in China, and does not approach the fit and finish of a fine Starrett or Mitutoyo dial caliper. Having said that, the quality is far more than adequate for its intended purpose. It also happens to be the best quality fractional caliper available. Trust me. I've looked at all of them. (1-Mar-05)
Furthermore, it's dirt cheap, and when you consider the cost, it's truly a no-brainer. This unit is branded 'Shop Fox', and the dial on mine was all white. I lucked out. I prefer white anyway.
The unit is intended to be accurate up to 1/100" & 1/64", so I don't understand the previous reviewer who gave it only three stars, faulting it for not having a 1/1000" resolution (foolishly suggesting that it would have been possible by moving the decimal scale to the outer edge). I don't know if he's ever seen a 'real' machinist's dial caliper, but to achieve that kind of resolution you'd need the indicator needle to turn 10 revolutions per inch instead of 1 revolution per inch as this one does. ...Either that or you'd need a microscope to read the graduations.
The beauty of this fractional caliper (and its fractional brethren) is that while it does not replace a 1/1000" decimal caliper, there's just nothing like it when you're measuring things in (and I'm stating the obvious here) fractions of an inch.
In this land of fractional inches, we naturally find that things are never exactly sized, so when you measure something that is 1 1/8" with your decimal caliper, your rarely read 1.125. You always get something like 1.122 or 1.128.
OK, Fine, so most folks know that 1/8 = .125, but what happens when you're measuring a more obscure size? Quickly, without looking, what's the fractional equivalent of .173"?
If you said 11/64ths (.171875 to be exact), then you're an absolute genius and probably don't need this caliper. Everyone else however, will find this caliper to be the best $35 bucks they've ever spent.
I give it a solid 5 stars. Trust me on this one. I've looked around a lot, and I can't find anything better. There are cheaper ones available. Some of the cheapies are easily identified by a blue inner dial. They're OK, but not great. Without question this one is worth the extra $3-8.
Mine came with a nice quality case, and arrived with no functional or cosmetic blemishes.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Shop Fox D3208 Fractional Dial Caliper
This stainless steel fractional dial caliper combines the same precision that metalworkers are accustomed to with a fractional scale for woodworkers. Perfect for measuring board thickness, depth and inside measurements.
Click here for more information about Shop Fox D3208 Fractional Dial Caliper
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