Nothing New Under the Sun: Starrett Caliper Pressure Device

Kenneth Maxon, who runs the fascinating Max’s Little Robot Shop, wrote to tell me of some Starrett calipers he has which incorporate a precision spring loaded device for precise positioning. He describes it thusly:

I am lucky enough to have some older starrett calipers that perform phenominally and they use a similar mechanism. Inside the head under the dial) there is a sliding spring loaded cam mechanism that moves the head by a precision amount of compression.

Most people look at the markings on the face of the dial and assume that each tick is 0.0001, however, the actual numbered ticks are 0.0001, and each individual tick if 0.00001 apart. The jaws have hardened / ground carbide inserts.

Super-precision Starrett Calipers…

The new-fangled electronic whiz bangs are cool and all, but the Old School pure mechanical approach is fascinating too. Like the audiophile stereos of yore versus today’s digital rigs, I’m not sure we are so terribly far ahead in terms of absolute performance, but we have made the high end level of performance available more uniformly and cheaply.

Related posts:

1. A Caliper Pressure Device