6 ms·

If they don’t have a vernier scale they’re just calipers

by pie314isi 4y ago

DanTheManPR 4y ago
This must be a regionalism; I've never heard of them called "verniers" before.
causality0 4y ago
Thank you. That was driving me nuts.
- fortran77 4y ago
  No, that's what a socket set is used for.
  - geocrasher 4y ago
    Reminds me of the time I went into a pub right on the docks of a fishing port. An old seafarer came in and sat next to me. When I asked him about the ships steering wheel shoved down the front of his pants he just looked at me and said "Yar, it's drivin' me nuts!"
jameshart 4y ago
I mean, from reading this the way they work is by detecting the relative offset of two slightly differently pitched scales by measuring a series of capacitances. Honestly it’s a much more ‘vernier’-like mechanism than I’d given it credit for.
cmiller1 4y ago
I've run into several older engineers that call all calipers "verniers." It used to bug me but I guess it's okay for language to be a bit flexible like that. I still call the shelf in front of me in my car the "dashboard" even though it's not blocking the rocks kicked up by a dashing horse anymore.
- zrobotics 4y ago
  The reason this is annoying is that there are other measuring devices that can have a vernier scale though. For example, in my shop I have a cheap micrometer that only measures to thousandths of an inch, and a more expensive one with a vernier scale that measures to ten-thousandths. Offhand, height gauges also commonly have a vernier scale. The reason this is annoying in a shop environment is that there are likely other tools around with a vernier scale. That being said, I've also been around older machinists & engineers who exclusively refer to gauge blocks as "jo blocks", even when there wasn't a single set manufactured by the Johansson company in the building. This is common enough that searching for "jo blocks" returns a dedicated page on mc-master: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/jo-blocks https://www.mcmaster.com/products/jo-blocks
  - SoftTalker 4y ago
    Do you blow your nose with tissue or Kleenex?
    - martyvis 4y ago
      It's funny how this comes up often. Even though Kleenex is by and far the most popular brand here in Australia, I don't ever recall anyone ever saying something like "pass me a Kleenex". Maybe it's our penchant for either shortening things (afternoon becomes arvo) or adding synthesising suffixes for name (David is always Davo, McDonald's are Maccas) that Kleenex doesn't work for us.
      - cwillu 4y ago
        There are regions that refer to any carbonated beverage as “coke”. As in “Hi, can I get a bottle of sprite coke”
  - adolph 4y ago
    "There are only two people I take my hat off to. One is the president of the United States and the other is Mr. Johansson from Sweden." --Henry M. Leland, Founder of Cadillac and Lincoln automobile companies From Machine Thinking video "Origins of Precision": https://youtu.be/gNRnrn5DE58?t=652 https://youtu.be/gNRnrn5DE58?t=652
somat 4y ago
Was going to make the same comment, but was uncertain, so I read the article, it does look like it uses a vernier sort of mechanism to get much higher precision than a plain measurement would.

If they don’t have a vernier scale they’re just calipers

DanTheManPR 4y ago

This must be a regionalism; I've never heard of them called "verniers" before.

causality0 4y ago

Thank you. That was driving me nuts.

fortran77 4y ago
No, that's what a socket set is used for.
- geocrasher 4y ago
  Reminds me of the time I went into a pub right on the docks of a fishing port. An old seafarer came in and sat next to me. When I asked him about the ships steering wheel shoved down the front of his pants he just looked at me and said "Yar, it's drivin' me nuts!"

jameshart 4y ago

I mean, from reading this the way they work is by detecting the relative offset of two slightly differently pitched scales by measuring a series of capacitances. Honestly it’s a much more ‘vernier’-like mechanism than I’d given it credit for.

cmiller1 4y ago

I've run into several older engineers that call all calipers "verniers." It used to bug me but I guess it's okay for language to be a bit flexible like that. I still call the shelf in front of me in my car the "dashboard" even though it's not blocking the rocks kicked up by a dashing horse anymore.

zrobotics 4y ago
The reason this is annoying is that there are other measuring devices that can have a vernier scale though. For example, in my shop I have a cheap micrometer that only measures to thousandths of an inch, and a more expensive one with a vernier scale that measures to ten-thousandths. Offhand, height gauges also commonly have a vernier scale. The reason this is annoying in a shop environment is that there are likely other tools around with a vernier scale. That being said, I've also been around older machinists & engineers who exclusively refer to gauge blocks as "jo blocks", even when there wasn't a single set manufactured by the Johansson company in the building. This is common enough that searching for "jo blocks" returns a dedicated page on mc-master: https://www.mcmaster.com/products/jo-blocks https://www.mcmaster.com/products/jo-blocks
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  Do you blow your nose with tissue or Kleenex?
  - martyvis 4y ago
    It's funny how this comes up often. Even though Kleenex is by and far the most popular brand here in Australia, I don't ever recall anyone ever saying something like "pass me a Kleenex". Maybe it's our penchant for either shortening things (afternoon becomes arvo) or adding synthesising suffixes for name (David is always Davo, McDonald's are Maccas) that Kleenex doesn't work for us.
    - cwillu 4y ago
      There are regions that refer to any carbonated beverage as “coke”. As in “Hi, can I get a bottle of sprite coke”
- adolph 4y ago
  "There are only two people I take my hat off to. One is the president of the United States and the other is Mr. Johansson from Sweden." --Henry M. Leland, Founder of Cadillac and Lincoln automobile companies From Machine Thinking video "Origins of Precision": https://youtu.be/gNRnrn5DE58?t=652 https://youtu.be/gNRnrn5DE58?t=652

somat 4y ago

Was going to make the same comment, but was uncertain, so I read the article, it does look like it uses a vernier sort of mechanism to get much higher precision than a plain measurement would.