bluetooth caliper?

[Janger]

Anybody have a bluetooth digital caliper for recording measurements into your computer? Or maybe the USB kind?

iGaging has a bluetooth model and I'm wondering what people think of it? $65USD with shipping. I imagine mitutoyo has something too. Probably out of my price range. Is bluetooth type reliable? Or would I actually want a wired one?

https://www.amazon.com/iGaging-Elec...words=igaging+bluetooth&qid=1625785773&sr=8-1

 

[Janger]

@Alexander what do you do at work? Measure and write down on a pad? Type it into a screen? Use one of these blue tooth or usb type? Somebody else does it with a CMM?

 

[YYCHM]

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_related.php?RelatedID=2131530392

 

[Janger]

Version with USB cable. $117USD so more! a lot more!.

https://www.amazon.com/iGaging-ABSO...ywords=igaging+USB&qid=1625786346&sr=8-2&th=1

 

[Tom Kitta]

Looks identical to a sub $20 caliper from China. Guess you are paying extra for the BT.

My main worry would be in BT reliability of connection. It had to be quite rock solid or you would need to check all the time - which sort of defeats the purpose.

 

[YYCHM]

https://littlemachineshop.com/products/product_related.php?RelatedID=2131530392

The point of my post was that BT enabled measurement devices must be some what reliable and accepted. At least according to the selection of stuff offered by LMS for them. They have been available for quite some time now.

 

[Dabbler]

what a cool idea!

 

[whydontu]

I‘m vaguely confused. What advantage is there in a Bluetooth DRO versus a conventional hard-wired dedicated display DRO?

 

[YYCHM]

I‘m vaguely confused. What advantage is there in a Bluetooth DRO versus a conventional hard-wired dedicated display DRO?

I think the popularity stems from the fact that the sensors can talk to a cell phone or tablet thus eliminating the need for a large bulky display unit which is usually 1/2 the cost of a conventional DRO setup.

With a conventional DRO display you're locked into the supplied functions. With a cell phone or tablet app you have access to more and potentially free future functions.

@Janger was looking for a method of entering measured values directly into a computer system.

Doesn't interest me in the least.

 

[Janger]

I‘m vaguely confused. What advantage is there in a Bluetooth DRO versus a conventional hard-wired dedicated display DRO?

Quality control for a run of parts. Plunk the numbers into a spreadsheet to record the measurement and apply a tolerance. Is it within drawing specifications? I'd rather not try to transcribe all the measurements by hand. I need to make 20 parts and there are a lot of features on the part. See my thread https://canadianhobbymetalworkers.com/threads/lathe-part-on-the-mill.3614/#post-48201

 

[PeterT]

Janger, is is the reason for a caliper because are you measuring the parts in-situ like on the machine? Reason I ask is calipers maybe aren't the most precise measuring stick unless +/- 0.001" is good enough just to throw a number out.

I have seen encoder outputs for digital dial gauges like pic, typically pillar mounted on a little granite block. So I guess you would null the dial on reference block, slide each part in & (somehow) send this value to the data collector. I guess that would yield +/- deviation to the gage target. I've never used one but I suspect there must be a dedicated app for the indicator. Is it the tabulation you are looking for where every part is dimensionally tagged or you are wanting to evaluation deviation over large numbers or spot parts? Or its more about binning spec vs non-spec parts? A DTI hanging off a Noga works very well in this case but its analog.

Clough42 has a good video comparing various digital calipers but the good stuff IMO is more just about using them, the tactile jaw squeezing & subtle ways measurements can get tricked a bit, be it Mitutoyo or Harbor Freight. That's been my experience too FWIW.

 

[Alexander]

I have some mitutoyo tools with MeasurLink® but I have never tried it. A few years ago I was running production jobs where 100% of the parts were inspected on the CMM. This was a good system because I could quickly review the CMM report and then send it with the part. The customer could see exactly who made the part and what all the dimensions are. I still do that but manually with an inspection report.

 

[Janger]

I bought the iGaging caliper I referenced above. It connects with your computer or whatever via bluetooth. When paired the caliper emulates a bluetooth keyboard. I put the measurements into a spreadsheet. Just put the cursor on the cell you want and hit the button on the caliper - it then types in the measurement and presses return moving you to the next cell down. Pretty convenient and more accurate than me trying to type. See button near my finger on picture.

I've discovered since then my other iGaging depth gauge and height gauge both have Micro USB outputs and all I need is the iGaging USB cable & adapter to connect those devices to the computer as well.

 

[Janger]

Here is my spreadsheet I'm recording values into for QC. The measurement in RED is the one I sent from the caliper under the column Part measured 3.