# Instruments and Equipment > Builders and Repair >  Thickness calipers

## craigw

Anyone willing to share their designs for shop made thickness calipers and pros and cons on the subject? I believe there was a thread some time back but I haven't been able to locate it in archives. Thanks!

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## Gail Hester

Ive posted this before but heres the one I made. I used a Sears depth gauge (about $30) and some scrap Mahogany. It works great and Ive made many tops and backs with it.

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## craigw

Thanks Gail!

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## Magnus Geijer

I have made one as well, from scrap maple, but it really doesn't have any benefits over Gail's, so I'll be lazy and skip the pictures. I did, however, get the dial from Harbor Freight for $6.99, and it's been plenty accurate (100th).

/Magnus

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## Darryl Wolfe

save some time and effort...$69
regular ebay item

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## Luthier Vandross

We just use old loop style calipers, with inscribed lines only to the thicknesses we normally use.. it helps not having to look at all those little lines, although I like the look of the sewing machines all you ladys made..



M

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## craigw

Thanks guys, and you too Luther! I'm always entertained by your levity. By the way, I used to own a Randy Wood A model back in 74-75 when my 24 Loar had been stolen and later returned. Was a great little mando.
craigw

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## Rob Powell

I don't know Darryl...there's something about making your own that just seems like good karma...

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## Darryl Wolfe

I know where you're coming from beergeek...I made my own too...similar to those above but with no baseplate.....but may get one of those

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## mandough

Hi,
Here's a caliper that I just made yesterday. #It's made out of 3/4 in. plywood and has a detatchable base. #Total cost, about $13 for the dial gauge and the rest was scrap laying around.

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## craigw

Just picked up dial guage at Harbor Freight for $13. Official name is '1" Travel Machinist's Dial Indicator'.
Now I can go to work and throw something together. Thanks for everyone's input!

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## Michael Lewis

Craig, that dial indicator is probably in thousandths of inch. Most plate maps I know of are in mm. It's easy to convert in your head, keep in mind that 1 mm = .040"

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## craigw

Thanks Michael! See you at Wolf Mountain.

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## Rob Powell

Hey Michael,

What's up with your site? I tried to steal a pickguard image to post in another forum here under my favorite pickguard but couldn't get the site to come up...

That's a sad thing for me as I look at several times a week for inspiration...

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## Ellie

I did mine out of dumpster scrap, and a desire to not look at ugly plywood.

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## sunburst

Ellie, An irrepressible sence of style just can't be hidden.

Enjoyed seeing the Jessica Rabbit mando in Tacoma.

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## Bill Snyder

If you want to build one really cheap and 1/32nd of an inch is accurate enough then you could build one like I did. This is just a 3' Lufkin tape measure that measures to the 32nd of an inch. 
1 inch is my starting point instead of 0. The spring action of the tape measure is enough to return it to zero (one).
Cost was $2.07 for the tape and my time and some scrap maple, glues and screws

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## Bill Snyder

Closeup of the tape.

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## Chris Baird

Thats great, when I first looked at it I thought it was a joke. Then I looked closer and thought "it probably works".

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## Stephanie Reiser

I purchased the Harbor freight dial for $6.99 that will measure the thickness of paper. I made my whole device in half an hour. Stew-Mac can keep their $159 one. 
Stephanie

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## Jim Garber

> I purchased the Harbor freight dial for $6.99 that will measure the thickness of paper. I made my whole device in half an hour. Stew-Mac can keep their $159 one. 
> Stephanie


Anybody have the tiem number or direct link for that dial? I can;t seem to locate it on the Harbor Freight site.

Thanks
Jim

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## Stephanie Reiser

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=33675

Jim, hopefully that will take you to the dial gauge.
If not let me know.
Stephanie

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## Jim Garber

Strange, but I can't get on the Harbor Freight site at all, now. They must be having some sort of problems. I will try again later or tomorrow.

Jim

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## chipotle

Great thread! Thanks a million to all, this answered a lot of questions for me as far as planing/sanding accurately the top and bottom.

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## Jim Garber

I was finally able to get on the Harbor Freight site. There are two dial indicators both for $13.99 (none that I can find for $6.99):

1" Travel Machinist's Dial Indicator

1" Dial Indicator

Then there is this Jeweled Dial Test Indicator for $29.99.

Any clue as to which one is better?

Jim

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## grandmainger

> I was finally able to get on the Harbor Freight site. There are two dial indicators both for $13.99 (none that I can find for $6.99)


Jim, I think the $6.99 price was a special offer, and it's now gone back to the regular price. Still dirt cheap though!

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## RJinRI

I 'm about to build a thickness gauge & recently received the 1" Travelers Machinist type. It came "not zeroed"..any one know how to adjust the the zero point, and still keep the dial in upright orientation? It most likely doesnt matter, but I'm thinking ease of use here.

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## JEStanek

Can anyone give a rough plan of how to build one with the Harbor Freight dial added onto a wood frame... how to attach or is it really simple? I was just gonna use dowling and a bic pen... even less expensive... Thanks in advance.

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## RJinRI

> I 'm about to build a thickness gauge & recently received the 1" Travelers Machinist type. It came "not zeroed"..any one know how to adjust the the zero point, and still keep the dial in upright orientation? It most likely doesnt matter, but I'm thinking ease of use here.


[QUOTE]...ahhh...' figured it out..by placing a small washer under set screw knob on top of the gauge, the pointer #is closer to zero at rest condition and a 1/4 turn will put it to 0.

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## PaulD

In reviewing this thread, I think awards need to be given out. Here are my votes: 

Most Functional - Darryl (I like the handles and stuff)
Most Stylistic - Ellie (No competition)
Most Frugal - Bill Snyder (Or as my kids would say; "That's Ghetto!" in a good way!  )

Paul Doubek

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## dperry

I also made one with the harbor freight dial indicator. I didnt have any scrap wood around but did have metal since that's what I am used to dealing with anyway. So I made mine out of 1/4" square tubing. So there are many different ways to get the job done.

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## ShaneJ

> I 'm about to build a thickness gauge & recently received the 1" Travelers Machinist type. It came "not zeroed"..any one know how to adjust the the zero point, and still keep the dial in upright orientation? It most likely doesnt matter, but I'm thinking ease of use here.


It starts out in "negative" territory to allow you to adjust your caliper/stand so that when the "jaw" is fully closed, the plunger is resting on the fixed stop and the indicator reads "0". I don't know if that makes sense or not. Look at a picture of one of the luthiers' thickness calipers....they all have a screw or carriage bolt mounted to the bottom jaw that the dial indicator's plunger comes to rest on. That screw/bolt can be adjusted up or down until the dial reads "0".

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## RJinRI

SJennings...Thank you..I get the idea !; off to start cutting the frame

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## Frank Ford

Almost 35 years ago, I made this little caliper to measure a couple of Loar F-5 tops:



I just used a piece of 3/16" rod and some square brass tubing from the hobby shop. #A bit of rosin core soft solder has held things together quite well.



You can't really see it, but the plunger has a little wood tip to avoid scratching finishes.

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## RJinRI

Completed mine today, made from scrap mahogany a local carpenter was tossing. Thanks for everones' suggestions.

picture , with dimensions is here:

http://www.eichhoffelectronics.com/k8zfj....age.jpg

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## mikeyes

I went to th Harbor Freight store in Appleton, WI and they still had the dial indicators on sale for $6.99. You might try a local HF store.

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## chipotle

I got one yesterday in Chattanooga for the $6.99 sale price as well. Never been to a HF store before but I am now on the mailing list. Great prices!

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## Jim Garber

I just found these plans at International Luthier Supply. Scrool down to "VIolin & Viola Caliper Kit".

Also one even cheaper (just the plans) at Elderly Instruments.

Jim

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## craigw

Here is the calipers I built after starting this thread a few monthe back.

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## craigw

I used 3/4" birch plywood to make the frame. I cut a 3/4" dado on the base plate for the caliper frame to snugly fit in and put it together with Titebond and countersunk screws up from the bottom. I cut a notch in the top end of the caliper frame to accomodate the machinist gauge and placed a hose washer between the gauge and frame to snub it up. A SS carriage bolt was attached to the plywood strip attached next to the caliper frame by countersinking from the underside of the strip enough to allow for a washer and nut. you also need a washer on the top side of the strip and a jamb nut. The plywood caliper frame will flex slightly and is affected by temperature and humidity changes. Not to worry! It is still an accurate tool and you can adjust the highth of the carriage bolt by backing off the jamb nut and turning the bolt slightly to set the gauge where zero is at 12 O'Clock.

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## pchristi

Just got my IV Kit over the holidays and am very excited about staring this project. #Thought I would share how I made my thickness caliper. #I was able to find the dial indicator from Harbor Freight at the $6.99 sale price. #Since I didn't have alot of extra wood laying around for the frame I decided to improvise. #I looked around the garage for whatever I could find that I thought would work and ended up using an old pair of aero bar extensions...same kind as Greg Lemond used in one of his Tour de France victories. #Mounted the dial in one end and a broom handle in the other. #Adjusted the broom handle to "zero" the dial and clamped it down. #Drilled a hole in a 2x4 scrap to accept the broom handle and support the frame.(see Photos) #Seems to do the job just fine. #
Also, works well as a thickness marker by removing it from the base and replacing the dial with a clamp & pencil(not pictured).

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## pchristi

Another view.....

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## Bill Snyder

So long as there is NO FLEX in the aero bar extension it should work.

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## JEStanek

He'll make Yellow Jersey Mandos! All blondes.

Jamie

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## Gavin Baird

This one I mde some years ago...G

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## pchristi

> So long as there is NO FLEX in the aero bar extension it should work


The aero bars can be flexed" with considerable effort and do spring right back to their original position (zero). Also, the effort/force required to flex the bars is far greater than what is needed to allow the dials probe to move.

One observation regarding the various caliper designs that may be of interest for other IV kit builders  If you have a IV kit (W/sides already mounted to the top) it will be easier to use if the zero point is above the lower caliper arm by a distance greater than the rim height. Otherwise it will not be possible to work on the outside of the top (with the rims facing down). Marking the thickness on the outside of the top at a given point would have to be done from the underside or you could flip the whole caliper over but you would then be reading the gauge upside down.  Just a thought.

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## mandomaker

I went on ebay and bought a deep throat caliper micrometer which works well, but it looks like the dial type is quicker to read-I may need to build a cool stand for it it, looks like.

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## banjo1

Frank Ford that is a great little/dual use caliper. 
I like it so much Im a Gona build me one.
Thanks

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## Darren Kern

Resurrecting another old thread... I'd like to build something similar to craigw's setup, but I can't think of a good way to securely mount the dial gauge. If you look at Gavin's picture above, you can see how the gauge has a loop in the back. I built one for my first mando construction, but have since thrown it away (except the gauge) because it was a piece of junk.

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## PaulD

I can think of a couple ways to go that might work. If you had a hardwood extension on the end of a setup like Craig's, you could drill that the correct diameter for a slip fit on the bottom of the gauge. The slit up the middle with a bandsaw and drill a hole for a small bolt just outboard of the gauge hole. When you drop the gauge in and tighten the small bolt it will clamp the gauge in place... similar to what it looks like Gavin has going in aluminum.

Another option would be a mortise in the wood frame for the bracket hanging off the back of most dial indicators (see Gavin's pic to see what I'm referring to). Depending on the shape of the bracket you may be able to drill and tap for a set screw to hold the gauge firmly in place. 

I hope that at least gets the thinking gears turning and you can come up with something. 

Paul Doubek

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## Darren Kern

Yeah, that helps, thanks. My first one I just put a heavy duty wood screw through the loop hole in the back and into the end of the wood, and even with it screwed in tight, the gauge pivoted easily.

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## craigw

Okay guys, I just cut a square notch large enough to accomodate the mounting hole that is at the top of the machinists gauge then mounted the gauge with a round head machine screw. Most wood screws have a tapered head and won't give you a positive bite on the mounting flange when tightened. I used 3/4" plywood for the caliper so there is enough thickness to mount the screw after drilling a pilot hole. To give the gauge a little more stability so it fits tightly I mounted a garden hose washer on the back side of it by fitting it over the mounting flange before installing the mounting screw. It's really a pretty simple setup.

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## Larry Simonson

I join the many who have bought IV Kits and built a thickness measuring device. In building this tool I suspected I'd have a problem fitting the top with its ribs already attached into the measeuring position and decided to build one that swings open. The key part was a spring loaded screen door hinge that is not very visible in the two pics. So far it works very well and yields results within a couple of thousandths of my good caliper. Well within the nearest 1/64" generally regarded (I think)as the Luthier's standard.

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## Larry Simonson

Here it the open view.

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## Jim Rowland

Hey Newt.
At first glance it looked like a screwy idea,but now I see some real advantages to your design. Mainly,it solves the aggravating problem of having to pull up on the little topnot in order to slide the plate in. That,in addition to easy admission of a mounted top makes this look like a worthwhile project. Good thinkin',my man.
Jim

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## Larry Simonson

Jim, Thanks for your vote of confidence. I just happened to find a spring loaded door hinge in my junque box and quickly recognized this is what I needed to minimize the mechanical slop in the pivot shaft. In a test of about 50 openings and closings it faithfully returned to the same dial indication plus or minus .001", so I too have confidence.

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## martinedwards

Just bought a gauge in my local independant toolstore. Cost a good bit more than $6.99, but it's still a heap cheaper than stewmac's offering.....

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## Yonkle

CRAIG W. #I really like the high figure plywood you used, is that a (1) piece caliper? #Looks like you used a French Polish Finish too. Great work, really has some good "mojo" to it, some real "eye candy!" if you will!

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## PepCJim

Here is a digital version I stumbled on at Harbor Freight site. http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...emnumber=93295
I haven't made mine yet but all of your ideas look right on. I'm wondering about a release arm to bring the cal. shaft up. It doesn't seem to be too complex??

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## craigw

JD - Thanks for the kind words. They are actually pretty utilitarian. The birch plywood is just from an "off the shelf" handyboard from Home Depot. The vertical or "caliper" section is one piece and the finish is some left over Deft from my furniture repair/refinish days. I still have three sets of calipers including guages that I blanked out but haven't yet assembled or finished. One already has someone's name on it but the other two could find good homes for about $60 and shipping if anyone is interested.

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## buddyellis

They are on sale again for $7.99 + 6.99 shipping.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/cta...Itemnumber=623

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## g_mc

Here's my attempt. Thrown together from what was handy, two piano keys and a couple of pieces from the scrap bin. Really like the digital calipers. Had just a metal scale originally, like some of the others, but this saves me lots of time squinting and second guessing. ...Just hope the missus don't notice the keys missing off'n her piano. :-)

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## Burner

Here's my little gauge

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## Stephanie Reiser

If all y'all promise not to laugh, here is my first thickness gauge that cost me NOTHING except a scrap of pine and 4 inches of 5/16" dowel. I calibrated that dowel with a pen mark for various areas of the top, and a second dowel was calibrated differently for the slightly thinner back plate. Nowadays it sits on the shelf while I use my dial gauge, but I built the first two mandos this way.

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## Stephanie Reiser

Another view.

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## PaulD

> If all y'all promise not to laugh, here is my first thickness gauge that cost me NOTHING except a scrap of pine and 4 inches of 5/16" dowel.


 Ha... ha... ha..  (I never promised!). 

Seriously, that's a great starter caliper! Low investment but it got you building and got the job done. As far as I'm concerned you get extra points for ingenuity and "doing it" rather than letting resources and excuses slow you down. 

Paul Doubek

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## carleshicks

Here are a couple I just built out of aluminum. One is complete I need to finish the other

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## Antlurz

Stephanie...

I'd bet that over the years, many instruments have been built with very similar gauges. A fine enough line, and a smooth enough fit, and there is no reason why you can't get within just a few thousandths of where you want to be. Even the thickness of the pencil line can be part of your measurement.

Great ingenuity!

Ron

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## buddyellis

Here's my first go. Poplar frame with the Harbor Freight $13 analog dial indicator. Wish I'da noticed the $19 digital one, but this will work. I think I will make a new frame out of something more stiff than poplar, (or maybe add some laminations to the back end of it to stiffen it up a little) and make the mouth a bit deeper on the bottom side, but overall it works great.

The 'adjuster' is just a heavy wood screw with a blob of solder on the top of it to 'round it off'. The stock is just 1x4 poplar board, cut a dado into the bottom support.

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## Avi Ziv

Buddy,

I also had some problems with the frame flexing. I went to HomeDepot and bought some steel plates (stright and L shaped) and placed them on both sides of my frame, bolting through. The plates come in various sizes and have 1/4" holes in various places - very convenient. This added stiffness significantly! There's a picture of it on my blog.

Avi

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## Stephanie Reiser

Buddy, I solved the flexing issue by making the frame of the unit from 3/4" scrap plywood. Here is a picture, albiet poor.

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## Gibson A5

Stephanie, what's in the cup? Ebony flakes ? #I know I have drank some ebony, spruce, purple heart, and maple now and then. #It's hard to work and remember to keep your refreshments clean. #I keep a piece of sand paper over my cup when makeing chips (if I remember that is). What do the rest of you do?
Bill P.

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## Stephanie Reiser

its actually inlay filler gunk.
Just kidding. Hot chocolate.
pretty grundgy-looking, huh...

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## buddyellis

Does anyone know where to find one of those topo maps that are out there that show plate thicknesses? I could have sworn I've seen one on the board, but darned if I can find it now.

Thanks

-b

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## grandmainger

> Does anyone know where to find one of those topo maps that are out there that show plate thicknesses? #I could have sworn I've seen one on the board, but darned if I can find it now.


The ones created by Andrew Mowry are in the MIMF Archives. Lots of explanation about how to get them on these threads 
Germain

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## Bill Snyder

Buddy a thread on calipers probably isn't the place for this but look down this page and you will find one map of the top and back of a 1923 Loar as measured by Bill Bussman.

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## Lex Luthier

Here's mine:



Steel frame, sandblasted and painted, with a digital caliper from Lee Valey.

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## Andrew DeMarco

So I just finished my Harbor Freight Gauge caliper. It's the first "wood" project I've ever done in my entire life basically. It looks kinda crapped, but I'm a programmer... working with real "objects" is exciting as hell -- but definitely new. 



The bolt that creates the bottom of the caliper needs to be reinforced. But I was so excited that I just got it operational tonight. I was so proud of myself when it was able to measure the thickness of a piece of paper -- between 3 and 5 thousandths of an inch... however, those numbers reveal variability in the device -- and are thanks to the accuracy of the gauge.

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## D18dave

One more thickness caliper (late to the show).  Might as well add it to the thread for prosperity.  Built out of scrap birch plywood for the base and the caliper.   Capped with a scrap of oak and scrap walnut.  The gauge was $15 at harbour freight.

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## Steve Etter

Well if Dave can be late to the show, surely I can too.  Here is mine.  Like many others, the dial indicator is from Harbor Freight as is the large C-clamp that it is attached to.  I cut off the one end of the clamp to give myself a surface to which I could bolt the indicator and then used a bolt in the other end for a reference.

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## Rob Grant

The first image below is my favorite, cheapest and easiest to use thickness guage. 

The other two images are of the homemade device I use to calibrate the first one with.<g>

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## Hans

Well, well, musta been caliper making weekend! I broke my beloved International violin caliper that I've had for over 30 years. Just slid off the end of the bench.  :Crying: 
So, I got a caliper off ebay, went digital and started making this:



Body is a scrap of Coco, and has a nylon screw threaded into the bottom. Still need to figure out the flipper part, but need to drill a hole into the stem for a pin. Nice thing about it is that it reads in inches (guitars) or mm (mandolins).

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## Peter LaMorte

Here's mine made from a piece of corian.

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## Steve Sorensen

I just found this online . . . kind of late in the chat but a good option I think --
http://www.axehandle.net/gpage.html
Steve

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## Hans

Finished the caliper yesterday. Cannibalized the lever from the old IV caliper. Took 4 cobalt bits and 2 hours to drill the hole in the SS indicator shaft for the pin!

Let's hope this one doesn't jump off the bench!

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## Michael Lewis

Too pretty Hans.  But then it will get "distressed" some before too long. :Wink:   That will take some of the pretty off and leave some handsome.

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## craigw

Cool oak table, Hans. Calipers are pretty spiffy too.

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## Bill Snyder

Just a bump since there is another thread on these started.

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## Bernie Daniel

> Just a bump since there is another thread on these started.


Glad you did -- I never saw that one before.  If anyone ever need evidence to support the phrase "need is the mother of invention"......    I don't really need a thickness calipers but after reading this I'm going to make one!  Off to Harbor Freight  :Smile:

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## slausonm

Just a thought... I am always looking for ways to raise money for the tech club at school.  If I prototype a pattern for cutting out a wood caliper that was ready to pop your own 2" dial indicator into would anybody be interested?  I think I could make a profit for the tech club using 2 thicknesses of 1/2" baltic birch plywood and a thinner laser cut lever to raise the indicator.  In a nut shell, CNC cut the frame similar to Han's design and laser cut the lever out of thinner plywood. Ready to pop your dial indicator into. $20-25 bucks +shipping??????  I could certainly cut them out of a hardwood which would look better, but this would add to the cost. If there is enough interest, I will prototype one. I would be willing to send the prototype to someone for testing and critique. Checks payable to my school tech club... not me.

Thanks, Matt

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## Kip Carter

See that Harbor freight has a nice digital dial indicator for under 30 USD.  
Regards,
Kip...

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## Bernie Daniel

Looks like the throats on these shop built calipers ranges from ~12" to more than 18" -- anyone care to venture what the ideal size would be if someone wanted to do tops and backs ranging from mandolin to mandocello size?

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