*Support What We Do at The Katz-Moses Store-* bit.ly/KMWstore20 *High End Blem Squares for cheap:* lddy.no/fdk9 *Great Mid Range Digital Calipers:* lddy.no/mpl3 *High End Mitutoyo Calipers:* amzn.to/3faCxY6 *How to use combo and T- Squares Video (shows/talks about blem squares):* ua-cam.com/video/5Bvd7JD6jYA/v-deo.html
There's a fourth place / side you can use for measurements. The one on the back of the calipers is what most people use to measure depth, but due to the relatively small contact surfaces there's an inherent risk of not having the calipers perfectly perpendicular. On the opposite side of the calipers (the front) you have wider surfaces to register against that make it much easier to have your calipers perfectly perpendicular to the top surface.
Dial calipers are my favorite by far. Had too many troubles with electronic digital calipers losing their zero or the battery going flat, and it's oddly almost impossible to find a good quality vernier caliper these days. I keep one dual-scale metric and inch-decimal, and one inch-fractional that reads out in 1/64th increments which is perfect for woodworking. Bonus tip: don't close the jaws of the caliper all the way when you store them, you can trap moisture between the jaws and cause corrosion. Backing them off a hair before tossing them in the drawer will keep that from happening.
Two things I learned today. 1) all the different uses for a caliper 2) never use these videos to set an exact 2 minute timer. I do love all these tips though
You can also measure a step using the other face of the head, sometimes more accurate than the depth gauge because it gives a wider (more square) reference edge.
Fully agree. And you don't even need to transfer the measurement to the square. You can actually use a marking knife directly off the end of the calipers
@@AlexFuniciello Absolutely. I only resort to the skinny depth feature as a last resort. The step - as we seem to be calling it - is more solid, and way easier to make square to the work piece.
Interesting thing I just learned yesterday at my day job.... You can use the top portion of the caliper as a depth measuring tools as well. The two top surfaces are machined flat so they meet up. I thought I knew everything about a caliper until an engineer used it in on a television show I'm shooting. Thanks for the help tips Jonathan Katz-Moses!
Ah, thank you. I had seen this in Next Level Carpentry videos and could never figure out what he was doing. Your explanation + a little tinkering just now, and I see it.
There is a second depth gauge on the calipers on the head rather than the tail. The tail tends to be a "wobbly" place to use for measure and is really intended for bores where the tool stem can bridge both sides of the hole for stability. If you are measuring a step, use the flat on the head. Much more stable!!! You may have to look at the BACK of the caliper head and move them in and out to figure out the spot I'm referring to. Someone showed me that years ago and I do most of my offset measuring that way now. AWESOME tips Jonathan!
When you get your "Intro" ready, you might want to consider calling it "Three Minute Thursdays". You haven't hit two minutes yet, but you've been spot on for three. Thanks for the tips and information. I have learned a lot from you.
Most users of caliper's are not aware that you can also use the backside of the two surfaces to measure a shoulder distance and scribe a line or just check a distance.
Yes! I bought one for approx. $35 that have an option to limit accuracy to the 32nd if you're doing rougher work. I use them all the time for everything. I almost never use a tape measure anymore for distances under 6". Love the tip on transferring to the combo square. Thanks!
So... when I’m working on a critical piece I use mine at the end of the day and the following morning to measure and document wood movement from temperature and humidity changes. Nerdy I know, but I have developed a better understanding of how different species will react to environmental changes from my shop, shipping, to storage to a gallery and if I’m lucky someone’s home.
I was recently watching a documentary about a Japanese craftsmen who does the same thing. He has several projects going on at the same time and sometimes he won't work on a peice because of the weather and how the wood reacts.
JKM, how often do you use micrometers? I’m own some from my days in the Corps when we’d do our own long range loading. The only uses I’ve really found is for checking saw set, checking out drill bits that may be overly worn and I need it dead on, and the like. I use a pin micrometer in my saw slots when aligning the top to arbor/blade too or in building a new sled jig that needs to be bang on, but then too I think that’s pretty common among woodworkers. I’ve rewatched those this morning and thought I’d ask your thoughts brother. Happy Spring to you and yours -B
This was a great video! I knew how to use the basic functions of my Scherr-Tumico calipers but not the other parts. Thanks! An I find swap meets, antique stores, eBay, and Etsy to be places to look for vintage but good calipers.
Awesome video as always man really hope to get to meet you someday your an awesome dude love the stop block and dovetail jig I got from you very awesome keep up the great content man!!
About 18mm. Most manufacturers call 24mm to an inch. That way they have nice round numbers. 6mm=1/4”..12mm =1/2”. 18mm =3/4” and 14mm =1”. Same with planed timber thicknesses.
Fantastic, Jonathan! Thanks for the tips! 😊 My personal biggest problem with calipers are those batteries... They leak and screw your equipment. 😒 I thought about using a small lipo battery and a TP4056 to make it rechargeable... But it would take too much space. 😕 Anyway, I'm still looking for some solution. Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
I have heard of it... especially for weekend woodworkers who might not use a caliper for a while and then come back and find the battery gone bad... Like me. I also saw a video with storage on the wall beside the caliper for batteries for that particular caliper size, little holes drilled with Forstner bits, I think. It's a good idea and I am taking the batteries out of my caliper with each project.
Be aware that the different faces don't always line up. To check them, wipe the inside blades (the main blades, used for measuring thickness) and zero them out. Then find a flat surface and butt the depth gauges (the ends of the calipers) against them. It's not unusual (especially on less expensive calipers) to find a discrepancy of a few thousandths of an inch. This doesn't have to be a problem, just remember to subtract the difference from the depth of the hole to get the true depth.
Another helpful tip, perhaps you could borrow from Disney though to help the title to keep it accurate. "Two Minutes + Tuesdays". All joking aside, it doesn't matter what you call it, people will watch.
My most common use is that I measure the size of an object, set that to zero and then I can find how far away from that measurement subsequent items in the batch are.
I've been a fan of dial calipers for years. I'm currently on my third, I don't break them I loose the locking thumb screw. Anybody else have this problem, any ideas on where to get replacements. Most manufacturers want almost the price of a new caliper for the freakin thumb screw.
Before I get roasted for misusing accurate measuring equipment, I'll say that I started my toolmaking apprenticeship in 1967 and worked as a toolmaker and design engineer for 40 years at Ford Product Development in the UK. Goodness knows how many calipers I used and wore out over the years, but the vernier I started with lasted a long long time. I wore out two dial calipers, and one digital caliper. I still have a second digital caliper plus another I keep as a back up. I use one of the digital calipers for marking by scratching offsets from an edge, and the other I try to take better care of, but I have refreshed the points on the marking caliper using diamond sharpeners on the outside edge. It only takes a minute to make them sharp again. I'd love to own 300mm calipers but now I am retired I don't want to pay the cost of them, so I use 1-2-3 and 25-50-75mm blocks to extend the range. I think most people know that you can zero a digital caliper on a hole size, and measure the distance between centres of two holes of a similar size. The ability to zero calipers is useful in lots of situations like when matching size to a pattern. Instead of working out how much to take off, if the caliper is zeroed on the pattern, you know exactly. I use them for precisely measuring how much to move a fence on a saw/router table, although I mostly use a DTI for that.
Jonathan’s advice about avoiding cheap calipers is good advice ... the cheap digital ones are just useless and one thing I always hate about the digital ones is the batteries... perhaps this experience is limited to me but I found the batteries just did not last. I love a simple metric, manual, quality metal calliper. No batteries and I simply trust the measurement more than a digital one. That being said, Lee Valley makes some cheap plastic ones that are useful for many aspects of woodworking. I would not rely on them for actually giving me an exact measurement but as Jonathan shows, the callipers biggest use is transferring measurements and using the inside to outside and depth stop features... for that the measuring scale doesn’t even need to be on the tool, so the plastic ones work perfectly and I throw them all over the shop. Great gifts to all your woodwork buddies!
Baltic plywood is manufactured in a country that uses the metric system. The US is one of the very last country to manufacture things using the Imperial measure system. The reason your plywood does not measure 3/4" is because it was never intended to be dimensioned as 3/4", but rather 18 mm! It is metric plywood, not Imperial plywood. Only 3/4" American made plywood is intended to measure as 3/4" thick!
Most useful tool in the shop? Maybe. I use mine all the time, both at my real job and when puttering around in the garage. You don't even need to transfer your size to a square to scribe measurements, the points of the caliper are plenty sharp and hard enough to mark any wood and many metals.
I used calipers as a teenager. Wanted to get a super accurate reading when girls asked how big it was...get your mind out of the gutter! I’m talking about my science fair trophies!
Just make it three minute Thursdays and you'll be set I've always been concerned about my caliper use, I never know how tight to "clamp" it. Am I too loose, am I too tight, what's the more accurate reading, does it even matter?
You ran over your two minutes, but we won't hold it against you. Some great tips, like aquiring the depth/thickness of your material and setting your table-saw [or router] from the automatically set depth gauge. Thanks.
You used the wrong way to measure depth. The end bar is only for small holes. For a step on the outside like you measured, you use the step measure by putting the end of the jaw on the surface and then the back jaw is used to measure the step. Because there is a fairly large flat/straight surface on the end of the top jaw you can make sure you are getting a good measurement.
*Support What We Do at The Katz-Moses Store-* bit.ly/KMWstore20
*High End Blem Squares for cheap:* lddy.no/fdk9
*Great Mid Range Digital Calipers:* lddy.no/mpl3
*High End Mitutoyo Calipers:* amzn.to/3faCxY6
*How to use combo and T- Squares Video (shows/talks about blem squares):* ua-cam.com/video/5Bvd7JD6jYA/v-deo.html
There's a fourth place / side you can use for measurements. The one on the back of the calipers is what most people use to measure depth, but due to the relatively small contact surfaces there's an inherent risk of not having the calipers perfectly perpendicular. On the opposite side of the calipers (the front) you have wider surfaces to register against that make it much easier to have your calipers perfectly perpendicular to the top surface.
I forgot about that one. great tip.
Dial calipers are my favorite by far. Had too many troubles with electronic digital calipers losing their zero or the battery going flat, and it's oddly almost impossible to find a good quality vernier caliper these days. I keep one dual-scale metric and inch-decimal, and one inch-fractional that reads out in 1/64th increments which is perfect for woodworking.
Bonus tip: don't close the jaws of the caliper all the way when you store them, you can trap moisture between the jaws and cause corrosion. Backing them off a hair before tossing them in the drawer will keep that from happening.
Two things I learned today. 1) all the different uses for a caliper 2) never use these videos to set an exact 2 minute timer.
I do love all these tips though
Slowly learning woodworking as a hobby, and this Two Minute Tuesday concept, a blessing truly
Thank you so much
You can also measure a step using the other face of the head, sometimes more accurate than the depth gauge because it gives a wider (more square) reference edge.
The step measurement method would have been a much better way to set the square.
Definitely what I use the most, also for transferring measurements.
Fully agree. And you don't even need to transfer the measurement to the square. You can actually use a marking knife directly off the end of the calipers
I just made the same comment not realizing you have already covered it..
@@AlexFuniciello Absolutely. I only resort to the skinny depth feature as a last resort. The step - as we seem to be calling it - is more solid, and way easier to make square to the work piece.
Interesting thing I just learned yesterday at my day job.... You can use the top portion of the caliper as a depth measuring tools as well. The two top surfaces are machined flat so they meet up. I thought I knew everything about a caliper until an engineer used it in on a television show I'm shooting. Thanks for the help tips Jonathan Katz-Moses!
Yeah I totally forgot to mention that one too. They are so useful!
Ah, thank you. I had seen this in Next Level Carpentry videos and could never figure out what he was doing. Your explanation + a little tinkering just now, and I see it.
The only reason I look forward to Tuesdays! Thanks!
Our pleasure!
There is a second depth gauge on the calipers on the head rather than the tail. The tail tends to be a "wobbly" place to use for measure and is really intended for bores where the tool stem can bridge both sides of the hole for stability. If you are measuring a step, use the flat on the head. Much more stable!!! You may have to look at the BACK of the caliper head and move them in and out to figure out the spot I'm referring to. Someone showed me that years ago and I do most of my offset measuring that way now. AWESOME tips Jonathan!
When you get your "Intro" ready, you might want to consider calling it "Three Minute Thursdays". You haven't hit two minutes yet, but you've been spot on for three. Thanks for the tips and information. I have learned a lot from you.
Great tips.....thanks so much!
Great information, thanks.
Sometimes just the tip is all you need.
Also I vote for three minute Thursday because you seem to average three mins more than two minutes 🤣
Great Video! Thank You!
Two Minutes! We've got time for that, love these videos!
Good stuff Jonathan, but I think you better go with 3 minute Thursdays.
Please do a video on hand planing tips!!
I got some of the blem machinist squares and they are my most used layout tool now! So glad you showed them
Great Video!!
I never knew how to properly use these calipers. Especially the depth gauge. It’s AUTOMATIC!
The BEST. Measure with one and the other two are exactly the same.
@@katzmosestools Great content !!!!!!!!!!!!!
Received my kaz moses dovetail jig today looking forward to using them thanks Jonathan 💯👍
Most users of caliper's are not aware that you can also use the backside of the two surfaces to measure a shoulder distance and scribe a line or just check a distance.
Most digital calipers will display thousands of an inch, fractions and metric. This is one of my favorite features!
Yeah I love being able to switch back and forth.
Yes! I bought one for approx. $35 that have an option to limit accuracy to the 32nd if you're doing rougher work. I use them all the time for everything. I almost never use a tape measure anymore for distances under 6". Love the tip on transferring to the combo square. Thanks!
Yeah i use mine for everything under 6 inches. The table saw, workbench, bathroom... GENTLEMAN!
@@katzmosestools, ba dum...pissssss
@@katzmosestools We're going to need bigger calipers! I mean because the sink I'm getting measurements on is longer than 6".......
Kinda seems like a three minute Thursday may be more appropriate lol but love these videos and learn a lot during them. Keep it up
Hey really, 2 minutes or 20 minutes....love your stuff~! Keep it coming~!
Use mine all the time, even the cheap ones are good enough for woodworking :)
Would you please make a video on using chisels? Thanks!
So... when I’m working on a critical piece I use mine at the end of the day and the following morning to measure and document wood movement from temperature and humidity changes. Nerdy I know, but I have developed a better understanding of how different species will react to environmental changes from my shop, shipping, to storage to a gallery and if I’m lucky someone’s home.
I was recently watching a documentary about a Japanese craftsmen who does the same thing. He has several projects going on at the same time and sometimes he won't work on a peice because of the weather and how the wood reacts.
I’m really digging this format, loved the joke as an intro ;-) Keep on hitting us with those tips!
JKM, how often do you use micrometers? I’m own some from my days in the Corps when we’d do our own long range loading. The only uses I’ve really found is for checking saw set, checking out drill bits that may be overly worn and I need it dead on, and the like. I use a pin micrometer in my saw slots when aligning the top to arbor/blade too or in building a new sled jig that needs to be bang on, but then too I think that’s pretty common among woodworkers. I’ve rewatched those this morning and thought I’d ask your thoughts brother. Happy Spring to you and yours -B
Keep it coming with the content and enjoyed the content.
This was a great video! I knew how to use the basic functions of my Scherr-Tumico calipers but not the other parts. Thanks! An I find swap meets, antique stores, eBay, and Etsy to be places to look for vintage but good calipers.
I love my calipers. But I got tired of the battery going dead, so I switch to dial calipers. Perfect.
Do we have an intro yet? :D Funny every time!
Hi Jon. Sorry I missed the name and model of the electric calipers thx Joe
Can you make a video of that small bench top work bent the small one it’s so cool
I have made two. Look for my Moxon Vise videos
thank you for the info learned a lot
Thanks for the great info👍
Awesome video as always man really hope to get to meet you someday your an awesome dude love the stop block and dovetail jig I got from you very awesome keep up the great content man!!
thank you my friend! Come to WorkBench Con next year
What is a good mid range brand or model to buy?
About 18mm. Most manufacturers call 24mm to an inch. That way they have nice round numbers. 6mm=1/4”..12mm =1/2”. 18mm =3/4” and 14mm =1”. Same with planed timber thicknesses.
18mm is ~.709 inches btw, so it's not a full 3/4 - calipers reading .71 is very close to spec
Super video as callipers is a great measuring tool used right.
What is the 3/32" gap at the inner edge of the inside and outside jaws?
You can see the gap when you close the jaws.
Fantastic, Jonathan! Thanks for the tips! 😊
My personal biggest problem with calipers are those batteries... They leak and screw your equipment. 😒
I thought about using a small lipo battery and a TP4056 to make it rechargeable... But it would take too much space. 😕
Anyway, I'm still looking for some solution.
Stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
I have NEVER heard of that happening. You need to get a different brand my friend. Check out the ones I link in the pinned comment.
@@katzmosestools Sure, I will! But yeah, happened 3 times to me, with different brand batteries. 😕
I have heard of it... especially for weekend woodworkers who might not use a caliper for a while and then come back and find the battery gone bad... Like me. I also saw a video with storage on the wall beside the caliper for batteries for that particular caliper size, little holes drilled with Forstner bits, I think. It's a good idea and I am taking the batteries out of my caliper with each project.
Always had that problem when I went to use my dads calipers - duff battery of one sort. I've never had that problem with my verniers :-)
Thanks! Ive been a long time fan of the mitutoyo. What watch are you wearing?
Be aware that the different faces don't always line up. To check them, wipe the inside blades (the main blades, used for measuring thickness) and zero them out. Then find a flat surface and butt the depth gauges (the ends of the calipers) against them. It's not unusual (especially on less expensive calipers) to find a discrepancy of a few thousandths of an inch. This doesn't have to be a problem, just remember to subtract the difference from the depth of the hole to get the true depth.
Another helpful tip, perhaps you could borrow from Disney though to help the title to keep it accurate. "Two Minutes + Tuesdays". All joking aside, it doesn't matter what you call it, people will watch.
Hi - simple question. What are your top two to buy. Do you sell them?
My most common use is that I measure the size of an object, set that to zero and then I can find how far away from that measurement subsequent items in the batch are.
Three minute Tuesday might be more appropriate.
Let’s just make it three minute tuesdays. The alliteration still works and since the intro isn’t done yet ... :)
What model is that mitutoyo caliper? Why did you get that particular one?
I've been a fan of dial calipers for years. I'm currently on my third, I don't break them I loose the locking thumb screw. Anybody else have this problem, any ideas on where to get replacements. Most manufacturers want almost the price of a new caliper for the freakin thumb screw.
I've never lost one but if you figure it out please share.
Curious...what caliper do you find using the most in your shop? 6", 8", or 12"?
6"
Before I get roasted for misusing accurate measuring equipment, I'll say that I started my toolmaking apprenticeship in 1967 and worked as a toolmaker and design engineer for 40 years at Ford Product Development in the UK. Goodness knows how many calipers I used and wore out over the years, but the vernier I started with lasted a long long time. I wore out two dial calipers, and one digital caliper. I still have a second digital caliper plus another I keep as a back up. I use one of the digital calipers for marking by scratching offsets from an edge, and the other I try to take better care of, but I have refreshed the points on the marking caliper using diamond sharpeners on the outside edge. It only takes a minute to make them sharp again. I'd love to own 300mm calipers but now I am retired I don't want to pay the cost of them, so I use 1-2-3 and 25-50-75mm blocks to extend the range. I think most people know that you can zero a digital caliper on a hole size, and measure the distance between centres of two holes of a similar size. The ability to zero calipers is useful in lots of situations like when matching size to a pattern. Instead of working out how much to take off, if the caliper is zeroed on the pattern, you know exactly. I use them for precisely measuring how much to move a fence on a saw/router table, although I mostly use a DTI for that.
You forgot to mention the "Step" function of the caliper.
Hmmm....Maybe Three Minute Thursday!
Jonathan’s advice about avoiding cheap calipers is good advice ... the cheap digital ones are just useless and one thing I always hate about the digital ones is the batteries... perhaps this experience is limited to me but I found the batteries just did not last. I love a simple metric, manual, quality metal calliper. No batteries and I simply trust the measurement more than a digital one. That being said, Lee Valley makes some cheap plastic ones that are useful for many aspects of woodworking. I would not rely on them for actually giving me an exact measurement but as Jonathan shows, the callipers biggest use is transferring measurements and using the inside to outside and depth stop features... for that the measuring scale doesn’t even need to be on the tool, so the plastic ones work perfectly and I throw them all over the shop. Great gifts to all your woodwork buddies!
Baltic plywood is manufactured in a country that uses the metric system. The US is one of the very last country to manufacture things using the Imperial measure system.
The reason your plywood does not measure 3/4" is because it was never intended to be dimensioned as 3/4", but rather 18 mm! It is metric plywood, not Imperial plywood. Only 3/4" American made plywood is intended to measure as 3/4" thick!
Woodshop humor is the best. On an unrelated note, why is your wood always white and brown?
Jonathan, great vids, thank you for the content. How do I get your dovetail guides in the UK, pls?
We ship worldwide from my website. Cheers
waiting to go out with the wife" cheers...rr Normandy, France
Part of being a straight man...
Waiting on a woman.
Always!
;-)
61st.
Just the tip....don’t care if you staged it or not it’s still funny. I’m 37 going on 16. Did you use the calipers to measure the tip.
hahahaha I like the long setup on a joke. that was 4 videos in the making.
Baltic ply is not 3/4 sir, we use metric in Europe. This ply is actually 18mm. Boom - science! :)
Most useful tool in the shop? Maybe.
I use mine all the time, both at my real job and when puttering around in the garage. You don't even need to transfer your size to a square to scribe measurements, the points of the caliper are plenty sharp and hard enough to mark any wood and many metals.
I used calipers as a teenager. Wanted to get a super accurate reading when girls asked how big it was...get your mind out of the gutter! I’m talking about my science fair trophies!
Just make it three minute Thursdays and you'll be set
I've always been concerned about my caliper use, I never know how tight to "clamp" it. Am I too loose, am I too tight, what's the more accurate reading, does it even matter?
Wait, why would you be concerned about how tight to clamp it? All but the tightest makes sense to me, but I'd like to know your reasoning
i burnt my toast....this video went on to long! Going to get a good caliper now!
At this point, if there is ever an intro I will feel cheated.
Three Minute Thursday might be better???
You ran over your two minutes, but we won't hold it against you. Some great tips, like aquiring the depth/thickness of your material and setting your table-saw [or router] from the automatically set depth gauge.
Thanks.
Thank you my friend!
😃👍🏻👊🏻
I think you should just rename it to Three Minute Tuesday.... I think everyone one so far has been 3 minutes :)
30 plus years of doing carpentry and I've never used a caliper. No wonder I keep having gaps in all my shit.😃
You used the wrong way to measure depth. The end bar is only for small holes. For a step on the outside like you measured, you use the step measure by putting the end of the jaw on the surface and then the back jaw is used to measure the step. Because there is a fairly large flat/straight surface on the end of the top jaw you can make sure you are getting a good measurement.
There is one more depth you didn't show .
😇🇴🇲💚
Sometimes, just the tip can be fine. (I hear :P )
(I'm not helping, am I?)