[marbax]

Clean and close all the way, loosen the lock screw, the one on the left, spin the dial until it is zeroed on the needle, tighten lock screw.

Never seen a needle pointed a six o clock, does it work otherwise?

 

[Curly N]

This caliper is half a turn out of time. Anyone know how you go about adjusting it back to zero when completely closed? I can spin the dial to zero but then the reading is upside down.

View attachment 1746790

There is a gear rack under that cover that also serves as the depth gauge. You got some crap in the gear rack and it made the pinion jump out of time. No use fixing the dial until you clean the rack.

 

[leftex]

Quality calipers used to come with a tool to disengage the gears so you could get things back in time.

 

[Pat McKean]

Quality calipers used to come with a tool to disengage the gears so you could get things back in time.

Yeah... that little hummer was the first thing the new guys lost.

 

[Dustydoo]

As stated, you had or have something in the gear rack. Clean that, then, I believe a thin piece of shim stock or plastic can be slid along the slide and under the dial , then open the calipers. 050.
It's been a while for me.

 

[alant]

Some of the cheaper models will go out of adjustment and cannot be reset. 42 years in manufacturing and have seen lots of the cheap brands. My Browne & Sharp can be adjusted as can the Starret.

Alan

 

[Curly N]

Get some cheap electronic digitals and the dial never gets out of whack.

 

[saskbooknut]

There should be a shimstock tool that inserts in the rack to skip a tooth back into alignment.
My Mitutoyo dial caliper still has the wee tool in the case.

 

[Abolt243]

What is this dial you speak of?

 

[halfmile]

I have a Helios vernier like that. Since 1966.......Also have the resettable dial like the OP, also have the Ten Dollar Harbor Freight digital. (that one gives me the most crap. constant resetting and battery kerfluffle. ) I seem to use the resttable dial one the most. Or whichever one is closer.
The resettable one I have is from Hornady, looks like remove thumbwheel, take 2 tiny screws out and reset the carrier.


HM

 

[Abolt243]

That’s just a cheapy that I bought in the mid-70’s at Yontz’s Hdwe Store in Chrisman, IL. Prolly less than $20?? Needed something to measure OAL on .22-250 brass and loads. Found myself using it quite a bit over the years.

 

[Smithy47]

This is what the tool that came with my dial caliper. It appears to be copper and is .006" thick. You open your caliper and slide this onto the gear rack. You then move you caliper until the needle quits moving, then move a little more and pull the shim out. It may take a couple of try's to get the needle back to the top. Regards Bob

 

[Pat McKean]

Some of the cheaper models will go out of adjustment and cannot be reset. 42 years in manufacturing and have seen lots of the cheap brands. My Browne & Sharp can be adjusted as can the Starret.

Alan

Yes...
On my second week at the job in the mid 80's the boss gave me a brand new Mitutoyo dial calipers. He was not making any time with me reading the Starrett vernier calipers. I never dropped them and I used them every day until I retired, 32 years later.

I bought my B&S calipers around 1989. Still use them almost everyday.... machinists and engineers like to measure stuff.

 

[spitter]

This caliper is half a turn out of time. Anyone know how you go about adjusting it back to zero when completely closed? I can spin the dial to zero but then the reading is upside down.

View attachment 1746790

Use them lefty... there you go!

 

[entropy]

Get some cheap electronic digitals and the dial never gets out of whack.

And buy stock in whichever company's batteries you prefer, so you can get some of your money back. I only fire mine up to double check whether my 1/10000ths SWAG's are still accurate.

 

[HSLDS]

What is this dial you speak of?

View attachment 1746817

Is that not a vernier rather than a caliper??

 

[HSLDS]

 

[halfmile]

It's a caliper. Vernier refers to the scale as opposed to "Dial"

HM

 

[HSLDS]

Verniers use 9 units in the space of ten to give the fraction decimal - correct??