Kennedy Vernier calipers

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

Anyone have any experience with these

Kennedy 331-206 Digital Vernier Caliper 150mm

[Jon GibbsParticipant @jongibbs59756]

I know it's not answering the question but why not consider these new Mitutoyo calipers instead?…

**LINK**

…as reviewed by Neil in the recent issue of MEW.

HTH

Jon

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

+1 on Jon's post.

If you plan to do precision work for a long time buy Mitutoyo calipers once and you will not be disappointed. I have a non digital dial caliper I use every day, bought 35 years ago and still in perfect working order, and still accurate at calibration with a gauge block. The list price of Mitutoyo dial calipers has not increased much over 33 years, still about CDN $150.

I have a Chinese cheapy off brand digital caliper also, for less precise jobs offsite, and it works OK but not in the same class at all and not as accurate. It cost about CDN $50 and I've spent that amount again on batteries and in time messing around getting it to feel and work right in the first place.

Just my $0.02 worth. JD

[Clive FosterParticipant @clivefoster55965]

If I recall correctly from brief handling of another guys equipment the Kennedy digital calipers were a pretty generic middle of the road device. Neither remarkably good or remarkably bad, just functional. Which I think pretty much summarises the usual Kennedy market position. But who remembers model numbers anyway so may not be that specific one although the one on E-Bay for £60 odd looks right. Doesn't appear to be a current model. Battery life may well be an issue on older types. Mitutoyo used to be much better than most at, usually, over 3 years but the other proper brands seem to be catching up.

Lawson HIS have a limited stock of the Mitutoyos linked to by Jon at just under £70.00, tenner cheaper subject to postage. (Currently in mimble mode over those. Do I need digital as I have both dial and verniers in both flavours and several sizes.)

Clive.

[Enough!Participant @enough]

Posted by Jeff Dayman on 21/01/2017 15:23:57:

I have a non digital dial caliper I use every day, bought 35 years ago and still in perfect working order, and still accurate at calibration with a gauge block. The list price of Mitutoyo dial calipers has not increased much over 33 years, still about CDN $150.

I have one which is exactly the same age and probably identical to yours. I decided to retire it about 6 months ago and bought the latest Mitutoyo version (only because I felt an urge to buy something). Funny thing is I'm still using the old one – can't seem to break the habit. The new one is sitting on the shelf.

[Jeff DaymanParticipant @jeffdayman43397]

I know what you mean. I have several tools where I've bought better newer replacements yet I seem to reach for the older ones still… guess it's like old clothes being more comfortable than new.

Anyway, wonder if the OP has bought any calipers yet.

I forgot to mention in my post that a good set of some sort of calipers will become a foundation to accurate work in the workshop. A micrometer would also be a good investment but a beginner can get by these days with a good caliper until funds for a mike are available. JD

[MalcBParticipant @malcb52554]

I have a set of Kennedy 300mm Digital calipers ref: 331-2320K which I have had for about 3 years now.

They are actually of a decent quality. Cannot speak with any knowledge of the ones you are looking at, but if a set of their 150mm/6" came up at the right price I woould deffo buy them myself and certainly in favour of Mitutoyo who I dislike with a vengence. But thats another long story.

For obvious reasons they never get as much use as my 6"/150mm Tesa digital calipers which are about 20 yrs old now and have been faultless. I have actually bought a set of the M & W from the DRO peple that Neil reviewed recently in MEW. Bought them really to ease the pressure of use on my Tesa. For the £23 I paid for these they actually seem a pretty decent piece of kit but very early days yet.

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

Well … I bagged myself a set of beautiful Mitutoyo 6″ calipers (used but like new condition) silky smooth and heavy compared to my other cheapo set

Sean

[ronan walshParticipant @ronanwalsh98054]

Mitutoyo stuff is excellent and my prefered brand. However the old saying "buyer beware" should be borne in mind, there are a lot of fake, mitutoyo branded tools out there for sale. A quick scan through ebay uk listings show mitutoyo digital calipers and micrometers from hong kong. Be careful.

[the artfull-codgerParticipant @theartfull-codger]

I bought a Kennedy set of digital calipers [digital verniers don't exist ] model331-206 from a junk shop in gateshead high st, they didn't know what they were for about £25.00, they've never let me down, the only thing is they have a small display but I can live with that & the battery lasts for a long time I must have had them about 30 odd yrs now, I remember going into clarksons[of york] for some metal a lot of yrs ago & mr clarkson proudly showed me his new dial caliper, [I was impressed].

[sean logieParticipant @seanlogie69385]

They are definitely the real deal . The guy owned them for 5 years . I have a 1″ test block and it measures spot on every time ,I keep trying it lol . I turned a bushing this afternoon to test them out and I couldn’t be happier on how they performed. Ebay is riddled with counterfeit good ,it’s a minefield.

Sean

[ronan walshParticipant @ronanwalsh98054]

Sean, more attention needs to be brought to counterfeit goods, some unsuspecting person could waste a lot of money on what are second rate tat. Its only a matter of time before some shyster in the uk starts trying to pass this stuff off as the real thing.

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