Okay, the next precision measuring tool I want to show you how to use for my transmission
lab classes is a digital caliper along with telescoping gauges. So I've got a digital caliper
here that we got through Snap-On Blue Point part number MCAL6A I also purchased a Starrett depth
measuring adapter that we'll use here in just a moment this digital caliper needs to be treated
with care kept clean, there's some special oil from Starrett it's just called tool and instrument oil
that's the same oil they used when they make the tools and lubricate all the internal parts and
we can use that on a paper towel to clean and lubricate parts all the parts of this digital
caliper or any digital caliper okay so this digital caliper has an on/off button right here
the red button just hit that to turn it on it does have an automatic shut off feature but in my class
to preserve battery life if you would please turn it off when you are done using it I would
appreciate it. The batteries under this cover right here and just takes a small little like a hearing
aid battery that I'm able to find at grocery stores and I bought a whole bunch of them on
Amazon now when this caliper when the caliper itself is closed all the way if it does not
read zero then there's a zero button this yellow button right here to zero the digital caliper at
that point right now we are reading in millimeters and there's a metric there's an English millimeter
button right at the up here this blue button that you can toggle back and forth between thousandths
of an inch and actually a half thousandth of an inch as a little five that'll show up here in the
half thousands or in millimeters in the hundredths of a millimeter and a hundredth of a millimeter is
a finer increment than a thousandth of an inch so if you're looking for the finest measurements
you can get then the hundredth of a millimeter is 2.54 times finer of measurement than
a one-thousandth of an inch measurement okay this digital caliper has a thumb screw right here where
we can roll open and close the jaws of the digital caliper for fine incremental movements or it has
some little knurled edges here where we can pull the entire unit back and forth to open and close
it if we're making some or forgetting set up to make a big measurement now this digital caliper
here can be used to make three different types of measurements so if we roll open the jaws here we
can measure how thick something is so for example I've got this piece of steel right here I can
come in I can come in and roll in the caliper and make sure that you've got a nice tight connection
there it should fit nice and flat against whatever you're measuring we don't want it tilted forward
or backward as you're taking that measurement because if you look right here our measurement
is twelve point seven six millimeters if I tilt it one way or the other the number gets bigger so you
want to tilt it back and forth and make sure that you are reading the smallest number that
you can find twelve point seven three millimeters twelve points seven two and that take that as your
measurement okay so we can use these caliper jaws here to measure how thick something is but then
here on the top of the digital caliper we have these little arms that stick up that we can use to
measure the width of say that slot right there or how wide a hole is and so if we close the caliper
all the way if we come inside of that slot right there and then roll out until it makes contact
with the surface and then watch the numbers as I rotate this back and forth I'm getting nine
point five nine point five zero nine and a half millimeter nine point four seven find whatever the
smallest number is and that is your measurement okay so we can measure how thick something is
with these jaws, we can measure how wide something is with these little arms and then on the other
end of the caliper we've got this extension here that as we move that the base back and forth that
extension sticks out and so we can use that to measure depth let's say this bar that I have
here was a solidly attached to this workbench and I wanted to see how high it sticks up above the
workbench we can use this extending rod here to measure that height but the problem is if
you tilt the digital caliper forward, backward, side to side your measurements can be incorrect
and so they sell a depth measuring adapter right here this particular one is from Starrett I think
I got it from Starrett on Amazon but what we do is we bring the tip of our digital caliper and
we put it down into this groove right here there's a thumbscrew off to the side that we need to open
that up enough to get the digital caliper down inside we want these edges here to all be lined
up with each other so if you set that on a flat surface like that and then tighten up the thumb
screw then it acts as a nice base for taking those depth measurements that we're talking about here
it helps hold it at a 90-degree angle for more accuracy so if I want to measure how deep this
slot is or how high above the workbench this bar is we can just lay the depth adapter across oops
I didn't get my thumb screw to tighten up enough there we go I hold down on that adapter bring
the digital caliper up all the way make sure it is zeroed here we go it's a new zero point
because we've got this adapter connected to it for measuring depth and then we're just
going to run this down very slowly until it just makes contact you don't want to force it down any
anymore then at that point you just want it to run down until it makes contact and that is your
measurement now I've got the face of the caliper facing away from me I can't see what that is and
if I lift this up it might change its measurement so there's a thumbscrew right here on the top of
the digital caliper electronics that will lock that plunger from moving then I can pick it up
and take a look at whatever measurement I happen to get so in this case twelve point eight three
millimeters is what I read so in the transmission lab here at Weber State in my classes you are
going to be taking measurements with digital calipers a lot you're going to be measuring
all kinds of shim thicknesses and depths and widths and so on the digital caliper is the
absolute necessity for manual drivetrain and automatic transmission work there are these
come in a variety of qualities and prices this is kind of a mid-range one that I have right
here there are certainly higher quality ones and more accuracy this only measures to one
thousandth of an inch there are others that measure to the ten-thousandth there are some
that have this built on to it so you don't have to worry about it staying on there with a thumb
screw and various other options all right now one other thing I wanted to show you
how to use with this digital caliper is a set of telescoping gauges so let me take this deaf
adapter off by the way whenever in my class you are not using the digital caliper unlock the
lock here let's turn it off and set it back in its case so that it won't get damaged and then
don't lay any parts on top of this don't lay it in oil if it gets dirty wipe it off quickly if
it gets damaged let me know all right so I'm going to set that off to the side for a moment and let's
take a look at this blue point telescoping gauge kit part number MTEE6 telescoping gauges if we
take this one out right here for example the automatics centering or self-centering gauges
have plungers on both sides that are spring-loaded and this will Center itself in whatever round bore
it happens to go into if it's flat then you still have to center it the best you can yourself now
some of these the less expensive ones only have a spring-loaded plunger on one side and its solid
on the other so these by far easier to use and I would recommend the automatic centering ones now
once you get it down into a bore or a hole and you to measure its width there is a thumb screw
to lock those plungers in place and keep them from extending out and then you can come in with your
digital caliper and just measure from tip to tip and that'll give you the width of whatever hole
you couldn't use the digital caliper with so what I would like to do is measure the width of the
slot and this bar right here with one of these telescoping gauges I'm just going to pick one I
think might work this little tiny one right here and I'm going to make sure nope it's too big the
base the head of it won't even fit down in the slot so I'll go with the even smaller one over
here and by the way there's a set of these called small bore gauges for measuring even smaller holes
or a small hole gauge I mean so let's take this one make sure the locking thumbscrew is loose it
only needs to be turned just slightly to loosen it up and then we'll put it down inside of that slot
right there alright with it down inside the slot you want to visually align it the best you can
have a right angle with the rod that holds it in place with the surface that you're measuring and
make sure that both plungers are the tips of the plungers are contacting the surface you want to
measure and when you've got it set up like that then we'll just lightly tighten the thumbscrew
on the end and pull it out now at that point we can come in with our digital caliper turn it on
make sure it's zeroed and then come in on the end of the digital caliper here there's a sharp
knife-edge for getting into some small places and then there are some flat surfaces here that are all
aligned with the same edge so we're possible I use those big flat surfaces rather than the
knife edge I'll come in and just bring that down to where it just barely touches where it feels
like it was down in the hole here and take your reading whatever that may be in this case nine
point five six millimeters so it takes a little bit of practice to get the hang of you using
one of these telescoping gauges and then even more practice to come in and just bring it in to where
it just barely touches I'm right-handed so I do a lot better job using my right hand and I still get
nine point five six millimeters as the measurement for the width of this bore according to this
telescoping gauge so in the in my transmission lab classes here when you need to measure the
width of a bushing or a hole and you can't get the digital caliper down inside of it you have
to go to the telescoping gauges to take that measurement once again when you're done taking
your measurements turn off the digital caliper put the telescoping gauge back in the package where it
goes oh release the tension on the plungers and put the plunger back in where it goes wipe it off
if it's covered with or if it's dirty and keep it clean and put everything away when you're finished