Measuring Stamps And Other Things.

I turned 50 back in August and the 'ol eyes aren't what they used to be. Using a ruler to measure things leads to a hell of a lot of squinting and frustration.

Back in previous life as a research biologist, I was assigned a lab coat, safety glasses, and a caliper.

And I though to myself that a caliper would be great for measuring stamps, mounts and all sorts of other cool things.

I did some Amazon searches and found calipers ranging from $10 to as high as $215. I thought the $10.00 is probably all that I need. But I never got around to ordering it.

Fast forward a few months, and I am walking through Harbor Freight Tools picking up needle nose pliers I need to fix an aquarium filter and low and behold, on the wall is a pair of digital calipers for $6.00!

The calipers are all plastic and do feel cheap. But for the kind of stuff I am measuring, they'll do just fine. I would not use these for any kind of precision work, but for quickly measuring stamps, mounts, aquarium tubing and other things were absolute precision is not necessary, they're just fine.

I just checked harbor freight's website and they make a non-digital caliper for $2.99. That's insanely cheap.

https://www.harborfreight.com/6-inc...er-7914.html

Saw your other post. Family first, then stamps. Good on you!
Have no children so stamps are my second family.

As for this post, now you have to get yourself a good pair of reading glasses or a good lighted magnifer on a stand. I had to get reading glasses when I went north of 50. I occassionaly use an old student metal caliper when they threw them out when everyone was going digital. Not much use on stamps but don't need batteries and helps save the environment.

Mike