This is my first post...so hello to all fellow(men and women, that is) numismatists! I'm looking to buy an inexpensive(maybe under $10), yet relatively reliable scale that isn't going to break down out of the box. Are there types/brands people are avoiding? Recommending? Same question about digital calipers. Thanks!
I would check ebay. $10 is not going to buy anything of quality. Most of these are going to be made in China.
With any reasonable degree of precision and accuracy $10 ain't gonna do it. If you are not going to need it often you might consider looking around for someone who has a good one and see if they will do the weighing for you. Jewelers, coin dealers, advanced collectors ... people like that. I got a relatively expensive one (~$100) that I use for weighing coins AND small packages for mailing. It is limited to about 6 ozs. Then I got a cheaper one (~$30) that I use for larger items and packages.
Figure your going to use the tools more then you think, SO For a caliper spend a few more bucks and buy a good name (used in good shape is what I did) If I was looking for one today i'd be all over this one. 202813613446 (bay) Mitutoyo 6"/150mm digital "DIGIMATIC" A Digital scale that can measure 100g IN 0.001g increments is preferable.
Maybe. There are okay ones at that price and not-so-okay ones. A few months ago I bought a 6-inch carbon fiber, digital caliper for about that price. When I checked it against my better calipers and my other cheapo, nylon dial caliper, it didn't agree to my liking. The lesson for me was that, as with a scale, accuracy is going to cost more than a couple bucks.
Funny you should mention that, years ago I bought my standard dial caliper to build metric VW motors before I bought a digital caliper for coins 20 years later. The digital caliper reads metric and standard.
