Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Again, open the jaws that take the measurements and tighten it to the object to be
measured. Then take a close look at the little window.
The leftmost tick is between 4.5 and 4.6, so this object is between 4.5 cm and 4.6 cm
(or 45 mm/46 mm). Then count the tick marks on the outside until one of them lines
up perfectly with one of the ticks on the inside. In this case, the fifth tick mark on
the outside lines up with a tick mark on the inside. This is the hundredth part of the
measurement so this object measures 4.55 cm or 45.5 mm.
Vernier calipers never need to be calibrated so they're never off because they
weren't properly zeroed, they don't need batteries so they'll always work and they're
cheaper. But they do take some additional effort to read properly and lack the "cool"
factor of a seven segment display.
Keep in mind that if printing in ABS plastic, shrinkage after printing as discovered
in
Chapter 4
,
SD Card Holder Ring
, will have to be taken into account. Also, no matter
how accurately the measurements are taken, if the blueprints being developed
involve strange angles or shapes there is a chance for inaccuracy translating that
to the digital space.
Grid paper method
Fortunately, there is a way that a complex shape can be measured accurately no
matter how strange the curves or turns. All that is needed is an object to measure,
an ink pad, and some centimeter graph paper.
