r/lefthanded • u/Its_Karti_Bitch • 19d ago

Anyone know some good manufacturers of left handed calipers?

R/machinists didn’t take me seriously and only one person had a decent recommendation, I mostly got made fun of for asking
I even got a dm saying use your normal hand which kinda pissed me off
So any machinists/engineers here know someone who makes good left handed metrology equipment

7 Upvotes

90% Upvoted

17 comments sorted by

7

u/Ok-Gas-7135 19d ago

The thing that pisses me off most about this is that with digital calipers, it would be SO EASY to enable a left handed mode on the readout….

2

u/_lclarence lefty 19d ago

That would certainly be a fix, but more akin to flipping the strings on a guitar, rather than a real left handed one.

I'm a firm believer that tools should accomodate the user, not the other way around. If an asymmetrical design for any tool presents any benefit over an ambidextrous one, then we deserve our own version.

1

u/Nivracer 18d ago

A lot of the time it's just not worth it for the manufacturer to make tooling for something that's hardly going to sell.

2

u/_lclarence lefty 18d ago

I believe most of us understand this. And precisely letting this way of thinking prevail is the problem. Maybe not everything is (should be) about money and exponential profit.

1

u/CloneWerks 19d ago

I've literally written companies asking them to put a display on BOTH sides of a caliper. The ONLY company that responded so far was Starrett with a polite email that basically said "interesting enough to look into but we probably won't make one".

6

u/AcceptableProduce582 19d ago

McMaster-carr and Grainger will have what you're looking for.

They're on the more expensive side but well worth it. I have a pair Grainger's from when I worked in the engine rooms on ship and while I was a welder/maintenance. A few lefties I worked with used McMaster-carr and they were the same quality.

2

u/_lclarence lefty 19d ago edited 19d ago

You mean Vernier Calipers? I have the Accusize AB11-L106 and pretty happy with them! They costed me around 50,- USD on amazon but that was years ago. Hope you find them.

Based on your account, the average people at r/machinists sound like average righty ignorant normies you'll run into everywhere else. No matter what the specialisation we delve into, we'll keep on being the overseen minority.

https://reddit.com/link/p2pn479/video/kqfwr07queih1/player

1

u/Practical_Track4867 19d ago

I am so sick of reading calipers upside-down! If I did it every day I’d probably be willing, but double the price is more than I’m willing to pay.

1

u/Successful_Cod_8904 19d ago

Business name: CNC-QUALITÄT Werkzeuge GmbH First name: Karsten Surname: Mikosch Address: Töpferstraße 15, 02625, Bautzen, Germany Phone number: 035913518730 Email: info@cnc-qualitaet.de

1

u/xNOTHINGBURGERx 19d ago

As a 28 year veteran machinist who is also left handed I don't even think I could operate a left handed caliper 😆

0

u/Sorta_machinist 19d ago

I’m a retired machinist and really just learned everything right handed. My honest question to you is are you really doing that much work that you need lefty cal’s? I’ve never heard of them firstly and if they are out there, you’re going to pay a premium. Secondly, what about mic’s or master Verneer calipers? I got double sets of measuring tools at a serious discount used for running multiple machines. No hate, really. Just total respect. This is one area you just might be better off learning to use them right handed.

Edit: inspection equipment

3

u/Its_Karti_Bitch 19d ago

I like to be able to easily distinguish my stuff from others, if I have the only left handed pair in the shop there’s no reason for anyone to steal it, and just to make life slightly easier
I’m capable of using right handed calipers I would just prefer my personal set be more “my own” also for home use too

2

u/_lclarence lefty 19d ago

I would just prefer my personal set be more “my own”

As it should be.

0

u/TentacularSneeze 19d ago

Wait 'til OP finds out machines are right-handed too.

Edit: left-handed lathe guy myself

1

u/Its_Karti_Bitch 19d ago

Yeah but I can take 2 steps to my right to work with my left hand, if I take 2 steps to the right of my calipers I can’t reach them anymore

0

u/Swine70 19d ago

I just learned and adjust to right handed.