In keeping with my recent columns summarizing the calibration of various gages, I offer this one as a catchall for the many precision hand tools used for measurements.
I use the term ‘hand tools’ to categorize the popular instruments in common use, all of which are typically handheld when used. Micrometers, universal calipers, etc. are probably the most used of this type. Their display of a reading may be analog in nature or digital and their level of precision can be quite high due to the use of electronics in their design. In some cases, makers of them have gone off the deep end with resolutions that suggest great precision but in practice are mechanically incapable of delivering the precision implied by the resolution. Despite this, they offer a lot of precision for the money.