Thread: Pulled the trigger on some Anyi gear (China)

After reading the debate on Chinese gear and the Amateur Metrology thread, I was intrigued by the mention of Anyi. Anyi is a Chinese company producing quality measuring instruments. They do not sound like the run of the mill Chinese manufacturer. The folks over at PM and Long Island Indicator speak highly of the quality and accuracy.

My metrology instruments consist of Mitutoyo, Interapid, Messner and some Stiefelmayer levels. So taking the Chinese plunge has been tough for me. But, I want to give these guys a chance. So I opened my wallet to the tune of a scratch over $550 and ordered the following:

Apothem digital calipers: Apothem and Centerline Digital Calipers - Special Calipers - Anyi Measuring
Universal digital caliper: Universal Digital Caliper, Calipers Digital, Precision Measuring Tool & Device
Digital height gauge: Height Guage, Digital Height Guages, Micro Digital Height Gauge
Slim rod depth gauge: Depth Gauge, Digital Depth Gauge, Digital Depth Gauges with Thin Rod
Digital depth gauge: Depth Gauge, Digital Depth Gauge - Anyi Measuring Tools

If these work out my next order will be a Micrometer to test their accuracy, and a DTI. I really should have purchased them on this run but when I hit the $500 mark that was enough to satisfy my curiosity.. Now the wait begins. Hopefully I will have some photos to share in the near future!

Looks like you've got a good selection,

I'll be interested in hearing what you think of their height gage, when it arrives.

One thing I like is their use of CR2032 batteries... I've only ever put one battery in the calipers, still going strong 2 years later.

Regards
Ray

I will be eagerly awaiting your photos / report I want to buy a height gauge and some calipers when I can afford it. Also what's was the postage cost like ?

Originally Posted by RayG

Looks like you've got a good selection,

I'll be interested in hearing what you think of their height gage, when it arrives.

One thing I like is their use of CR2032 batteries... I've only ever put one battery in the calipers, still going strong 2 years later.

Regards
Ray

Ray, the height gauge was the initial motivating factor for my purchase. I had been considering buying a Mitutoyo for months, but could not justify the $500+ (Amazon) on it when I needed a few other items (depth mic etc). If I ever needed another motivator it was the Apothem digital calipers. It was love at first sight! I often want to measure center-to-center of holes on parts. I always end up measuring in a roundabout manner. When I saw those calipers I immediately recognised they had the potential to take the fuss out of center-to-center hole measurements. I expected both items to be more expensive than they were especially given I first checked out the step gauges.

Originally Posted by welder

I will be eagerly awaiting your photos / report I want to buy a height gauge and some calipers when I can afford it. Also what's was the postage cost like ?

Welder, postage was like postage always is: A kick from a horse.. Postage always gets costly when things weigh a few kilos. It was relatively cheap until I added the height gauge @4kg. But in relative terms it is all very economical with postage. The height gauge is was only $125. Hard/Impossible to beat that sort of price if this gear is of good quality.

I'd be very interested in your review when you get them. Those center line calipers look good. I seem to be always reverse engineering pitch circle diameters.They would come in really handy, at that sort of money.

You just bought them online, using their site? I just read their "How to order" page. Its seems switched on.

Regards Phil.

Hi,

I second that. I'm interested in the height gauge and depth gauges. I don't mind where something comes from, as long as it does the job it's meant to do (and I'm not getting ripped off in the process).

Cheers Ben.

Originally Posted by Machtool

I'd be very interested in your review when you get them. Those center line calipers look good. I seem to be always reverse engineering pitch circle diameters.They would come in really handy, at that sort of money.

Phil, I am hopeful they are exceptional value. I am happy to be the lab rat on this one. I think Stuart was going to take one for the team on the Swiss Quality Discount stuff at last discussion.. I never bothered with the Wyler levels from SQD when I struck the goldmine in Stiefelmayer. I also hit one out of the park with Amazon and my Interapid DTI ($174 for a metric 312 with 37.5 dial - checked the price today $252 ). So I did not have a reason to go with SQD other than curiosity..

Originally Posted by Machtool

You just bought them online, using their site? I just read their "How to order" page. Its seems switched on.
Regards Phil.

Yes, I just purchased through their site. Their site is remarkably good for non-English speaking people. The only bug I found is the shopping basket. It will not let you modify quantities or delete items (at least in Firefox). You pretty much have to delete your cookie and start again. Slightly annoying but not a deal breaker. They use Paypal for payment which is handy. The lead time is around two weeks from order to shipment. Communication on their part has been excellent so far. I received a personal email from them within hours confirming everything and advising of the delivery time-frame. They were also more than happy to allow me to make a minor alteration to my order. So far, so good.

I also will be waiting for a review. My 200mm digital vernier stopped working recently so I am in the market for another one, maybe 300mm and recently decided that I should get a depth gauge of some sort other than an ordinary vernier.

Dean

Variant,
Has your Anyi gear arrived yet, and if so, how is the quality?
Graham.

Originally Posted by GDD

Variant,
Has your Anyi gear arrived yet, and if so, how is the quality?
Graham.

Graham, it may seem like a lot of time has passed since I should have received my Anyi order. Unfortunately it took Anyi over 3 weeks to post the items despite paying for Express Post at around $70-80 (can't remember exact number). I heard a few excuses and not a lot of communication without pressing. The items did eventually turn up. They could not supply one item as was shown on their website. They replaced the item with a like item, but not the coated item which in my opinion was much nicer. I let that slide. In a nutshell, it took a month from order to receipt once postage was factored.

Now to the items.. One thing that struck me on receiving the package was that there was no Anyi markings on the external packaging. It was shipped from someone in Hong Kong and not Anyi in China. This was just a little strange, but I am told they use a HK shipping service. I was not sure what to make of that. That aside, opening the box I was also a little disappointed. What I saw was 5 items, all in individual and different (plastic, wooden, and one polystyrene) cases. None had any Anyi markings on them. I opened up the packages and was met with the instructions for each item. Again, no Anyi branding whatsoever. The measuring tools also did not carry any Anyi markings. All in all the items looked like generic un-branded Chinese items. Sure, the finishing was fine, no rough edges, poor machining or sharp bits, but also nothing remarkable. I was left with the feeling that Anyi must make a ton of re-branded items that are sold by other Chinese vendors.

I questioned Anyi about this and they basically said something along the line that "next time we will send you Anyi branded items". I berated them about this because I paid Anyi prices for Anyi and what I received was no-name items.

I have not tested the items thoroughly as I have not had them for long. My findings so far:

- The depth gauge was a different design to the picture shown on the Anyi site. The depth rod is off center and up against one side of the slide. One would expect it to be centered in the groove, not with 1 to 2mm between one side, and 0.01 on the other. The zero point for this gauge is interesting. It seems that I need to zero this gauge on a flat surface prior to use, as the measuring rod retracts past zero. Maybe this is normal for these instruments?

- The Apothem calipers were not exactly what I expected. One cylindrical boss was a bit short and not held fully in the mount. I swapped this out for one that is on the other side of the calipers, which fits better. Again, I am not sure on the design of these. They appear a retrofit to an existing set of calipers. They have 20mm cones which means the minimum measuring distance is 20mm. The slide was not set on exactly 20mm, which is a bit strange. Zero is also at 20mm, so any measurement and you need to add 20mm. If you were to purchase a set off the shelf you would have to measure the cones to figure this out as they were not marked as 20mm+. Anyi does not sell cones separately (I inquired) so why not start them off at 20mm?
Conclusion: I think these are more a gimmick than something that is really useful. The weight of the cones is too much and makes holding them (they want to rotate in my hand) in a steady position a bit difficult. It also seems like it is easier to use a standard set of calipers to get the hole-to-hole measurement than mess with trying to "exactly" center the cones on the holes. Oh and the cones are really sharp so drop the Calipers at your peril!

- I did a quick test on the standard Calipers with two of my Mitutoyo standards. With my Grade 1 Mitutoyo standard the Calipers were measuring +0.01mm vs the standard. On my grade 2 standard I was getting +0.01. Funnily enough my Sidchrome calipers (re-branded from who knows??) were getting dead on +/-0.00. The result for Anyi is not bad. +0.01mm for calipers is fine in my opinion. I have not mic'd up the Standards, so take my measurements for hobbyist measurements at best.

I am yet to test the height gauge. It does however look sturdy, straight and finished well. It is missing one piece from the photos in their catalog. I have no idea how/where I am going to store this as its casing is a white polystyrene box. I am also yet to test the other depth gauge. This depth gauge also looks like it has to be zeroed on a flat surface prior to use. Maybe that is normal for these instruments.

Anyway, Anyi are interested in my findings and feedback. I am getting some photos together to send them. It will be interesting to see where this goes. They have been friendly and courteous despite my feedback. All in all the items appear to be finished well. As mentioned there are no rough cuts or sharp edges. The calipers appear to be within specification which is all that one can really hope for. The shipping was slow and the lack of branding was unforgivable.

I will post some photos up when I get some time.

Thanks for taking the trouble to write that comprehensive review. It has been very useful for me and, I'm sure, many others.

Graham

Sorry it didn't work out as hoped. I was in Singapore a few days ago and having a discussion with a friend of mine there about doing business with the Chinese. He's a very well educated and experienced businessman and was ripping in to them, saying they can never be trusted and will always look for short cuts. It was somewhat a revelation to hear him say that, as I commented I can never say things like that without fear of being labelled racist. He looked at me and said, "Pete, look at me, I AM Chinese, and I say that!!!". His words, not mine. Not that I'd disagree. A shame, but just my experience.

Pete

Edit: As an aside he said the Taiwanese are completely different to deal with. Not having had any personal experience with Taiwan it was interesting to hear, but it seems 50 years under Japanese rule has led to a completely different culture. Probably also explaining the higher build quality of Taiwanese tools.