Oversized Digital Calipers Might be World’s Largest and Actually Measure Up
Matty Benedetto runs Unnecessary Inventions, a channel dedicated to creating gadgets that answer problems that no one actually has. For his most recent project, he took a reasonably ordinary workshop tool, and enlarged it to ludicrous proportions…a pair of digital calipers measuring 61 inches from tip to tip, complete with working display.
Benedetto created this massive caliper as a gift for fellow YouTuber Austin Bradley at the 2025 Maker Secret Santa exchange. However, digital calipers larger than 6 inches are not commonly used in everyday situations. So, he began by using a standard pair and then devised a design that allowed the jaws to extend wide enough to measure anything from a piece of furniture to a room feature. A large portion of this gigantic beast was created using 3D printers, notably an Elegoo OrangeStorm Giga to generate the massive lower sections and a smaller printer to produce the detailed parts. The main body features grooves with ball bearings and small wheels, which allow the jaw to move smoothly along the fixed beam.
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On this specific project, Benedetto was more concerned with getting it to operate than with being perfectly exact. He decided to use a time-of-flight sensor mounted on an Arduino board to complete the task. This sensor simply emits a laser beam and measures the time it takes for it to bounce back to determine the distance between the two jaws. It provides readings in inches to the nearest inch and has a maximum readout of 99 inches, which is acceptable in terms of accuracy. Two large 7-segment monitors display the measures in great bold digits, and yes, he wired the LEDs himself before covering them with laser-cut smoked acrylic panels to make them quite uniformly diffuse.
The tool is powered by a simple switch, and everything runs neatly inside the housing, with the wires held in place with some hot glue. A brief test run ensured everything worked smoothly, as a Coke can measured approximately 3 inches, a computer monitor was around 24, and the fridge was 36. Benedetto even added a few finishing touches, such as additional acrylic strips to reinforce the seams and a stopper to prevent the moving arm from detaching in the first place.
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Oversized Digital Calipers Might be World’s Largest and Actually Measure Up
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