The Brown & Sharpe TESA CCMA dial caliper has an accuracy of 100mm, a 32mm diameter rotating dial with a yellow face and lock screws, is made of stainless steel, and measures in metric. The covered rack helps prevent measurement error by protecting the gear from foreign matter. Linear accuracy meets Deutsches Institut fr Normung (DIN) 862 standards. These calipers are for use in taking inside dimensions (ID), outside dimensions (OD), depth, and step measurements.

The bezel lock screw locks the dial and the slider lock screw holds the sliding jaw in position. The hardened stainless steel components, including the bar, measuring surfaces, and gears, offer corrosion resistance, increased accuracy, and long life. Spring anti-backlash control offers increased accuracy over standard gear configurations. Backlash is the amount of clearance between mated gear teeth in the caliper controls, which prevents the gear teeth from jamming. It is undesirable to have much backlash due to the lack of precision offered by the increased amount of play between gears. Certain gear designs can minimize or eliminate backlash; spring anti-backlash systems use a spring to add a compressive force, thereby minimizing backlash.

Calipers measure the distance between two opposing sides of an object. They make inside, outside, depth, or step measurements, according to their type. Calipers are commonly used in architecture, metalworking, mechanical engineering, and machining. The simplest calipers have two legs to mark the two points and require a ruler to take the measurement. More complex calipers use two sets of jaws instead of legs and have up to two graduated scales. Vernier, dial, and digital calipers give direct and accurate readings and are functionally identical, having a calibrated scale with a fixed jaw, and another jaw with a movable pointer that slides along the scale. The vernier caliper has a scale sliding parallel to the main scale for an additional, fractional reading to improve measurement precision. The dial caliper has a circular dial with a pointer on a toothed gear rack replacing the second vernier scale. As with the vernier, this second measurement is added to the reading from the main scale to obtain the result. The digital caliper takes a differential by zeroing the display at any point along the slide, with an LCD that displays a single value in English and/or metric units.

Brown & Sharpe manufactures precision measuring equipment and metrology hand tools. The company, founded in 1833, played a key role in setting industrial standards in the United States. Brown & Sharpe was acquired by Hexagon Metrology in 2001 and is headquartered in North Kingstown, RI.