When we think about making a simple measurement, such as an outside diameter, many methods can be used. These would include calipers, micrometers, mechanical snap gages, air snaps, CMMs, and special fixture gages, just to mention a few. The problem with all these methods is that while each is good in its own right, there…
Air gaging has many advantages as an inspection method. It is quick and easy to use, requiring little skill on the part of the operator. It is highly adaptable to measuring special features for both dimensional and geometric tolerances, ranging from simple IDs and ODs to taper, flatness, and runout. With different tooling readily installed…
Surface plates provide a large flat reference surface that can be extremely useful for inspecting incoming, in-process, or finished parts. The surface plate is oftentimes referred to as the foundation of measurement since it provides the reference for much of the layout work done in an inspection cell. When used in combination with various gages…
The use of electronic temperature compensation in gaging has become a valuable tool in improving the accuracy and GR&Rs of gages in harsh manufacturing environments. The need for temperature compensation comes into play when the expected errors from temperature variation caused by the environment can use up more than 10% of the part tolerance. Where…
If you are thinking of ways to economize these days, you may want to consider coaxing more performance out of your existing gages. Many of the gages being built today are refinements of gages built 50 plus years ago. They may have originally been designed for use with a 0.0001 inch indicator, but over the…
Statistical quality control (SQC) has been in use since the 1930s, when it was performed with paper, pencil, and maybe a slide rule. Statistical quality control (SQC) has been in use since the 1930s, when it was performed with paper, pencil, and maybe a slide rule. As such, it was originally somewhat time consuming, and…
More than Surface Deep: Diving Down into Today’s Surface Measurement Solutions Mahr, The Leader in Precision Surface Measurement, offers a full variety of surface solutions for your measurement challenge. There are many different technologies available and Mahr wants to help you understand which is the most applicable to your meaurement task. Join us for a…
The dial gage tester ICM 100 is a proven solution for testing dial gages, lever gages and dial comparators. A new upgrade kit now makes working with the measuring instrument safer and faster: a camera automatically records the indicated values of the test pieces and forwards them to software for processing. The automated procedure saves…
In a perfect world, all gaging results are spot on. They are both accurate and precise no matter the conditions or by whom or where the gage is used. Unfortunately, this is not the case. These two gage characteristics are both very important. However, we could ask ourselves which one is more important. Perhaps an…