Are you Qualifying your own Gageblocks and Pin Sets?

L

Lundberg

#1
If so, what instrument are you using and are you in an especially controlled environment? I’m trying to come up with a method to calibrate blocks and pins internally to save the outside calibration costs. Any suggestions are much appreciated.
 
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B

bigherm95

#2
We verify our pins in house, up to class z. We use a supermicrometer. is is accurate to ±.001mm However, we send out our gauge blocks. We just had to prove to our management, that we could not verify them here, they wanted us to use a Legex 770 CMM to do so, I beleive its's tolerance was somewhere around ±.0005mm, and the tolerance of our gauge blocks are at most ±.0001mm, wht that being said the gauge blocks are more accurate that the CMM. The outside company we use, used an infrared interferometer to veryfy the gauge blocks, I know these are fairly expensive, so it is my suggestion to send out the gauge blocks, and if you do not have a supermic, or other comprable standard, I beleive they can purchase for around $10,000. Hope this helps.
 

Jen Kirley

Quality and Auditing Expert
Staff member
Admin
#4
Sorry to jump in, but when I read the ad's text:
It can be used as a comparator measuring to fifty-millionths of an inch (.000050") or two-thousandths of a mm (0.002mm) or for direct measuring to .0001" or 0.002mm. Work lengths up to 2" or 50mm can be measured.
I did not get the sense that the tool can measure pins because for verifying pins this would need to be used for direct measurement, and an inspection tool needs to be 10X more precise than what it's measuring. True?

What is the accuracy of the pins?
 
L

Lundberg

#5
Thanks for jumping in Jennifer.

Per our procedure "Set the pressure adjustment of bench micrometer for one pound gage pressure" which this tool also isn't capable of.

Which tool is suggested?
 

BradM

Staff member
Admin
#6
Hello all! These are some great posts on this!

My :2cents::

Personally, it has been my experience that it's best just to send these out. I have had the least headaches, and in the end, save the most money, by having gauge blocks and pin gauges calibrated by a competent lab.

If you are really into a cost-saving mode, there are other areas in the system to save money other than trying to calibrate certain standards in-house.
 
L

Lundberg

#7
Hello all! These are some great posts on this!

My :2cents::

Personally, it has been my experience that it's best just to send these out. I have had the least headaches, and in the end, save the most money, by having gauge blocks and pin gauges calibrated by a competent lab.

If you are really into a cost-saving mode, there are other areas in the system to save money other than trying to calibrate certain standards in-house.

Sending out isn't an option..
 

Ron Rompen

Trusted Information Resource
#8
If sending your pins out for calibration isn't an option, then you have a couple of choices.

1) Accept that they are not 'extremely' accurate, and calibrate with a bench micrometer (tolerance on your pins will now be ± 0.005mm). If that is an acceptable error level, then you're good to go.

2) Bite the bullet, and purchase a laser micrometer. I have been told (although I want to see it demonstrated) that they are accurate to 0.0001mm. Not a cheap solution, but definitely an effective one.

For what it's worth, I chose step 1) above many years ago (as a QS9000 registered company). Our tightest tolerances checked with gauge pins were ± 0.05mm, so an accuracy of ±0.005mm was suitable.
 

BradM

Staff member
Admin
#9
Sending out isn't an option..
IMHO, Sending out should always be an option.:yes:

Please, I'm not trying to be argumentative or frustrate you, but I truly do not understand.

Ron has some really good alternatives above. but, even as he states, purchasing the equipment to calibrate them in-house is expensive.

How many sets of equipment do you have? If you don't have that much equipment, it will not cost that much to send out. You can even buy a spare set while those are out.

If you have a ton of these, then you might can justify buying higher order standards, comparative equipment, etc. That's expensive; that's a lot of gauge blocks!:D

Now.... as Ron suggested, and is always necessary to mention: it all depends on your needs and requirements. If you have loose tolerances in your process, then "yes" you might develop a comparison method in-house.

What are you accuracy requirements of your instruments?

How many instruments are we talking about, and how often do you have them calibrated?

As far as calibrating instruments in-house, you have received some pretty good help here. Two names come to mind-Hershal Brewer and Wesley Richardson (among others). I would recommend you follow their threads on setting up a calibration lab, determining uncertainties, controlling environment, support adequate training, etc.

Please be patient with me, and I'll try to help however I can.:)
 

Jen Kirley

Quality and Auditing Expert
Staff member
Admin
#10
When I used Deltronic pins, we used them until the printed markers on the could no longer be easily read, meaning the wear to that point indicated them out of tolerance. Like the toothbrush which has colored bristles that lose their color at about 3 months worth of "normal" use.

Mind you, our tolerances were only .001" so we could get away with that. And the pins were not expensive enough to bother with sending out for calibration.

Oh sure, it was pretty stone age. That's why I felt so out of place having come from submarine QA! :eek:
 
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