Hexalobe Go/NoGo Gage Calibrations

[kradzik]

Hello, I was wondering if anyone had any experience with the calibration of hexalobe go/nogo gages. We are able to measure them like a dimensional inspection for the print for them on a vision system, but I have a feeling there is a better way. Is there a standard that guides the calibration process for these devices. I've read ISO 10664, but it doesn't really give any calibration guidance. Any help would be appreciated!!

 

[PH8L1]

I use a calibrated caliper to measure each side of the gauge and they must be accurate within one thousandth of an IN. or ±.001 This keeps everything NIST traceable. I keep a record of 5 readings of each side of the gauge. Most of the time the calibration is good for 1 year. If the gauge looks to be showing signs of wear or the calibration was pushing the limits I set them for a 6 month check. This will also depend on how frequent your equipment is used.

 

[kradzik]

Do you have any standard from which you based this method on? I'm working with an FDA audited customer to try to provide them support for these.

 

[PH8L1]

NIST traceable is a good way to explain this to customers. Usually they understand how that works but I would explain it to them with the chain of calibration. The caliper was calibrated with gauge blocks that were certified from this company until a certain date and the company should have a NIST certificate or be able to show you their chain of calibration which will eventually lead to the state standard and all the way to the National Institute of Standards and Technology. Setting the tolerance to be within one thousandth is based on customer requirements. Not sure if this is a written rule or just our way but we take the customer requirement and try to calibrate it 10 times more accurate. example if the customer wanted something within 1 inch we would try to calibrate tools for that within 1/10 of an inch.