Weldon Solutions says its Midas pinion gear shaft OD CNC grinder features the first use of an optical gage system in an automated production environment. This system uses optics to measure multiple diameters and lengths on a large family of pinion shafts.

The gage communicates directly with the grinder's in-process sizing gage, providing signals for automatic size control. The benefit of optical gaging is that set up from part to part is no more complicated than the operator entering a new part number, compared to conventional contact gaging, which takes a skilled setup tech 30 to 40 minutes to accomplish.