Tool for faster service

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END USER: Fox Valley Metrology Ltd., (920) 426-5894, www.foxvalleymetrology.com. CHALLENGE: Providing faster service when repairing hand-held instruments. SOLUTION: A honing tool that allows repairing measurement instruments at a customer’s site. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Brush Research Manufacturing Co. Inc., (323) 261-2193, www.brushresearch.com.

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Fox Valley Metrology Ltd. provides measuring instrument calibration services and repairs instruments, such as micrometers, calipers and bore gages.

FVM’s policy is to provide high-quality service with minimal economic impact on customers. This includes fast turnaround time, affordable prices, personalized service and even training customers to service their own instruments.

“All hand-held instruments are subject to wear and tear,” said Lucas Stuhr, manager of hand tools at FVM, Oshkosh, Wis. “If any of them develop an imperfection, such as a burr or scratch in a crevice or cylinder, we want to have the right tool available to correct that imperfection.”

In addition to resurfacing sleeves, Fox Valley Metrology uses the Diamond Flex-Hone for honing indicator housings. Image courtesy Fox Valley Metrology.

To provide faster service, Stuhr decided to try a new honing technology he discovered on the Internet—the Diamond Flex-Hone from Brush Research Manufacturing Co. Inc., Los Angeles. The tool looked promising for resurfacing sleeves used in the cylindrical bores of hand gages.

To remove scratches, burrs and other protrusions, FVM typically used flux and a small diamond anvil turned against a sleeve. Use of the anvil tool often required taking the gage back to FVM’s shop because it didn’t fit in a hand-held drill motor, which meant the gage could be out of service for days.