A here-and-now gage: Turning Performance
The Heidenhain Specto 3087 RC length gage reportedly increases productivity and efficiency, particularly in applications where it's not possible to clamp the workpiece on a separate device to inspect it. Instead, the gage integrates a highly accurate measuring process directly into the production process.
One aspect of the evolution of metrology in manufacturing can be shown with a clock and a pedometer. It wasn’t too long ago that part inspection typically meant taking a finished part to a distant room where the measurement equipment resided, which took a lot of time.
Over the years, metrology equipment makers have worked to reduce that distance in space and time between measurement and production. Knowing that anytime a CNC machine spindle isn’t turning means money lost, manufacturers have labored to allow necessary measurements to be made as close to the machine as possible. They’ve seen measurement equipment move from distant labs to nearer shop-floor-quality islands, then next to—and, finally, on or in—the machine making the part.
The Specto 3087 RC gage is for harsh-environment applications. Image courtesy of Heidenhain.
Integrating inspection with the parts-making process by integrating the respective equipment is a great time-saver, but it comes with a challenge: With chips flying and coolant spraying, the work envelope of a mill or lathe is not an ideal environment for the precision measuring equipment that was first developed for use in a controlled-environment laboratory.
Enter the Heidenhain Specto 3087 RC length gage, which increases productivity and efficiency, particularly in applications where, for reasons of time or accuracy, it isn’t possible to clamp the workpiece on a separate device to inspect it.
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