Gaging & Inspection

Gage-Line will design & build or make the product to your print.

Hard-Gaging

Hard-Gaging is a visual gaging technique involving metal or plastic three-dimensional tools that are used to quickly and accurately determine the conformance to specifications of manufactured parts. They allow for fast, accurate and reliable determinations saving time and money.

For example, rather than trying to determine if the diameter of a cylinder is with specification’s with a set of calipers, the cylinder is hand inserted into a metal plate with two holes. Hole one is the exact diameter of the upper tolerance. Hole two is slightly smaller than the lower tolerance.

The machined part should pass through Hole one but not through Hole two. If the part passes through Hole one and two, it is too narrow. If it does not pass through Hole one or two, it is too wide. Similar methods can be used to check the dimensions of many manufactured item.

In addition to being quick, simple and reliable, hard-gaging is more accurate because it can be used to check the entire length of the cylinder. Calipers or micrometers check only the specific point where they are positioned. Vision systems only check at the plane of focus. Touch probes only check a specific number of points on the diameter.

Money is also saved in training. Operators and inspectors only need to learn how to use the simple hard-gage. No need to train for using more complex measuring devices such as calipers, micrometers, dial indicators, protractors, and coordinate measuring machines with their greater uncertainties of measurements.

Gage-Line has designed and manufactured hard-gages since 1972. Our staff of specially trained and experienced engineers and technicians are available to you. All you need to do to start is supply your drawings. Upon receipt, your project will be reviewed for the most efficient and cost effective approach. We will then contact you to discuss any details.

Sight-Gaging

Sight-Gaging is a visual gaging technique that allows companies to speed production and reduce costs. Best described as transparent overlays (usually clear plastic), they are held and placed in direct contact with the part being inspected for a quick, visual accept or reject decision. Since auxiliary equipment is not usually needed, sight-gages are surprisingly inexpensive and offer extremely simple and practical gaging for operators ands inspectors. The level of inspection in a plant can be improved at a reasonable cost and often results in lower production costs and increased efficiency due to simplicity of use.

For example, a furniture manufacturer had inspection problems with large (up to ten feet long) flat, wooden panels. They wanted a gaging system that was accurate, fast, easy to use, easy to maintain, and easy to store.

Gage-Line’s solution was a lightweight, accurate gage with positioning pins. This gage could be handled very easily and rolled up when not in use. The gage was so well received on the shop floor that supervisors started doing inspection work.

Although sight-gages are best used on flat parts, they can be tailored for formed parts (bends, angles, etc.) They provide simple, easy-to-use gaging where part tolerances range from a few thousandths to a fraction of an inch. In use, the gage is superimposed over a part and “orientated” with respect to visual setlines and/or reference marks. Locating pins or rails attached to the gage are also used.

With only 5 to 10 minutes of instruction, operators can, in a matter of seconds, inspect parts in-process that might otherwise be produced without inspection or, at best, receive only a rough check at completion.

Changes and design modifications that often require scrapping of special gages or at least a change in the inspection method, only rarely affect sight-gages. It is usually a simple rework of the “master” to reflect the changes and the production of new sight-gages. You only pay for the small amount of time and material involved. Modified sight-gages are generally on hand long before production of the redesigned parts starts.

It is often possible to incorporate two or more parts on a single sight- gage. This is especially advantageous when a single drawing incorporates a number of parts varying in length, width or the number of repeat hole patterns.

A sight-gage can contain not only dimensional and tolerance checks t, but also detailed instructions and other information for operators and inspectors.

Multi-plant companies or departments that produce “like” products and purchasing inspectors find sight-gages especially useful. One low-cost master provides an unlimited number of much lower cost exact reproductions. This assures identical gaging of like parts regardless of their points of manufacture.

For example, Gage-Line® has a customer in San Francisco who purchases parts manufactured in Singapore. They purchased two gages. One for the supplier’s final inspection and one for receiving inspection. Now they don’t know how they ever operated without the sight-gages. Interpretation problems have been eliminated and inspection time has been decreased by 78%.

Sight-gages can be reproduced on a variety of transparent materials including glass. From the standpoint of practical shop use, dimensional stable plastics in thickness from 0.010 inches to 0.250 inches. Sizes range from 1-inch square to 72 inches long plus. They can be used to gage parts where the tolerance ranges from +/- 0.010 inches. The minimum tolerance depends on the size and nature of the part being inspected. Wear and tear from abrasion and fading are greatly minimized because the lines are sealed in the plastic for one process and scribed into plastic for another. Sharp and dense lines minimize operator fatigue and improve accuracy.

After you have sent in your drawings, prints, or a part sample, Gage-Line’s trained and experienced engineers will review your gaging requirements and quote the most efficient and cost approach to your inspection problem. When you decide to place your order, you will do so with the confidence obtained from knowing that your gage will be manufactured, inspected, and calibrated under humidity and temperature controlled conditions with all measurements traceable to N.I.S.T.

Applications

Application #A1001

Problem: How to precisely check the thickness of a very soft insulation material.

SOLVED: Designed a probe with a large flat disk attached to the probe holder. The insulation sample is laid on a flat metal plate. The probe is inserted into the insulation until it bottoms out on the metal plate. The flat disk is lowered over the plate until it makes contact with the insulation. Because of its size, the flat disk doesn’t compress the insulation resulting in a precise reading. The values are shown on a digital readout.