CMM Purchase

[C JAYNES]

We are looking into purchasing our first CMM. What advice can you give on what to look out for, what works, what doesn't, what brands are the best, ect. It will most likely be used in the shop.

 

Thanks in advance for your help.

[ksoufi]

First you should decide about courses, what are approximatively dimensions of parts to control (or range)?

Second : you will buy a fix or mobile head? this's also linked to type of parts to be controled.

There are Mitityo, Zen, Sharp, ... you should compare prices, precision, ...

HTH

[Nominal]

You say it will "most likely be used in the shop". Why are you buying a CMM?

[Brendan P]

Yes,IMO....

This pc. of equipment belongs in a "controlled atmosphere".

Do not put it in the shop!

[chris m]

I must respectfully disagree with those of you who say that a CMM shouldn't be in the shop; I think that they are very useful shop-floor tools. It does depend, though, on what the atmosphere is in your shop; you obviously don't want a CMM in the middle of the grinding room or someplace where it is constantly bombarded with crap.

 

As far as machines go, we have 2 Brown & Sharpe CMMs (one in the shop and one in Inspection). The one we have in the shop is a refurbished model which looks like new but is substantially cheaper. If you are on a budget, you may want to check out something like this.

 

C

[Brendan P]

Chris, what I meant is that some shops are "dirty

sweat shops".

In this case I would not recommend it.

 

1. being the dirt in the air

2. heat and humidity can give false results.

 

Yes I have seen some very clean shops that are

fully airconditioned and don't do any welding or

grinding.

In this case,yes I believe it would be a good idea.

The CMM is a very useful tool.

[JAMMAN]

Romer makes a portable CMM perfect for shop use, there is a company in california called "Hi-Res" that makes software to interface this excellent tool directly and flawlessly with Mastercam.

 

http://www.reverse-it.com/

[C JAYNES]

Thanks for all the info. Our shop is very clean clean, heated & air conditioned. I am hoping that we will build an inspection room but I am not holding my breath.

 

Thanks again, please keep the thoughts coming

[McRae]

Clean rooms are a thing of the past. The newest CMM's have volumetric compensation and so thermal variations are minimized as well as the size of the granite blocks they are built on. Mitutoyo (chevy) Zeiss (mercedes). Buy as much as you can aford - you will not be disapointed. From the sound of your ultra clean plant, you would wnat a nice showpiece that customers will see and say Ooohh Aahhhh.

[Lucky]

While differences in mechanical construction, probe head type, etc. do exist and should be part of your decision, most reputable CMMs are built well enough to meet most any accuracy standard. The focus of your evaluation should be the software. A mediocre machine with great software is better than any machine with bad software.

 

We have a Zeiss CMM with Zeiss probe head. We use Calypso software (by Zeiss) for 85% of our measurements and Holos software (by Holometric Technologies but sold and supported by Zeiss)for complex 3D free form surface measurement. The two softwares happily co-exist and transfer alignments established in one to the other. The software should be evaluated for the capabilities you require, user friendliness, upgradeability, etc.

 

Good luck