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Model Forum / General / Models / February 2009



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Ballbars

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dave sanderson - 24 Feb 2009 16:03 GMT
'noon all,
A seemingly simple thing: Where can I buy a Ballbar?
I need a 300mm (ish) ballbar, and I have a feeling this should be an
off the shelf item (like gauge blocks),
but I cannot find a supplier....

Any leads gratefully accepted

cheers

Dave
Richard Edwards - 24 Feb 2009 19:19 GMT
>'noon all,
>A seemingly simple thing: Where can I buy a Ballbar?
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
>Dave

Is this what you are looking for?

<http://www.renishaw.com/en/6813.aspx#tocTarget1>

Richard
Dave S - 24 Feb 2009 20:05 GMT
> On Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:03:11 -0800 (PST), dave sanderson
>
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
>
> Richard

similar, but I just want a plain fixed ballbar, that appears to be a
renishaw probe in the shape of a ball bar.

Dave
Wes - 27 Feb 2009 00:01 GMT
>similar, but I just want a plain fixed ballbar, that appears to be a
>renishaw probe in the shape of a ball bar.

What is a ball bar if it isn't a renishaw type device?  Normally these are used to
evaluate the positional accuracy of VMC's, HMC's, and lathes.

Wes
Dave S - 27 Feb 2009 19:15 GMT
> >similar, but I just want a plain fixed ballbar, that appears to be a
> >renishaw probe in the shape of a ball bar.
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>
> Wes

Wel, its exactly like it says, it a bar of fixed length with to
accurate spheres on the ends.

Because the spheres are accurately round you can measure them at
several points and
from that get a 'virtual' point center. They are used to calibrate
things like CMMs, where
you know that the length of the bar is a certain distance, and so you
can evaluate
the measurement volume by using multiple poses of the bar a several
angles etc.
The renishaw device is used to evaluate the tooling, as they move, and
the measurement
is taken from the probe as it is forced to change length by the
machines movements.
If the (CNC Mill for instance) describes a circle then the length wont
change, and so you
can determine th emachines accuracy from the renishaw results.
In this case I need to calibrate an optical metrology system, so a
fixed, known length bar
is required.

Dave
mark - 24 Feb 2009 19:27 GMT
On Feb 24, 4:03 pm, dave sanderson <david.sander...@bem.fki-et.com>
wrote:
> 'noon all,
> A seemingly simple thing: Where can I buy a Ballbar?
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
> Dave

Didn't we go through all this about a month ago ..you were going to
build your own to micron accuracy...what's happened to that idea .

Ive still no idea what this ballbar is for.

perhaps :)

http://wwwdelivery.superstock.com/WI/223/1555/PreviewComp/SuperStock_1555R-307655.jpg

all thew best.markj
Dave S - 24 Feb 2009 20:04 GMT
> On Feb 24, 4:03 pm, dave sanderson <david.sander...@bem.fki-et.com>
> wrote:
[quoted text clipped - 21 lines]
>
> all thew best.markj

Yeap, the super accurate one is still in progress, thats a research
project / long timescale item (its still not certain that it is
possible to make such an item to the required tolerance), but I need a
different (somewhere around 200mm - 300mm) long one to calibrate a
pair of sensors into a single measurement volume, for a demo, for next
week...
I can buy such things off the shelf in the USA, from for instance:
http://www.precisionballs.com/standardballbar.php
but Id prefer to source in the UK if I can, not to mention the
vagaries of shipping (customs) from the US.

A ball bar is a bar and a pair of balls, where the center to center
distance is accurately known. the balls are a surface a known distance
from a point (in the center) and as such you can use it to calibrate
metrology equipment, usually CMMs, but in this case its an optical
fringe projection system that I work on, theres a bit more info at
www.phasevision.com

Dave
Mark Rand - 24 Feb 2009 21:38 GMT
>I can buy such things off the shelf in the USA, from for instance:
>http://www.precisionballs.com/standardballbar.php
>but Id prefer to source in the UK if I can, not to mention the
>vagaries of shipping (customs) from the US.

How peculiar. all of the ones on that page are within half a thou of a round
number x 50 mm...

.Mark Rand
RTFM
Nick Mueller - 25 Feb 2009 07:00 GMT
> How peculiar. all of the ones on that page are within half a thou of a
> round number x 50 mm...

The pattern 150MM, 200MM in the product description confused you too
much. :-)
We all know that people of the US of A do have problems adopting to the
metric systems. That already starts with the correct usage of units. mm,
not MM (that would be MegaMega).
I guess they'll catch up in some decades. <G>

Nick
Signature

The lowcost-DRO:
<http://www.yadro.de>

Mark Rand - 25 Feb 2009 12:56 GMT
>> How peculiar. all of the ones on that page are within half a thou of a
>> round number x 50 mm...
[quoted text clipped - 7 lines]
>
>Nick

Strange for a precision device to describe it in a way that may be inaccurate
by .0127mm though :-(

Mark Rand
RTFM
Nick Mueller - 25 Feb 2009 13:02 GMT
> Strange for a precision device to describe it in a way that may be
> inaccurate by .0127mm though :-(

That would be the next step. *After* learning to write units properly. <G>

Nick
Signature

The lowcost-DRO:
<http://www.yadro.de>

Dave S - 25 Feb 2009 13:10 GMT
> > Strange for a precision device to describe it in a way that may be
> > inaccurate by .0127mm though :-(
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> The lowcost-DRO:
> <http://www.yadro.de>

The actual length to within a few mm is not (in this case) important,
only that we know what it is....

Dave
Dave A - 25 Feb 2009 22:49 GMT
> The actual length to within a few mm is not (in this case) important,
> only that we know what it is....
>
> Dave

Good point. So you could just araldite two ball bearings to any old rod
so long as you measure it accurately afterwards?

Signature

Dave

Dave S - 26 Feb 2009 13:09 GMT
On 25 Feb, 22:49, Dave A
<n...@themagicspamtractortrap.freeserve.co.uk> wrote:
> > The actual length to within a few mm is not (in this case) important,
> > only that we know what it is....
[quoted text clipped - 6 lines]
> --
> Dave

Yes sort of. I think that we will have to go that route this time...

Dave
David Littlewood - 26 Feb 2009 18:19 GMT
>We all know that people of the US of A do have problems adopting to the
>metric systems. That already starts with the correct usage of units. mm,
>not MM (that would be MegaMega).

...except in the oil & gas business, where MM (or mm) is one million (M
(or m) = 1000). Don't ask me why, it's completely barking mad, but it's
been like that since forever and shows no sign of changing. Drives me
mad (I work in that area, and trying to persuade US colleagues to use SI
units is a hard job).

>I guess they'll catch up in some decades. <G>

Optimist!

David
Signature

David Littlewood

andy@nashman.co.uk - 26 Feb 2009 23:52 GMT
> In article <70k8koFb3vv...@mid.individual.net>, Nick Mueller
> <muellern...@gmx.de> writes
[quoted text clipped - 16 lines]
> --
> David Littlewood

What many  (most) americans don't realise is that their national
standard unit of measurement, held, I believe, at the Smithsonian, is
the metre!!!!!!
Wes - 26 Feb 2009 23:59 GMT
>What many  (most) americans don't realise is that their national
>standard unit of measurement, held, I believe, at the Smithsonian, is
>the metre!!!!!!

Some of us can do simple mathematics in order to do the conversion.  The political class
seems least able to understand numbers and accounts but I have a feeling that isn't just a
US problem.

Wes
 
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