Instrument Upgrades - Are they really worthwhile ?

The performance of roundness and surface measuring instruments has changed dramatically in the last few years. Automatic calculation of a wide range of mathematical parameters has replaced the subjective assessment of a profile graph. Improved filtering techniques have enabled the important features of a surface to be extracted and displayed.

Yet, surprisingly, the basic design of the vital measuring elements has hardly changed at all. The essential mechanical features of sound instrument design were well established many years ago. It is the astonishing advances in micro-electronics and computing which have allowed these improvements to take place. The very latest instruments use similar mechanical arrangements to their predecessors, but modern electronics and software make them incredibly more powerful. 

Unlike most mechanical devices, the high precision elements of measuring instruments are rarely affected by mechanical wear and tear. Moving parts are only very lightly loaded, and movement is relatively slow. A typical spindle in a well used roundness measuring instrument completes about 100,000 revolutions in a year. By comparison, the crankshaft in the average family car rotates around 50 million times in the same year ! After 10 years of use, the measuring machine spindle is just about 'run in' ! 

It makes little sense to consign such first class engineering to the scrap bin !