A longtime friend of mine from Russia once told me that eventually the US would be metric and that we would get there "one inch at a time."

In today's manufacturing environment most people are comfortable working to the industrial standards that are applicable to their region.

Just as you need to calibrate a gage in order to make accurate measurements, so a complete and ongoing program of machine calibration is a necessary prerequisite to any quality program.

All gaging equipment must be calibrated periodically to ensure that it's capable of performing the job for which it's intended: i.e., measuring parts accurately.

Just like gage blocks provide the basis for dimensional measurement, threaded plug gages are the fundamental tool used to verify that an internal thread is correct.

A few issues ago we wrote about how "less" can be "more," by purchasing lower grade master rings and discs and using their certified size their Master Deviation to actually improve the accuracy of your gaging process. Well the topic has sparked a number of questions and not a little confusion; primarily because we did not have space to talk abut actually applying this technique on the shop floor.

The process of determining the capability of a gage—GR&R—requires the analysis of the complete measurement process involving that gage.

On the Care and Feeding of Master Rings and Other Metrology Artifacts. Quality Assurance can only be as good as the measuring tools it relies on.

lower class master, certified to size, costs less than its higher class cousin, and when used with its certified master deviation, will provide a more accurate reading.