With tolerances on components getting tighter and customer requirements getting stricter, Chelburn Precision, a sub-contract engineering specialist in Rochdale, has strengthened its measurement capabilities by investing in a Trimos V7 height gauge, supplied by Camberley-based Bowers Group.

As one of the UK’s leading suppliers of precision-machined components to some of the world’s most demanding markets, Chelburn Precision’s philosophy has always been to satisfy the needs of its customers.

Established in 1982, the business has prioritised investment in quality machine tools for production, as well as having quality verification equipment available for inspection purposes.

The company makes larger precision components, mostly for the canning, rubber and plastic, paper converting, and mining industries. Already working with a smaller height gauge, the team found it was holding them back when measuring larger-size components.

The team at Chelburn was unable to measure the full height of components with the height gauge it had previously, resulting in the need to either turn jobs over to measure from a different plane, or make time and room on one of their precision machine tools to carry out checks.

This operation was not only time-consuming, but also stopped the production of both the machines and their operators while the quality inspectors requested and verified checks to ensure parts conformed to specification.

The Trimos V7 is one of the tallest height gauges on the market, and ideally suited to workshop environments. It is capable of tackling complex functions such as 2-D, programming and statistics, resulting in an unequalled ease-of-use and a substantial increase in productivity.

The height gauge also features a pair of lateral insert holders, a testament to the R&D of generations of instruments that have forged Trimos’ reputation. Its robustness and flexibility allow the use of very diverse probes up to 400mm long with impressive repeatability.

Robustness and flexibility
Chelburn Precision also invested in the squareness electrical probe which now enables the company to measure the full height of components, both for measuring positions and measuring squareness. The additional probe creates the efficiency of combining two instruments to make the measurement process quicker and easier, offering the team the ability to perform precise measurements as needed.

Its dedicated inspection department is manned full-time by two qualified inspectors who have access to a wide range of quality equipment. Because they can trust the readings given by the V7, the team know instantly if there is something that needs altering on the shopfloor, allowing them to measure parts easily and quickly and get results before they reach the coordinate measuring machine.

Since having the Trimos V7 height gauge, the company has found the height gauge extremely easy to use, with inspectors using it in preference to traditional methods of parts inspection, owing to the fact they can measure multiple sizes with the one device.

Now using the Trimos V7 every day, the inspectors also use the height gauge on smaller manufactured parts, as they find it easier to use and more reliable than their alternative gauge.

Chelburn Precision production director Michael Horsfall said, “We have used Bowers Group before for a lot of different measuring devices we own, so we knew we were in good hands. They even loaned us a smaller unit for us to trial as they were confident that we would rightly be impressed by the quality, accuracy and ease-of-use of the Trimos height gauge.”