Reaching underside of parts

Bal-tec has a nifty tool to position standoffs all over the CMM. You can support a large part in many locations using a bunch of these with adjustable standoffs on them. It is basically a scaled up version of the Slide Bases used on Rayco and Renishaw fixtures.

Link: Bal-tec - CMM fixture building components (precisionballs.com)​
​
​
​Unfortunatly, we needed different lengths and thread sizes than what Bal-tec offered. But it was pretty easy to make our own which were compatible with the Rayco and Renishaw fixture components we use.

Originally, I set the height of these using a height gage, but eventually I found that it was easier and more precise to write a quick CMM program to have the probe move to each standoff position, display a comment to position the standoff there, and then have the CMM measure the height and display the amount to adjust up or down. The program loops on each height measurement/comment until a defined tolerance is reached before moving to the next standoff position.

Bal-tec has a nifty tool to position standoffs all over the CMM. You can support a large part in many locations using a bunch of these with adjustable standoffs on them. It is basically a scaled up version of the Slide Bases used on Rayco and Renishaw fixtures.

Link: Bal-tec - CMM fixture building components (precisionballs.com)​
​
​
​Unfortunatly, we needed different lengths and thread sizes than what Bal-tec offered. But it was pretty easy to make our own which were compatible with the Rayco and Renishaw fixture components we use.

Originally, I set the height of these using a height gage, but eventually I found that it was easier and more precise to write a quick CMM program to have the probe move to each standoff position, display a comment to position the standoff there, and then have the CMM measure the height and display the amount to adjust up or down. The program loops on each height measurement/comment until a defined tolerance is reached before moving to the next standoff position.