T he actual purpose of GD&T: It’s common to think that the primary purpose of GD&T is to unambiguously communicate design intent to manufacturing and inspection. In ... [Read More]

It’s becoming common to refer to the devices used for dimensional and coordinate measurement—vision/optics, lasers, touch probes, and others—as sensors. Multisensor measuring systems use two or ... [Read More]

What’s a datum reference frame? As discussed in workshop No. 5, datum reference frames (DRF) are coordinate systems, and preferably—at least to start with—Cartesian coordinate systems. ... [Read More]

In dimensional measurement it isn’t unusual to measure feature locations relative to reference edges. How one measures an edge depends on how we define it. So what exactly is an edge? Basic edges ... [Read More]

As we know, GD&T is a symbolic language with which to specify permissible limits of imperfection in manufactured parts, namely limits that maximize the parts’ operability, assemblability, and ... [Read More]

Happy New Year! One resolution many people have made is to cut costs. One way to do that is to manufacture in China. Just transfer your current manufacturing processes, use China’s ... [Read More]

Back in the 1940, when Stanley Parker, Mr. GD&T, decided it was time to create a set of tolerancing tools that realistically dealt with reality, two objectives were near the top of his ... [Read More]

During this annual holiday shopping melee, economists project the implications of our spending for the country’s overall economic health in the coming year. That can be like claiming a warm ... [Read More]

Our original plan for workshop No. 3 was to discuss what are generally referred to as material condition modifiers, namely the encircled letters “M,” “L,” and “S” which sometimes follow ... [Read More]

You manufacture a part that must be within design tolerances to work properly, so you need to measure it. It costs to: Buy the measuring device Provide a space and/or utilities for it Develop ... [Read More]