The term “shaft measurement system” is standard industry parlance today, but to think of these gages as measuring only shafts is too limiting. For the most part, anything created as a turned part on a lathe is probably well suited for these devices. If there are features such as diameters, lengths, groove widths, fillet radii or chamfers on the part then it is well suited for measurement by a shaft measurement system. For example, take the barrel or body of a fuel injector. It certainly would never be considered a “shaft.” Yet its outside dimensions have many turned features that have diameters that need to be controlled and a variety of grooves for O-rings that require very precise widths and depths. Shaft measuring systems are very good at measuring such features.
Shaft measurement systems have gained increasing popularity in recent years, and as a result users have been demanding more and more capabilities from them. They want them to run faster; they want to measure smaller features with tighter tolerances; they want their systems integrated to provide feedback directly to their machine tools; they want them easier to operate; and of course, they want them to be easier to use and more and more of the measurement process automated so all their operators have to do is “push a button.”