Touring ZEISS: Learning about CMM and Metrology!

Until recently, CMMs were typically only found in large factories but times have changed! We've seen an increasing number of smaller shops willing to invest in this technology--and for good reason.

The manual QC process has been the way manufacturing entrepreneurs have gotten by; however, with more people competing to secure work contracts, sending "bad" parts out the door isn't an option. If you're looking to level up your workflow processes or product quality, it's always good to be aware of new technology--even if you can't implement it right this second. Let's check out the different types of CMMs that Zeiss has to offer!

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[dwaynevarnell]

As a metrology engineer who calibrates and error maps CMM's on a regular basis for a major aerospace company I can say these are great and accurate CMM's however.. User expertise is essential and not cheap. Also you need to budget for calibration and repair in your decision making process because a simple calibration with ISO 10360 in mind is very expensive and will have to be done annually in most high production volumes. We do ours at least every 3 to 6 months. Another thing "crashes" happen just like on your CNCs so count on it! You will be down for weeks. Depending on you location it can be difficult to find qualified metrology vendors to perform your calibrations. The cost just adds up quickly. Not to discourage you but I've seen plenty of waste because the user needs the confidence and expertise to operate and maintain a CMM. If you do buy do your due diligence on all makes and models that you deem viable. Customer service with Zeiss is good but there are others. Licenses for the software is another thing to consider do your due diligence with that as well because it is just as important. Sales folks for these companies do there best to provide accurate information but they are sales people ;-)

[Wastedwu]

It was great to shake your hand. I was the awkward guy. I said I liked your channel and content and when you asked if I was in the trade i said "no, just a geek".


I used to be. I have rebuilt a couple of some older Zeiss machines.

[TheCrash]

I've been in that room many times. The Prismo is a show piece with sub micron accuracy over 500mm. I program and run a Contura with the XXT head every day. That place is like my playground. I head there when I need to research a new piece of equipment.

[barrythompson]

Very interesting to learn that Zeiss have 'affordable' entry level machines and kudos for actually providing indicative costs! Garry did a great job of presenting the range and technology scope for each. As always, thanks John !

[RyGuy]

We have a Duramax on the shop floor and a Contura w/ RDS XXT head and it’s so much fun. I love the Calypso software as well.

[EdgePrecision]

John are you really in the market for a CMM? I have a Contura G2 with the Vast XT head and extras. I might be willing to part with. Send me a e-mail and I will shoot you some specs and photos.

[steverose]

The touch probe was invented by English engineer David McCurtry

The CMM wouldn’t be what they are today without this invention., as stated by Norbuo Suga of Mitutoyo
Great invention from Renishaw

[patrickwabwire]

A good CMM is half the work. Checking a part to a print with proper GD&T is the other. If you have prints where dimensions are still in the +/- days, you are verifying next to nothing. You may be able to verify size but not location or orientation or even form sometimes. If you have prints with mis-applied GDT, especially my favorite datum precedent violation, it is futile exercise. The math behind how CMM measure is specified in the umbrella ASME Y14.5 standard. CMMs are getting super accurate but none of it matters if the prints defining the parts are not complaint.

[tjvanderloop]

Your Tour was Awesome. CMM automation and repeatability is marvelous with "geometric tolerancing" and ability to do sub-micron measurements. Thanks for supporting professional shop-floor tooling and equipment assembled in the USA/Minnesota. A "Spectrum" model is a great shop-floor CMM-tool. Respectfully, Thanks for the Shop-floor Tour!

T J (Tom) Vanderloop, CMfgE, Author, Mechanical Designer, & Consultant: Memberships in ATEA, AWS & SME

[occamssawzall]

The Xenos is insane. Zeiss won’t even sell it to you (assuming you’re can even afford it) unless they inspect and qualify the area you’re installing it in. Massive foundation and isolation requirements, strict thermal and humidity level controls and it’s pretty much a permanent fixture, there’s not really any moving it around later. Basically have to dedicate its own room for it in the basement somewhere.

But it will get you accuracy to 0.3 microns

[bostedtap]

Excellent tools, takes out the difficulty of measuring squareness, when reorientation in 2 D measuring.
Thanks for sharing.

[jst]

At work we machine columns and arms for their Horizontal Arm CMMs. Zeiss is a very cool company with a unique philosophy,

[twinstaged]

Did you bring them one of your fixture plates to measure? How did that work out timewise compared to how you do it now?

[Pure]

Taking the human error out of it isn't necessarily true. It is very easy to miss use these machines and get poor results.

[timhalcomb]

Learned a lot thanks for taking us on this tour you have a blessed day

[Blue.D]

Wow! That flexible mount was awesome. 👍😊

[tardishouseshop]

When taken care of they are wonderful machines. The thing I have seen is that no one ever wants to calibrate the probes often enough. Just like you should check your micrometer to a standard at least daily, you need to calibrate the probes on the same time scale. I have seen probes read off on our Prismo by as much as 0.080 mm because they were not calibrated in over 2 weeks.
Climate control will become a huge thing when you have one. Parts will have to soak to reach the correct temperature so that they can be checked. It can be several hours to do this and means loss of production time, plus the machine cools down affecting your sizing by having the ball screws shrink. We have to make warming programs for the machines to try to keep the sizing within our tolerance of 0.010 mm while waiting for inspection of the first part of a production run.
Any speck of dust will affect your measurements.
Just a warning about the pitfalls of going for perfection in sizing.

[jimrogers]

We run the FARO Arms in our shops. They are amazing for our application ( Metal Spinning and 5-Axis waterjet cutting ). Not as accurate as the stationary CMM'S ( +/- 0.0025 )

[danmenes]

Wherein John tries to convince himself he needs a new toy he can't afford.

[keith]

Great video - thanks for taking the time.