Material Thickness Measurements / Gauge

There are a few situations in industry where it’s necessary to take measurements of product thickness. Two of the most common are coated plastic film and sheet metal. For plastic film usually a determination of the thickness of an applied coating is needed. The best example is that of ferrous oxide coated discs used in memory diskettes. Here a section of the coating is chemically removed from the film and two adjacent differential measurements indicate coating thickness. If a determination of variation of coating application is needed, multiple total-thickness measurements can be taken and then statistically analyzed. Although sheet metal thickness is most commonly measured by use of rolling mill strip gauges (either contact or non-contact) it may also be determined by bringing sheet metal samples to an adjacent dimensional measuring machine.

Pratt & Whitney has several machines uniquely suited for material measurement:

Plastic Film

1. The Labmaster Standard or Laseruler provide high accuracy point-contact measurements with variable probe radius (optional) at a factory-set probe force of 0.5 oz. Probe contact force can be temporarily or permanently changed to suit customer requirements.

Sheet Metal

1. The External Supermicrometer, when fitted with the optional spherical adapter, provides economical point-contact accuracy at your desired contact force of 2-40 ounces. The Supermicrometer may be used either in direct-read or comparator mode and comes in three models, the Model B, C, and PC.

2. The Labmaster Standard or Laseruler provide high accuracy point-contact measurements with your choice of probe radius and contact force. Custom-built measuring surfaces (anvils) are also available.