Why Air Gaging?

Air gaging is a non-contact means of precise comparative dimensional measurement which offers users the advantages of improved workflow, increased productivity, and decreased downtime. It is ideal for measuring dimensions with tolerances smaller than .005″, and when gaging extremely tight tolerances, a resolution as small as .000001″ can be achieved. Its noncontact characteristic makes air gaging particularly useful for checking soft, highly polished, thin-walled or other delicate materials.

The main benefit of air gaging is its ease of use, which produces accurate results while eliminating operator error. Operation is as simple as presenting a tool to a workpiece and observing a reading. The gaging operation is fast, as well. A row of comparators can be scanned in one glance, reducing time and fatigue. And characteristics such as squareness that cannot be checked by fixed limit gaging are easily measured with air gaging.

Air gaging is economical, too. Once the basic system is purchased, relatively inexpensive additional tooling can be used for a wide variety of applications. Air gages effectively measure all common types of dimensions and are particularly suited to measuring dimensional relationships and match gaging.

Most air gaging systems operate at air pressures which can clear workpieces of contaminants such as coolants or cutting oils at the measurement point, eliminating the need for a separate cleaning in most operations. And, since air gage tooling has no moving parts, it is virtually immune to fouling. Air gaging also offers a wide choice of tooling for measurement applications such as roundness, taper, camber (bow), barrel, straightness, clearances, lobing, and more.

An examination of the fundamentals of air gaging will show how the basic premise of air gaging and its evolution into today’s manufacturing environment achieves many advantages.

Universal Gage Corp manufactures tooling for use with Universal comparators as well as most makes and models of air comparators available today. Universal tooling is available for any dimensional measurement application including special/custom requirements.