How the Alignment System Works – Choosing Reference Points/Datum

The most important step in aligning any machinery is determining what to align it to! In other words, what are your reference points or datum? For a centerline, such as in bore alignment, or a linear axis, such as in machine tool alignment, you will need to find 2 reference points to use for aligning or “bucking-in” the laser. Once the laser is “bucked-in” (aligned) to the reference points, you can then start measuring the other points in the linear axis (or bores) to see if they are aligned relative to the reference points. For a surface, you will need to find 3 points. Alternatively for measuring flatness, a common reference is using earth level. Our L-730/L-740 Series lasers have level vials built into them, so either method can be used to measure flatness. Bad Reference Points, Bad Data A basic rule to remember is if you have “bad” reference points, you will have “bad” data, so it is really important to think through what you want to use as a reference. You don’t want to waste a lot of machine downtime trying to realign a machine to bad reference points when the machine may already be in alignment! Level as a Reference Not Always Reliable Another point to consider is earth level is not always a reliable reference to use for measuring flatness since you could have a machine bed that is not level but is flat. In this case, you will waste a lot of time releveling the bed when you don’t have to. For example, say you have a flatness tolerance of .005 in. (0.13 mm) TIR for a surface and you used the levels on the laser to measure the bed. Then let’s suppose at the farthest point from the laser, you found a flatness error of .020 in. (0.5 mm). This would most certainly appear to out of tolerance, or does it? It could be the case that the surface is not level but it is flat (see the Why it’s Best to Use Data Analysis graphic below)! Therefore, to ensure that you are not using a “bad reference”, we find it’s best to use 2 reference points instead of the levels. So let’s look at the same example but instead we’ll use reference points on the surface itself and buck-in the laser to the 2 end points. Then we measure the points in between to look for flatness errors. In this case, it could easily be that you find a max flatness error of only .003 in. (0.076 mm) relative to the reference points. Well this would be well within your tolerance and you would save yourself a lot of time trying to relevel the bed when it was already flat! This happen way more than you think, so always use reference points if you can!

Reference Points/Datum

Points chosen on a surface, in the travel of a linear axis or in a bore that represent the starting point (reference) for which all other points on the surface will be compared. Reference points form a line or a plane that is called a datum. For bore, spindle and linear travel applications 2 reference points are needed to establish a datum - for surfaces or reference planes, 3 reference points are needed.

SystemRecommendations All Hamar Laser straight-line and scanning laser systems

Choosing Reference Points in Laser Alignment

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