It seems that the subject of 3-D optical surface measurement is all the rage these days.

While John Goodman and Arnold Schwarzenegger are both 6’2”, few would argue that they have similar body shapes. What this says, simply, is that measuring size does not necessarily say anything about shape.

Most of the time form measurement looks at basic geometrical shapes: how round something is, how straight or even how flat it is.

The term “shaft measurement system” is standard industry parlance today, but to think of these gages as measuring only shafts is too limiting.