Gage blocks are the most used physical representation of length available to companies requiring the highest order of precision for their work.

In metrology we have similar benign bits of hardware that can create havoc if misapplied, but in the grand scheme of things rarely are.

Many calibration customers become frustrated with their calibration sources because of price changes after they’ve sent a purchase order and the gages to the lab.

This question is rarely, if ever, asked but assumptions regarding the length of time involved regularly pop up, especially when measurement disputes are the situation into which such assumptions are injected.

Just so there’s no misunderstanding, the ‘PC’ referred to in the title is not about political correctness, a very bad disease in its own right. In this case it’s about panic calibration.

On the surface, it would seem there is little to be done when looking at calibration services.

Every gage manufacturer receives a number of rejects in the course of a year—it goes with the territory.

Recent discussions with a customer over problems with threaded parts reminded me just how complicated some measurements can become. 

Last year at this time I wrote a column in which I criticized the practice of having calibration labs make acceptance decisions in their reports.