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Old 03-20-2018, 09:13 PM
bobadame bobadame is online now
MetalShaper of the Month Feb 2015
 
Join Date: May 2009
Location: Fort Collins, Colorado
Posts: 1,192
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A couple of things I'd do differently with this tool. First, the data would be more accurate if the 3 legs ended as a sharp point instead of the .062 radius which they have now. The radius, even as small as .062 introduces a chord length error which gets worse as the tool is used over a tighter radiused surface. Since dragging points across a painted surface isn't practical, I'd probably make the legs have a larger radius but then I'd mill half of the radius away so that instead of a point at the end there would be a vertical plane exactly at the centerline of each leg. Also, I'd place the 3 legs at 120 degrees apart on a 2" radius. These changes would give a more accurate chord length. Unfortunately though it would tend to average the radii of converging surfaces.

Another Idea I'd like to explore would be to replace the analog indicator with a digital one with an output datalink to a PC. And maybe a mouse to map X and Y location on a grid which could either be projected or drawn onto a surface. There should be a switch on the tool which would tell the PC to create a point and record X,Y, and Z data at each intersection on the grid. This might be a simple way to digitize a curved surface close enough to determine the shape of buck stations.
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Last edited by bobadame; 03-20-2018 at 09:20 PM.
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