Calibration Sphere

[#2#]

This has probably been hashed out before and if so please direct me to the thread.

Do you have your calibration sphere calibrated?

[bw_bob]

Thats not a bad question.........i have'nt ???????????

[Mike N.]

Thats ironic...

My boss just asked me yesterday because shop gage calibration will be active during the 4th holiday. He was looking at the machine for a cal sticker and I showed him the B&S sticker and he asked "what about the sphere?".

I said that it came with a cert and it isn't incuring any wear so it would be the same as it was last year, the year before....and so on.
It will be interesting to see what is decided. I would appose sending it out, because I don't know how it will be handled and/or checked. I would hate for it to come back with some irregularities in it.

[dwade]

I've had auditors ask me about the master ball and I've shown them the cert and a recall date.

Put it in the calibration system as 2 items. The first for a visual inpsection every couple pf months, the second as an actual outside certification every 10 years or so.

The auditor con't complain and your back side will covered.

[T Miller]

No have not had it done. Been 3 years. I think if I asked about it our gage lab would take a mic to it and leave it at that. My self I think it should be done at least on some kind of cycle

[rebeldude]

I never have and chances are I never will

[tlnzz]

I voted no. I would like to hear of any valid reason to have this done on a regular basis other than to keep someone happy about calibration records. I use the Cert. that came with it. Any practical reason? Tlnzz.

[tlnzz]

Actually, I believe the probe, "calibration", Sphere could be labeled reference only. It’s not used to calibrate the machine for traceability. It's a probe Qualification sphere. Traceability would be the once a year Calibration. Any thoughts??? Tlnzz.

[jmgreen]

I said yes. I didn't have them (we have 2, 1 is the double ball, 45 degree and the other is the 2 inch) calibrated for years but when we started getting into all this certification/validation stuff (iso/QS/TS) I actually got asked in one of the early audits. Danced around it but then decided to go ahead and get them done. We have them certified every 2 years which is probably excessive, but our department's rep has been to pass with flying colors everytime and I don't want to chance it.

[KillGorack]

I'm unsure if this is the correct method, but we have projects that last about 5 years. We buy new ones at the beginning, we use them throughout the entire project, then get new ones when we start a new product line.

I've never sent one out to get verified/calibrated

[carpentj]

I consider the calibration spheres to be "masters" for qualifying the probe tips the same as a master ring gage for setting dial bore indicators. Therfore, certify them at a 1 or 2 year interval.

[craiger_ny]

We don't. I did have to buy a new one once when I came in one morning and saw that one of our monkeys had Scotchbrighted it when they were "cleaning" the machine because he did not like the results he was getting. Good thing he didn't know how to get to the scales.

[Don Meredith]

We send ours to an outside cal lab every five years.

[DmisDave]

Of those of you who send yours out; who do you use? Our Quality Manager tells me we need somewhere that has 3rd party approval; the place I have a quote from does not have that.

[Peter Fuller]

Trick question, you can't calibrate a gage with no adjustments.

Now as far as certifications are concerned, I absolutely recommend that you begin a certification of your qualification artifact at regular intervals since size and sphericity affect any measurement that you do that is a feature of size.