Yearly tooling inspections

rich p · Jan 29, 2020

I work in an aerospace job shop as a gage calibration tech and I have a question about fixtures and tooling. We have a lot of weld, EDM and milling fixtures, none used for inspection that are in the calibration system on a yearly basis. My question is are most shops calibrating all their shop fixtures? The guy who did my job before me needed to work a ton of overtime and would calibrate a door knob if it would give him an extra 10 minutes of OT.

carlherrnstein · Jan 29, 2020

Weld fixture calibration? You may have answered your own question with your last statement.... However I have seen the output amperage of welding machines "calibrated".

Bobw · Jan 29, 2020

I can see a double check inspection before use if the fixture hasn't been used in many years,

But, to pull a fixture off the shelf, dust it off and inspect it, and then put it back to be...
Inspected Next Year... Again... for no reason.

F'n Stupid.

I've got a customer that used to (and they still might) send every thread gage they have out for calibration every six months.

The stupid special thread gage that they bought 20 years ago for one job, and hasn't been used since.. has gone out to be calibrated 40 times for no reason.

Its just what happens when people try and justify their jobs.

Mike1974 · Jan 30, 2020

Bobw said:
I can see a double check inspection before use if the fixture hasn't been used in many years,

But, to pull a fixture off the shelf, dust it off and inspect it, and then put it back to be...
Inspected Next Year... Again... for no reason.

F'n Stupid.

I've got a customer that used to (and they still might) send every thread gage they have out for calibration every six months.

The stupid special thread gage that they bought 20 years ago for one job, and hasn't been used since.. has gone out to be calibrated 40 times for no reason.

Its just what happens when people try and justify their jobs.

Yep, sounds like an overpaid QC/QA manager ( :rolleyes5:

) trying to justify their 6 figure salary... at least where I have been that would be the goal.
Other than incoming inspection if you had the fixture outsourced, and maybe an inspection if you start getting bad parts... Having it as part of a routine yearly inspection is asinine.

gbent · Jan 30, 2020

Tag stating: Gage not in service. Calibrate before usage.

DMF_TomB · Jan 30, 2020

rich p said:
I work in an aerospace job shop as a gage calibration tech and I have a question about fixtures and tooling. We have a lot of weld, EDM and milling fixtures, none used for inspection that are in the calibration system on a yearly basis. My question is are most shops calibrating all their shop fixtures? The guy who did my job before me needed to work a ton of overtime and would calibrate a door knob if it would give him an extra 10 minutes of OT.

.
most milling fixtures when tolerances require it are checked by probing or indicating. even fixture keyed to table slots if tight tolerance it might need a fine adjustment. I probably done a few thousand times over the years.

E189552 · Jan 30, 2020

Worked in aerospace for many years, our inspection guidelines were if any tool, fixture, etc. was used for product acceptance it had to be calibrated at least yearly. If it was not used for a two year period, went on an inactive tool list & recalibrate before use. Thousands of tools, gages, test equipment went through our calibration lab yearly. Warehouse full of inactive stuff.

DMF_TomB · Jan 30, 2020

E189552 said:
Worked in aerospace for many years, our inspection guidelines were if any tool, fixture, etc. was used for product acceptance it had to be calibrated at least yearly. If it was not used for a two year period, went on an inactive tool list & recalibrate before use. Thousands of tools, gages, test equipment went through our calibration lab yearly. Warehouse full of inactive stuff.

.
milling fixture can be inspected every second a billion times a year. still when bolted down to a machine it needs to be check then and there if tolerances require it. usually part of a setup check list.
.
its like checking a airplane yearly..... still when pilot ready to takeoff he usually does a preflight checklist.

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