In our pursuit to maintain the highest quality, reliability and productivity in every repair and rebuild in our shop, we’ve added a new Kapp Niles KNM 9X analytical measuring machine to our arsenal of reverse-engineering tools. This new gear checker offers a host of benefits to our customers.
Despite its compact design, it’s a monster of a machine in terms of its capacity, accuracy, flexibility and productivity. Capable of high-precision measurement of gears, gear tools and other rotationally symmetric workpieces ranging from 300 mm to a whopping 1,250 mm in diameter – i.e., up to 49 inches – it lets us quickly and accurately measure just about any size parts that come through our shop. This flexibility enables us to produce replacement parts that accurately match our engineers’ designs regardless of size.
In addition, precision is literally built into this machine.
For example, because the machine’s guides and base plates are made of granite, they’re extremely stable and have identically low expansion coefficients. For the extremely tight tolerances at which we’re measuring, stability of both the measuring part and the part holding the gear is critical to accuracy. More accurate measuring of gears, in turn, leads to greater performance and reliability in our repaired and rebuilt gearboxes.
Other features that increase stability and accuracy are the air spring elements underneath the base plates that safely shield the machine from jolts and vibrations. Thanks to the air springs, the machine is less likely to be affected by external variables like low-flying aircraft overhead or heavy equipment operating nearby.
Besides these and other features, the Kapp Niles KNM 9X has a spacious travel range that ensures a tangential generating motion towards the base circle that enables us to measure any profile or kind of gear.
Years ago, we realized that the key to delivering the quality, reliability and service you, our customers, expect was vertical integration. By keeping production in house, starting with the gears themselves, we’re able to deliver both the highest quality and reliability with faster turnaround times. Our new Kapp Niles KNM 9X is one more step in that journey.