The SCEPTRE Users’ Group Meeting was held on September 30 and October 1, 1999 at Hewlett Packard VCD in Vancouver, WA.

The attendees included:

The meeting started at 9:30am. It was noted that this was the first time that a Users’ Group Meeting was held on the West Coast. We could not have picked two better days weather wise than what we had.

Tim Holscher and Joanne Camille from VCD Metrology (HP) started the meeting with general introductions and important information regarding our travels outside of the conference room. Everyone introduced themselves from around the room to break the ice and introduce the new attendees.

Klaus Ulbrich form EMD then proceeded to update the group on these topics:

1. Gear Analysis - Showed our new report format
2. Crown - Calculation of an arch from deviations of previous calculations.
3. Xbar - Averages the selected component of the active point list.
4. Header - Cleaned up the header area on the print out.
5. Footer - Cleaned up the footer area on the print out.
6. DMIS Translator - EMD is creating our own DMIS translator.
7. Sort - Connects discontinuous data segments into one continuous set of data points.
8. Autnom & Elmrep Screen - Performs automatic nominal point insertion while in a part program.
9. Shell - Ability to leave the Sceptre Program at any point and return to Windows. The user may then enter back into Sceptre at the same point that the user originally exited at.

John Hayward from EMD discussed these topics with the group:

1. Stylus Changer - Displayed our new Indexable Stylus Changer with 72 indexable positions in increments of 5º around the Z axis. EMD’s brochure detailing this new option was passed around to everyone.
2. Surfin - Discussed the Surface Finish Analysis Report for a typical standardized print out. Displayed is the Raw Profile, Waviness Profile and Roughness Profile along with a handful of most commonly used parameters - Average Height, Total Peak to Valley, Maximum Peak Value above a mean line, Maximum Valley Depth below a mean line, Skew values and Root Mean Square.

Tim Holscher from VCD Metrology made his presentation on Automatic Transfer of Inspection Data (from CMM to Final Report). Explained was how Sceptre was used and the macros he wrote to allow files to be automatically transferred, formatted and stored to the proper spreadsheet.

David Ladwig from VCD Metrology presented his two calibration macros to the group. The calibration macros include a 5 Probe Star Cluster that calibrates any or all probes with any diameter or length automatically and another for calibrating almost any probe in any position on the probe head without needing to adjust the coordinate system or moving the calibration sphere.

Rod Kleiss from Kleiss Gears then presented his experience with the shrinkage of plastic gears and the form error that is generated. Using their Legend, they are able to characterize gears better than with any equipment previously available.

Don Bryant from Lubrizol described the measurement of engine blocks to determine the amount of wear that takes place when using various type of lubricants with specific additives. Using nominal data from ring gages and the "compare" function in Sceptre, Don is able to precisely map the wear using different additives.

Larry Truhe from Agilent Technologies discussed the measurement sequence of hyperbolic shaped components called quadrupoles used in Mass Spectrometry equipment and the accuracies that are required. The Legend is used to measure the hyperbolic profile and straightness accuracies on tungsten, molybdenum and stainless steel rods. Larry is looking to measure the hyperbolic shape more accurately. The process is to measure the actual data points against a nominal set of point and look for the deviation. (The next issue of our newsletter, which is due out shortly, contains an article written by Larry Truhe describing quadrupoles and his measuring process in great detail)

On Friday, October 1, 1999, we had a tour of the HP Metrology Lab and demonstrations of the calibration macros. Klaus worked on a centering routine for the hyperbolic shape for Larry Truhe.

The SCEPTRE Users’ Group Meeting was held on April 26, 1999, at the Hyatt O’Hare in Rosemont, Illinois.

The meeting began at about 9:15 a.m.

Everyone was informed that there would be a two-day SCEPTRE Training session at EMD’s Budd Lake facilities May 18 & 19, 1999. First day will cover basic SCEPTRE operations. The second day will cover advanced operations.

A letter from EMD, stating its compliance with Y2K issues, was discussed and copies distributed.

Discussions followed with Klaus leading the group; they discussed the following:

The Indexable Stylus Changing System. Attendees where advised that it could be seen on a Wenzel CMM in EMD’s booth at Quality Expo; also see information about it on EMD’s web site.

A new option added to the measurement command in SCEPTRE Software for rotary symmetrical parts. It allows probing in a circular motion.

A new crown routine that was added to SCEPTRE Software as a number of users need this feature when measuring cams and gears. The routine can give you a center point when relative to the arc of the crown. It can be found in the new Help Files.

Klaus explained his talk at Oak Ridge on CMM surface finish measurement, and referred to his article on this subject published in the EMD Fall 1998 newsletter.

Bob Nagel of Kennametal discussed how surface finish measurement application is perfect for the work his company is doing to measure the surface of drilled holes. Klaus noted that Boeing Wichita has been using a SCEPTRE-equipped CMM to measure drilled-hole surfaces, which allows them to do a dimensional inspection and check surface finish in the same inspection routine.

Don Bryant of Lubrizol talked about creating a "cone routine" in SCEPTRE and Klaus gave Don some advice and suggestions on how he might be able to implement the routine.

Joe Perun of Moore Tool Company discussed the work he did in Japan and Germany to up grade Moore CMMs to SCEPTRE System. The CMM in Japan is being used to measure heat sinks for super computers. The one in Germany is measuring parts for a radio telescope.

The issue of Printers interfacing with SCEPTRE was discussed. Klaus said that HP print drivers can be a problem and you are better off using generic print-driver software.

A general discussion of "back off" problems with the software was discussed.

The MEAPOS command is discussed and it is agreed that Klaus will demonstrate it next day at the booth.

It was agreed that Hewlett-Packard – Vancouver would host the next SCEPTRE Users Group meeting in late September, 1999.

Bob Nagel agreed to make a presentation at the next meeting, and Don Bryant said that, if he got it to work, he would report on his use of the Cone Routine discussed during the meeting.

The meeting adjourned at Noon.