Hamar Laser’s L-702SP Scan Laser with Plumb Beam stood out for its capability to address both perpendicularity and bore alignment. Compared to the previous system, the laser also provides “extremely accurate and consistent results from setup to setup and from person to person,” Weidemann says. “While we had been exceeding the compressor manufacturer’s tolerances with the dial indicator, it had poor gage R&R (repeatability and reproducibility). We would set it up three times and get three slightly different results.”

The L-702SP combines an automatically sweeping laser scan plane with a perpendicular laser “plumb” beam for checking perpendicularity. While the device is primarily designed to align lathes and other machine tools, it adapted easily to Hi-Tech’s compressor housings. The L-702SP has a center resolution of 0.00001 inch (0.00025 mm) and an angular resolution of 0.00001 inch per foot (0.0008 mm per meter). It provides live measurement data in vertical, horizontal, angle and center axes. The proprietary software package is simple enough that Weidemann says Hi-Tech needed no additional on-site training after the Hi-Tech rep’s initial visit.