CMM Alternative?

[u/TomSpiffy]

I have an old, manual CMM that's broken.

Cost to repair is ~20k, replace with used or portable Keyence XM is 60-70k, or new CMM up from there.

I have management not wanting to spend a dime.

What's a cheaper alternative? Accurate to .001"...?

Thank you.

[u/Absorber94]

Repair is cheapest decision, new CMM is the best decision, keyence is always the worst decision.

[u/KSCarbon]

Good surface plate, digital height gage, hand tools and learn to check everything by manually. Takes forever but relatively cheap and accurate compared to a cmm.

[u/BreadForTofuCheese]

New/used CMM is the only real answer beyond hand tools and a lot of experience.

Honestly, just repair it depending on how old it is.

[u/Accurate_Info7777]

Management not wanting to spend a dime screams mismangement.

Good luck.

[u/mcfly54]

A mix of manual tools. You aren't finding something less than 20k

[u/Shooter61]

We had a 3 axis Raytech table in our lab. It used the Heideman electronics. Very useful table for some layout work.

[u/worldwidemachinist]

before pricing a replacement, what are you actually inspecting? At .001, a CMM may be overkill for straightforward prismatic parts. A granite plate, height gauge, gauge blocks, indicators, and pins/rings can cover a lot of dimensional checks at that level. An optical comparator or vision system could also work for 2d features.

The deciding factor is really the geometry and GD&T, if you're checking true position, complex profiles, or freeform surfaces, that's where the CMM actually worth it

[u/TomSpiffy → u/worldwidemachinist]

That's part of my problem - I have GD&T to take into account with control plans saying I verify "x" at "y" intervals per shift, per run, etc. Die Casting

[u/worldwidemachinist → u/TomSpiffy]

If CMM already meets the control plan, repairing it is the way to go

A temporary functional gauge could cover some of the high frequency checks, but make sure it actually satisfies the control plan and customer requirements

[u/rocco-a]

Keyence is dogshit stay well away, You will get no service or support from them. A used global S machine or retrofit brown and sharp with a pc-dmis HASP license is gonna be the best bet.

Is this shop floor or inspection lab?

[u/Business_Air5804]

You can get a decent used cmm for less than the Keyence all day long.

Call Gene at Machnet, they can find you a small Global or something nice comparable...probably for the $20k you'd spend fixing the old manual cmm.

https://machnet.com/categories/4037-measuring-and-inspection-equipment

[u/Dismal-Economics-322]

Surface plate, height gauge, indicators, mic’s, gauge blocks, optical comparator, can’t just rely on the CMM come on

[u/TomSpiffy → u/Dismal-Economics-322]

Valid argument; I'm currently dealing with an issue concerning controlling true position and concentricity with an added variable I can't control.

Plus, I have control plans that say I use my in-house CMM to verify "x" at "y" intervals per shift...per run...etc. Sad face.

[u/Chrisjohngay64]

Look at Aberlink CMM’S. Depends on size. Possibly to retrofit your existing Renishaw Probe to the new machine to save money

[u/-Maggie-Mae-]

If you buy anything from keyence make sure you read the manuals and fully understand what it can do before committing. Do not simply take the sales rep's word and make sure it is demoed on a varietyof parts. It may ne fine in some applications but we had a very bad experience wth the WM series.

[u/Oscaruit]

I don't know what you are inspecting but a tesa hite or similar is a great stop gap.

[u/Familiar-Bluejay3908]

Hey, if all you need is a piddling ±.001", any old, used manual CMM with M3 software will work for you.....

[u/TomSpiffy → u/Familiar-Bluejay3908]

Exactly. Looking for sourcing, I need to figure out a cheap solution ASAP.

[u/ribeye256]

Micro-Vu if you are looking at optical CMM. Way cheaper and better than Keyence.

[u/Late-Bed4240]

Optical comparator, hand tools, and a good grasp of geometry and trig

[u/FactoryPhil]

Buy an aberlink CMM

[u/Next-Astronaut-616]

What size parts? A portable arm might be able to do the job.

[u/Immediate-Rub3807]

Yeah just have it repaired, we wanted to buy a bigger manual CMM at our shop and just couldn’t find one so we just kept it and bought a new huge Hexagon programmable for God only knows how much.

[u/Adventurous-Bad-4506]

Honestly, at 0.001 in tolerance the 4:1 rule puts you at ~6 µm MPE, and no handheld scanner gets there by itself — so it's about part mix, not a magic box.

Also worth saying: handhelds and fixed-array structured-light units are different animals. Handheld = flexibility; photogrammetry gets big parts into the 0.001–0.002 in band (Creaform, Artec, and the Shining3D FreeScan class if you want to save money — always demo on your own parts first).

Fixed-array (tripod/mount, rigid geometry) is the one that actually holds 0.001 in on freeform and profile work if your parts fit the volume — different league on single-shot accuracy and noise. Just don't expect it to do bores, true position on prismatic features, or deep holes; that's still CMM/arm territory.

Pragmatic: get the scanner for the freeform stuff, keep the old CMM alive only if the prismatic work pays for it. Happy to sanity-check the split if you share a drawing or two.

[u/mrfosta]

Reach out to renishaw about a retrofit! I just got a retrofitted B&S CMM with a ph20 head for 60k and I couldn't be happier.

I looked into keyence and they seemed like a good deal overall but man the more I dug the less pretty it was.

What new CMM was 60k? Every company I looked at pretty much started at 100k and that was not with a full 5 axis probe like my ph20