Aberlink raises the bar with new CMM

2023 represents a milestone year for metrology specialist Aberlink. Not only does it commemorate 30 years in business for the Eastcombe, Gloucestershire-based company – it also marks the launch of a powerful, but simple to use manual coordinate measuring machine – the Fulcrum. But does it measure up? Dave Tudor went to find out.  

Straight off the bat, I have no reservations whatsoever hailing Aberlink as a true British manufacturing success. It is after all the largest UK owned manufacturer of coordinate measuring machines (CMMs) and vision systems, but there’s more to it than that.  

Because Aberlink is a rare beast indeed. For all intents and purposes, it’s a totally self-contained business. From its picturesque HQ in the Cotswolds, it designs, machines, assembles and tests everything it produces – both hardware and software.

From the brand-new Fulcrum manual CMM, through to the Extol – the world’s first CMM to incorporate a delta mechanism, the bestselling Axiom too, Horizon bridge-type CMMs and the Project X vision system, it’s clear to see that continuously innovating technically advanced products, representing excellent value for money while being simple to use are the core values that underpin the business.

And the appeal is far-reaching. Aberlink exports over 80% of its products worldwide to more than 40 countries. Not bad for a company that originally began life 30 years ago as a subcontract machinist with a couple of second-hand machining centres.

“When Gavin Bailey and I started Aberlink back in 1993, we made a living offering a subcontract machining service, but to be honest, in those days, it was purely a means of paying the bills,” recalls Marcus Eales, Aberlink’s owner/director.

“We didn’t specifically set out to manufacture metrology equipment, but the fact that we were both ex-Renishaw employees with strong metrology backgrounds undoubtedly influenced the path we would eventually take. I have no regrets about starting on the machining side because it remains a vital part of our operations today.

“Back then, everyone was chasing the buck and flooding towards low-cost machining overseas, but I saw the value of keeping operations in-house because we had complete control over everything,” he adds.

“For us it’s a true differentiator in the marketplace. Because we do everything in-house, we can bring new products to market quickly. Developing these skills internally is pivotal to our success.”

Moving into metrology

Aberlink’s initial foray into metrology began when it tried to purchase a second-hand CMM for its own use: “Back then, finding one was practically impossible,” Mr Eales explains. “There were very few around and those we did find were expensive and woefully inaccurate. So, long story short, we decided to manufacture our own.”

And that’s exactly what happened. Bolstered by a DTI Smart Award cash injection in 1995, Aberlink launched its air bearing-centric Axiom manual CMM in 1998 (priced at £7,999) just in time for the MACH show that year, where, according to Mr Eales, ‘visitors were three or four deep during the demos’.

The Axiom offered UK manufactured, high performance and user-friendly metrology at an affordable price. In 2004, the company unveiled the CNC version – the Axiom too – a product that remains an undisputed bestseller today.

Designed for the shopfloor

Fast forwarding a couple of decades – literally hot off the press and destined for an official launch at the Control exhibition in Stuttgart (running from 9-12 May 2023) is the brand spanking new Fulcrum CMM – Aberlink’s latest addition to an already extensive CMM range.

But this is different. It’s a manual CMM with three rotary axes designed from the ground up to be accurate, portable, robust and easy to use. Fundamentally, the Fulcrum is a shopfloor CMM; it lives alongside the machine tool with a view to optimising inspection as parts come off the machine, one op at a time.

The objective with Fulcrum is to provide feedback to the machining process at the earliest opportunity – before final inspection and before incurring unwanted expense through rejected parts.

“For such a relatively simple machine, a lot of development has gone into the Fulcrum,” Marcus Eales affirms. “Because it’s a manual shopfloor machine, it needs to be able to take a knock or two so we had to factor that into the design.

“We had to make the Fulcrum not only portable and moveable from machine to machine, but also rugged and operationally accurate. That certainly wasn’t an easy task and was by far the biggest challenge. We went through many prototypes before we were happy.”

Mind the gap

With the Fulcrum, Mr Eales believes Aberlink can fill a whopping gap in the marketplace: “We do have a manual Axiom too CMM in our range but that’s still expensive compared to the Fulcrum because until now, we made a manual CMM by manufacturing the full CNC version of it and then removing the motors afterwards.   

“Now all that has changed. Fulcrum is 100% a manual machine – and it makes sound economic sense. Think about it. A shadowgraph/profile projector costs around £6K. A height gauge can cost anything from £2-6K. A full-blown CNC CMM can cost circa £20K. What about the huge gap in-between?

“If you can’t justify the latter because of the price, but you need something more advanced, flexible and easier to use than a height gauge/profile projector combo, that’s precisely where the Fulcrum fits in.”

This is a rigid stylus CMM with travels of 280 x 280 x 150mm (XYZ) respectively. Dimensionally, it’s extremely compact, measuring just 335 x 830 x 725mm yet it has an impressive volumetric accuracy of 5µm and a scale resolution of 0.04µm.  

Aberlink is renowned for its easy-to-use metrology software and potential users will be pleased to know that a new interface has been developed specially for the Fulcrum making size and form measurement of components an absolute breeze. After manually scanning the part, critical features are automatically recognised and dimensions automatically displayed.

The Fulcrum is electrically (not pneumatically) powered so from firing it up to measuring parts takes literally minutes. And it’s a doddle to use with no previous CMM experience necessary.

And arguably the best bit – the Fulcrum manual CMM costs just £11,700. For that you get the CMM itself, a Windows-based all-in-one PC package (which connects to the Fulcrum via a single USB connection), a stylus kit, a magnetic fixture kit for holding components in place, free software upgrades and a 12 months full parts and labour warranty. CAD comparison software is available as an option.

Training of course is provided but having seen the Fulcrum in action, it’s a shallow learning curve. Operational simplicity is the Fulcrum’s overriding feature in my opinion – which is why ultimately, it’s intended as an ‘out of the box’ metrology solution.

Quality control – one op at a time

Although the Fulcrum incorporates three rotary axes, Marcus Eales is keen to differentiate it from scanning arms which, although have excellent articulation capabilities through their multiple axes (making them ideal for scanning large forms, profiles and assemblies), they lack the necessary accuracy for inspecting machined parts.

“Where the Fulcrum really excels is for inspecting components one op at a time coming off a 3-axis machining centre,” he emphasises. “To achieve the 5µm accuracies required we opted for three axes of movement which mirrors those on the machine tool. In this particular application, the benefits are obvious: the earlier you inspect a part in the production process, the sooner errors are detected.

“It’s important to note however that the Fulcrum isn’t designed to be an end of line final inspection tool where you need more probing versatility. We already have products for that like the Axiom too which has motorised indexable heads to enable the complete inspection of an intricate part in one hit.

“It can also be used to update tooling offset data,” he adds. “For example you’re interpolating a pocket feature on a component and you run a first off; then you measure it on the Fulcrum and update the tooling data if required by changing the tool radius in the CNC controller.”

Personally I can see another application for the Fulcrum – reverse engineering. If you’re a subcontractor and your customer brings you a part to make with no drawing or specification, this will be a tool to dimensionally assess it quickly and accurately. 

Workholding on the Fulcrum is simple but effective and achieved via a magnetic stainless-steel baseplate and corner pieces. A nice touch on the working area itself is the inclusion of moveable magnetic soft buttons which enable the user to change measurement parameters without using the mouse. All you need to do is move the probe close to the required feature button (which selects it) and voila – instant single handed operation.

True potential

Structurally, there have been recent organisational changes at Aberlink. Marcus Eales remains at the helm, but Gavin Bailey has now retired. Chris Davies has stepped up to become sales and marketing director.

Operationally it’s onwards and upwards. This is a company that never stops innovating and its fundamental desire to keep as much of the business as possible in-house is both commendable and admirable. A great British company in every sense.

In terms of sales projections for the Fulcrum – Marcus Eales has the final word: “I’d be disappointed with anything less than five units a week in the first year,” he concludes. “We strongly believe this new product fills a clear gap in the marketplace and we’re confident it’ll be successful.”

Aberlink
www.aberlink.com