Measurement of drill point geometry by using laser sensor

Accurate measurement for the drill geometry is essential to drill design and reconditioning. In recent years, a number of non-contact drill measuring instruments, using CCD camera are reported in the literature. But these systems are not suitable in measuring three-dimensional surface, especially the concave ones. As an effectual remedy, a geometry measurement instrument using laser sensor is developed. This paper describes its configuration and calibration. In addition, the measurement method for a drill flute is detailed. Validity of the system and proposed method are demonstrated by an example. The deviations of the data measured from that inspected by using a microscope are no more than 0.0061 mm.