The New Swift Glass Scratch/Dig Calculator: A Smarter Way to Assess Surface Quality
Leave a CommentWhen reviewing the specifications for optical glass, you’re likely to see something like “60-40” or “80-50”, but what do these numbers represent in physical reality? How can you easily translate that into surface quality? On top of visualizing specs, professionals in the optical glass world also need to calculate accumulated defect limits and translate between specifications and current ISO standards.
To help with all of these tasks, Swift Glass has developed and released a new, convenient, and interactive Scratch/Dig Calculator. Using this tool, you can easily and quickly convert dimensions, automate all pass/fail inspections, and convert specs with instant calculation.
The “Visual” vs. “Dimensional” Challenge
The optical glass industry frequently relies on approximate width for dimensions, while the MIL-PRF-13830B standard has historically given a visual standard for optical glass.
To make this process easier and more accurate, it helps to use an automated calculation tool for contemporary manufacturing applications. The following are some of the key features of our calculator tool that can help measure scratch dig specs.
The Dimensional Converter for Visualizing Abstracts
This feature makes it easy to convert standard class measurements into real-world metrics. You can visualize abstracts for the following:
Scratches: Detail the apparent width of scratches within components, such as “60” in a “60-40” specification, to a maximum permissible scratch width of 60 microns or 0.06 mm.
Digs: Quickly translate the dig number into maximum diameters using imperial and metric measurements, e.g., converting Dig 40 to 0.400 mm (0.0158 inches). To further simplify measurements, you can use the visual reference feature for instant scaling, like comparing scratch sizes to the size of human hairs.
The Pass/Fail Inspector for Automating Workflows
Another key feature is the pass/fail inspection that helps easily confirm whether a part adheres to the MIL-PRF-13830B standard. It works by enabling users to designate a spec and optic diameter, followed by entering observed defects, such as spotting one 10mm-long scratch.
The tool then runs these specs to check against three critical areas:
Single defect size minimums and maximums
Scratch length accumulation, i.e., determining whether a scratch exceeds 1/4 of the optic diameter
Whether dig diameters extend beyond a max dig size by a certain factor
Subsequently, users can get a clear “PASS” or “FAIL” decision based on the inputs, complete with a comprehensive breakdown scoreboard to mitigate error risks.
The ISO 10110 Bridge
The tool is ideal for engineers to make the shift to the ISO 10110 standard using MIL-SPEC blueprints. It allows users to simply enter a MIL-SPEC callout, which the algorithm translates into an accurate ISO 10110-7 notation. For example, you might enter a MIL-SPEC of 60-40, which translates to 5 inches / 1 x 0.4 inches.
In turn, engineers can save more time and ensure blueprints align with modern metric standards.
Try the Swift Glass Scratch/Dig Calculator
Whether you’re an engineer or quality assurance professional, it can be challenging to gauge optical surface quality when working with outdated standards, variable measurements, or a lack of visual context. At Swift Glass, we aim to ease this process while maximizing accuracy with our reliable Scratch/Dig Calculator. Our calculator tool functions as more than just a reference table, providing you with a reliable solution for daily calculations of surface quality to validate parts while maintaining compliance with the latest industry standards.
Try the free Scratch/Dig Calculator today to see what it can do for you, or contact the experts at Swift Glass for assistance with custom optical specifications.
