Sphere Micrometer Adapter

thingiverse

This is an adapter for a micrometer head I utilized a Starrett V263MRL since it was readily available to me. It permits the measurement of the radius of a sphere and caps the micrometer face to prevent marring the lens I was measuring. It provides three points on a circle for convex curves and four (of which you use three) on a concave curve. By inputting these into a bit of Python, such as this one, it will spit out the radius, making modeling lenses much easier. I've included the resulting model so you can see what I'm up to. ## Preparation: 1. Print, clean, and assemble. 2. On a flat surface, measure where the micrometer thinks the tip touches the flat. Record that as your zero point. 3. Accurately measure the inside and outside diameters of the bell. 4. Accurately measure the outside diameter of the tip. ## Measuring a convex surface: Place the bell anywhere on the surface, and measure the height the tip touches the surface. The difference between that and the zero is the height. The three points are thus (-ID/2.0, 0.0), (0, h), (ID/2.0, 0.0) Plug those points in: ```python # convex side x1 = -14.95 ; y1 = 0.0; x2 = 0.00 ; y2 = 14.75 - 13.77; x3 = 14.95 ; y3 = 0.0; findCircle(x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3); ``` ## Measuring a concave surface: Place the bell anywhere on the surface, and measure the height the tip touches the surface. The difference between that and the zero is the height of the edge of the tip. The three points are thus (-OD/2.0, 0.0), (TD/2.0, h), (OD/2.0, 0.0) Plug those points in: ```python # Concave side x1 = -19.80 ; y1 = 0.0; x2 = 4.95 ; y2 = 10.25 - 13.77; x3 = 19.80 ; y3 = 0.0; findCircle(x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3); ```