A versatile alignment kit lets maintenance personnel for production equipment quickly and precisely align bores and shafts and measure machine straightness, parallelism, squareness, and surface flatness. Engineers at Pinpoint Laser Systems, Newburyport, Mass., (www.pinlaser.com) say the Microgage Complete Alignment Kit is easy to use and reduces a company's dependence on expensive outside alignment services.

The kit includes a laser transmitter and a digital receiver connected to a handheld display. Readings appear on a large LCD, with alignment units shown in 0.001 or 0.0001-in. increments, or in millimeters. A rotating base allows setting and checking flat planes such as machine beds, roller assemblies, sliding mechanical stages, and other planer equipment. A precise 90° beam bender allows checking the vertical axis of machine tools, and the parallelism of rails, tracks, and rollers. A heavy-duty tripod supports the laser and several mounting fixtures provide versatility on the plant floor. An interface cable connects the Microgage to a laptop or PC to store readings and generate printouts.