A Major Step Forward in the Measurement of Form and Roughness of Cutting Tools   

Hi-Tech Metrology with partner Alicona Imaging GmbH of Austria is pleased to announce the arrival of the all new IF EdgeMaster G4 system to the Australian market.

Alicona are world-famous for their ground-breaking InfiniteFocus measurement equipment range using the now well recognised measurement technique of focus variation.   The focus variation measurement principles are ISO-certified in EN ISO 25178 and allows for measurements with high repeatability including quality information for evaluating the measurement uncertainty.

The new IF EdgeMaster G4 system is built upon the reliable, robust and well-proven technology platform found in Alicona's laboratory InfiniteFocus G4 system and their new portable system, the IF-Portable.  The system offers a doubling of the field of view, easy measurement set-up through the use of a coaxial laser and up to three times larger measurement volume over the previous model EdgeMaster G3 system.


As well as the increased measuring capacity and ease of set-up the new IF EdgeMaster G4 system allows users to measure lower roughness values and the measurement of smaller edge radii are possible - with higher accuracy overall roughness measurement.

The system improvements now mean that end-users have a wider choice of sample material types and surface conditions that are possible to measure; the equipment is easier and more portable to move around, is suitable for production environments and can be adapted for use in automation cells.

The automation possibilities for the new IF EdgeMaster G4 system are extensive and include an extended travel range, automated measurement of chuck and reference positioning as well as automated loading.   

The IF EdgeMaster G4 has undergone rigorous testing for over 12-months with one of Israel's most prestigious tooling suppliers the IMC Group who evaluated a number of tool measurement solutions and after the evaluation process concluded that the new IF EdgeMaster G4 system from Alicona was superior to all of the other products tested.  They are now specifying this system for measurement tasks with their equipment in the future.

Hi-Tech Metrology will be bringing the first IF EdgeMaster G4 system to Australia next month for one of our major research customers.  We will report on the application that this equipment is being used for and the subsequent key customer benefits of the system in a future news story of Hi-Tech Metrology's monthly newsletter.  This particular system is unique in that a 50x objective has been specified for the application because of the requirement for high definition surface roughness measurements on a number of key features on a specialised precision cutting tool product for the end-client.    The Alicona equipment will be critical for successful development of the optimal cutting tool parameters for this very demanding application.