LK Metrology is celebrating its 60th anniversary.
Established in 1963, LK Metrology (www.LKmetrology.com) has a heritage dating back to the birth of coordinate measuring machine (CMM) technology.
Founded by former Rolls Royce engineer and CMM pioneer Norman Key and his father-in-law Jim Lowther, the company is credited with many innovations in the CMM industry. In 1972, in partnership with Rolls-Royce, Key worked alongside the person who would co-found Renishaw a year later, Sir David McMurtry, who today is its executive chairman, to develop the now industry standard Renishaw touch-trigger probe.
Other industry firsts accredited to LK include successive introductions to the market of the bridge-type CMM, inspection software, exclusive use of air bearings and granite guideways, carbon fibre composite spindles, microprocessor-controlled drive systems, true thermal stability of the measuring platform, and a high-accuracy horizontal-spindle CMM.
With its headquarters, product development and CMM manufacturing facility in Castle Donington, UK, the company is headed by owner and CEO Angelo Muscarella, whose ASF Metrology group bought the company in 2018. It now not only manufactures CMMs but has also added to its product portfolio a range of FREEDOM branded portable measuring arms and many metrology accessories. They include a new range of laser scanners, a surface roughness probe, stylus cleaning and sensor changing equipment, an indexing table and a checking gauge for CMM calibration. First written in 1977, LK’s renowned CAMIO measurement, programming, analysis and reporting software is continually enhanced to provide industry-leading functionality, with the new CAMIO 2023 revision due in July.
“When I acquired LK, many staff had been with the company for decades and continue to give their total commitment. They and indeed I are proud to work in such a prestigious company. There is dynamism throughout our network of offices and distribution companies around the world, with everyone sharing common values and operating as a family,” Muscarella commented. “We are looking forward to maintaining our rapid growth and would like to thank all our customers for making this possible. We look forward to catching up with everyone on our stand (9505) at the Control show in Stuttgart in May and at many other trade shows around the world during 2023 and beyond.”
In terms of product development, LK has been very active of late not only in respect of its CAMIO software but also with hardware introductions. It recently launched a high-end laser line scanner with a nominal 20 mm line length, the SLK20, and a larger version is imminent that can be interchanged between a CMM and a manually-operated portable measurement arm. Recently released also was the SRP12.5 probe to offer surface roughness measurement as part of quality inspection on a CMM. Orientated using an indexing head, the probe adopts the most convenient pose to perform reliable and repeatable surface measurements. Additionally, with customers requiring more and more probes to complete inspection cycles on increasingly complex parts, LK is about to release a tool changer with a capacity of five probe ports per changer and the option to install multiple units on a single CMM.
