Calibration of index tables using electric comparators

Very accurate calibration is needed to index tables which are necessary for precision angle measurement. The repeatability of index table is less than 0.2 second, so that attentions should be paid to choosing devices to be used in the calibration of index tables. The auto- collimators have been used in the calibration of index tables, but the repeatability of auto- collimators is bad compared with that of index table. In place of autocollimators, we described a method which uses electric comparators which are possessed by most precision measurement laboratories. Electric comparators are set to measure small angle displacement without interrupting the rotation of index tables and the signals of two electric comparators are added to remove the run-out errors of the shafts of index tables. Two index tables have been calibrated simulataneously by this method and the measurement data have been analyzed by the least squares method. We compare the calibration results with those of methods using autocollimator and auto- matic autocollimator and are able to know that the data of electric comparator method lie between the data of autocollimator methods. The repeatability of measurement is less than 0.02 second. The electric comparator method is economical and capable of reducing the uncertainty of the measurement.