Keeping 2 plates exactly parallel

[rxl182]

What is the simplest and/or most efficient method for keeping a steel plate (1" L x 2" W x .5" D) perfectly horizontal when mounted to a base. The plate needs to be able to move a short distance up and down (<1cm) and remain horizontal.

Thanks for any help,
rich

 

[NickE]

Three Micrometer heads that are tested and calibrated?

 

[MadMango]

Nothing is going to be "perfect". How much tolerance can you live with?

Cheap way to go might be the use of a minature arbor press, or linear slides.

[green]"But what... is it good for?"[/green]
Engineer at the Advanced Computing Systems Division of IBM, 1968, commenting on the microchip.
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[Kapitan]

There is no mention here of how often this will happen but a simple method would be to mount the plates in a Press Tool Die Set.

 

[drawoh]

rxl182,

How about a rigid linear stage? Check an optical company for opto-mechanical hardware. Melles Griot and Newport make a lot of stuff that might work for you.

JHG

 

[sacem1]

I would suggest that you mount your plate on top of two wedges when you displace one towards the other the plate will rise, when you move them apart from one another the plate will descend.

You can find that size of wedges (called adjustable parallels) in different suppliers of fixtures or tools.

If you keep the base one fixed to the table your plate will move sideways as you lower or raise but if you use a right-left thread rod that connects one to the other you can have no lateral movement you will just have to make that up yourself.

Hope it helps

SACEM1