Surface plate

A surface plate is a solid, flat plate used as the main horizontal reference plane for precision inspection, marking out (layout), and tooling setup. The surface plate is often used as the baseline for all measurements to a workpiece, therefore one primary surface is finished extremely flat. For example, a grade 0 surface plate may only have a 3.5 μm (0.00014 in) deviation from flatness over a 250-by-250-millimetre (9.8 by 9.8 in) area. Surface plates are a common tool in the manufacturing industry and are often fitted with mounting points so that it can be an integrated structural element of a machine such as a coordinate-measuring machine, precision optical assembly, or other high precision scientific & industrial machine. Plates are typically square or rectangular, although they may be cut to any shape.

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