Vibralign Blog

Alignment tolerances| Precision Shaft Alignment| shaft alignment tolerances| tolerances

By Tom Shelton on October 15, 2018

VibrAlign and Fixturlaser have done what we can to make the precision shaft alignment process quicker and easier for the end user of our tools. To assist maintenance personnel during an alignment a tolerance table “pops up” on the display unit screen (of our tools) when entering dimensions for the machines being aligned. The tolerances […]

Alignment tolerances| dial indicator alignment| dial vs laser| rim and face| shaft alignment tolerances| TIR| tolerances

By Steve Gordon on July 30, 2018

Fixturlaser Shaft Alignment Tools come pre-programmed with generally accepted industry tolerances for electric motor driven machinery.  These tolerances are based on the motor RPM and will give you an “endpoint” in the alignment process (based on the measured offset and angular misalignment at the center point of the coupling in both the vertical and horizontal […]

angular misalignment| bearing failures| offset misalignment| shaft alignment tolerances| uncoupled alignment

By Stan Riddle on December 28, 2016

These types of couplings are quite common in industry, and there are various companies producing similar types of couplings.  They are capable of transmitting large amounts of torque in a reasonably small space.  They also do not require lubrication, and are quite easy to install, in most circumstances.  These attributes make them quite desirable in […]

"jacking bolts"| jack bolts| offset misalignment| Precision Shaft Alignment| push bolts| shaft alignment tolerances

By Brad Case on December 14, 2016

Millwrights and mechanics know the benefits of using jack bolts to precisely control the horizontal position of the movable machine when performing a precision shaft alignment. However, we also see the tendency to tighten the jack bolts, on both sides of the movable machine, either before or after tightening the hold down bolts. Tightening jack […]

angular misalignment| offset and angularity| offset misalignment| Precision Shaft Alignment| shaft alignment tolerances| soft foot

By James Pekarek on September 22, 2016

When performing a precision laser shaft alignment, it is best to add or remove shims exactly as the display unit indicates.  There are circumstances when this may not be possible due to your assortment of shims, or when you want to “fudge” your shims slightly to keep the total number of shims low. (Clink for […]

bearing failures| bearings| misalignment| Precision Shaft Alignment| shaft alignment tolerances

By Brad Case on August 17, 2016

Simply put, L10 bearing life is the number of service hours that 90% of bearings will survive or conversely 10% of bearings will have failed. L10 life: is the preferred term in specifying bearing life and is defined by The American Bearing Manufacturers Association (ABMA). A bearing life equation is: This calculation assumes proper installation […]

"coupling tolerance"| Alignment tolerances| offset and angularity| Precision Shaft Alignment| shaft alignment tolerances

By Brad Case on June 24, 2016

Plenty! This question still comes up fairly often in our training classes. If you look any of the coupling manufactures installation instructions there is a chart for the maximum allowable misalignment based on the coupling size. These tolerances are for the coupling, what about the machines the coupling connects? Shaft alignment tolerances are more about […]