Design and testing of an optical configuration for multi-dimensional measurement of a diamond cutting tool

This paper presents a new optical measuring instrument for multi-dimensional measurement of a diamond cutting tool to be used in diamond turning process. The measuring instrument is composed of a micro-optical probe component for tool edge contour measurement and a Linnik microscope component for tool faces measurement. In the micro-optical probe component, a focused laser beam scans along a tool edge to measure the deviation of the tool edge contour from the scanning path of the laser beam. For further precise tool edge contour measurement with the micro-optical probe component, its spot diameter needs to be optimized. The Linnik microscope component, which is an interferometric microscope having a pair of matched objective lenses in its optical setup, is therefore integrated into the measuring instrument not only to measure tool faces but also to optimize the spot diameter of the focused laser beam in the micro-optical probe component. The optical configuration of the proposed optical measuring instrument is designed, and its prototype composed of the micro-optical probe component and the Linnik microscope component is developed based on an optical cage system. Furthermore, some basic experiments are carried out to verify the feasibility of the developed prototype.