Quality10 min read
First article inspection: what a good FAI report contains
The dimensions, material evidence, functional tests and review steps that turn a first sample into an approved production part.
Read
Topic hub
Quality and inspection
Quality is a set of decisions made before the first part is measured. These guides cover general tolerances, GD&T, first article inspection, PPAP and the records a buyer should expect with a production shipment.
Guides in this topic
Quality9 min read
Drawing revision review before production
A release gate for drawing revisions, so a changed note, tolerance or finish is checked against the tool, the gauge and the test before the next order runs.
Read
Quality9 min read
Clearance, transition and interference fits: a selection guide
How to read a fit, choose a basis and avoid the temperature, coating and geometry effects that turn a drawing into a press or a rattle.
Read
Quality8 min read
Mill certificates and material traceability: what the paper proves
How to read a certificate, what the heat number connects and where the evidence stops.
Read
Quality8 min read
Millivolt drop testing for electrical joints: setup, current and acceptance
A four-wire measurement is only as good as the current, the probe placement and the joint preparation behind it. Here is how to make the number repeatable.
Read
Quality10 min read
Tensile testing for small parts: fixtures, specimens and results
A standard tensile test assumes a standard specimen. Small stamped, formed and turned parts need a different setup before the curve means anything.
Read
Quality8 min read
CMM inspection: when it is needed and when it is not
What a coordinate measuring machine does well, what it costs in programming and time, and which characteristics are better checked another way.
Read
Quality10 min read
Hardness testing: methods, scales and drawing callouts
Rockwell, Vickers and Brinell measure different things at different scales. How to pick a method, write a callout and read a certificate without converting your way into trouble.
Read
Quality9 min read
How to set critical-to-quality dimensions
A method for choosing the few characteristics that decide whether a part works, then giving each one a tolerance, a method and an inspection record.
Read
Quality9 min read
Runout and concentricity: which control to use for a rotating part
Circular runout, total runout, coaxiality and the legacy concentricity call, and why the choice changes what the inspector can prove.
Read
Quality8 min read
Salt spray testing for plated parts: hours, method and interpretation
What a neutral salt spray cabinet measures, how to write the requirement and why the hours are a ranking rather than a service life.
Read
Quality9 min read
Flatness, straightness and parallelism: form versus orientation
Three controls that are often confused, and the simple question that separates them: is there a datum in the frame?
Read
The Qumek dispatch
One useful email a month
Drawing notes, supplier checks, tariff changes and the questions buyers keep asking. No newsletter filler, no daily drip.