Rubert + Company

Welcome to Rubert & Co Ltd. Located in Cheadle,  near Manchester in the United Kingdom, we are world leaders in producing comparison specimens for surface roughness control in manufacturing,  and precision reference specimens for surface metrology.  In fact,  we produce the world’s largest range of surface specimens offered by a single manufacturer.

Most of our specimens are made using the method of nickel electroforming, which is a replicative technique exceptionally well suited to the manufacture of surface roughness specimens, since it reproduces small surface features with great fidelity.

Our roughness specimens are divided into two classes, depending on their application: we call the first type comparison specimens, and the second type precision reference specimens.

Contacting Rubert + Co

Comparison Specimens

The measurement of surface roughness is not as straightforward as most other engineering measurements, such as length or angle or hardness; and in order to get good accuracy, expensive instruments are needed. These are often unsuitable for workshop use, where roughness of machined surfaces can usually be assessed conveniently and with sufficient reliability using visual and tactile (fingernail) comparison with a standard set of surfaces machined in the same way.

Such sets of surfaces are called roughness comparison specimens. They are simple to use, inexpensive, and hence widely used in many different applications. See here for our full range.

Precision Reference Specimens

Precise measurements of surface roughness can be made only by means of a measuring instrument in which a pickup traces over the surface and analyses the resulting data. Many different types are available, ranging from inexpensive workshop roughness testers to sophisticated computerised laboratory systems; and making use of different technologies for the pickup, such as atomic force probes or laser beams, as well as the more widely-used contacting diamond stylus method. All these measuring instruments have to be calibrated and checked before use,  by means of standard specimens.  See here for our full range of these.