Introduction to Sine Bar:

The sine bar is the most accurate instrument for measuring angles. It
consists of a accurate straight rectangular bar made of high quality
steel and having two accurately lapped cylindrical plugs or rollers at
the ends.

Sine bar is specified by the distance between the centres of two rollers
i.e., 100mm, 200mm, 250mm, or 300mm, two rollers must be of same
diameters. The various parts of sine bar are hardened before grinding
and lapping.

The rollers are so fixed that when sine bar is placed on surface plate,
the surface of the bar is exactly parallel to surface plate.

Types of Available Sine Bars:

Sine bars are available in different forms and sizes, according to the
purpose of its use and method of application. In design (a), the plugs
project about 12 mm from the front face of the bar and in design (b)
and (c), the ends of the bar are stepped and the plugs are secured into
each step by screw. Different available types of sine bar are shown in
fig. 1.21. Sine bar is also available in inches.
Principle of Working of Sine Bar:
The principle of operation of the sine bar is based upon the application
of trigonometry. In a right angle triangle ABC shown in Fig. 1.22, the
ratio of the length BC (perpendicular) to that of the length AB
(hypotenuse) is referred to as the sine of the angle θ

The ratio will always be the same irrespective of the length of sides of
the triangle. By placing the slip gauges under the one roller, the bar
surface can be made parallel to any angular surface of work.

Then by measuring the total height made by slip gauge, the

angle can be found by using the formula:

Where, h = height made by slip gauge.

L = distance a between the centres of rollers.

Measurement of Angle for Small Component:

For checking the angle of small size components, a sine bar is set up
approximate (Nominal) angle on a surface plate by suitable
combination of slip gauges.

The component being checked is placed over the surface of a sine bar
as shown in Fig. 1.23. A dial gauge is mounted upon a suitable stand
such as universal surface gauge.

It is moved over the component throughout its length. If there is a

variation in parallelism of the upper surface of the component and the
surface plate, it is indicated by the deflection of pointer.

Now, we tried to adjust the slip gauges height so that the dial indicator
reads zero position.

Then in this situation, the angle of the component is given

by:

Where, θ = is the angel to be measure

h = height of the slip gauges.

L = Length of the sine bar (between centres)

Measurement of Angle for Large Component:

When component is too large to be mounted on the sin-bar, the sine
bar can be mounted on the component as shown in figure 1.24.
The height over the rollers is measured by means of a vernier height
gauge. A dial gauge is also used to check the measuring pressure. Now,
adjusting the height gauge until the dial gauge reads zero reading each
time. The difference of the two height gauge reading being the rise of
the sine-bar as shown in fig 1.24.

The angle of the component is given by:

Uses of Sine Bar:

A sine bar has to be used in conjunction with a surface plate and slip
gauges. Sine bar is used for checking angle of components, taper of
work pieces, etc. It is also used for setting a work to a known required
angle.

Accuracy Requirement of Sine Bar:

Sine bar is more accurate for angles between 15° to 45°, below and
above to this limit, angles measured are not much more accurate.

If a sine bar is to be accurate than the following properties

must exist:
(i) The distance between centres (L) must be precisely known.

(ii) The axes of rollers must be parallel to each other.

(iii) The upper surface of the sine bar must be flat and parallel.
(iv) The rollers must be of identical diameters and round to within a
close tolerance.

Sources of Errors in Sine Bar:

1. Constant Angle Error:
This is caused if the working surface and the cylinder axes are not
parallel.

2. Progressive Angle Error:

This is due to the error in cylinder centre distance.

3. Gauge block tolerance accumulation is also a source of progressive

error.