These tungsten carbide pads have extreme hardness to provide highly stable and repeatable kinematic structures, such as custom kinematic bases or mounts. The tungsten carbide material used has a hardness of 1800 Knoops, much larger than stainless steel (280 Knoops) or aluminum (120 Knoops). For more information about kinematic mechanisms, please see the Kinematic Mirror Mounts section of our Optical Mirror Mount Technology Guide technical note.
Three versions of the pad are available and intended to be used together for the best repeatability. CPP-F-6 is a flat shaped pad, CPP-C-6 has a cone shape, and CPP-V-6 is V-groove shaped. Kinematic mounts can be created either in a Cone-V-Flat assembly or a 3-V(groove) configuration.
Flat and cone-shaped pads are offered in precision grade, with polished surfaces featuring a 10 µ-in. surface finish to provide the best repeatability. V-groove pads are available in either precision grade or standard grade, with the standard grade pads having a 63 µ-in. surface finish. Each type of carbide pad is sold in a set of 6.
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