Exacto Machine & Tool has been serving the Indianapolis and surrounding area for almost 30 years. In 1977, while working for a plastic injection molding company, George Lemcke saw the need for a machine shop on the northwest side of Indianapolis. The molding company’s tooling needed routine maintenance and frequently found the need for the development and manufacture of new tools.  Mr. Lemcke took advantage of the need he saw within the plastic injection company he was working for and developed Exacto Machine & Tool to meet the needs of the growing northwest Indianapolis market.

In 1985 the company had outgrown their facility and needed to move to its current location.  The new location provided space to meet their current needs and to allow continued growth over the long term. Exacto Machine and Tool is a machine shop that specializes in meeting the needs of local companies regarding their general machining needs.

 

In 2000 Exacto was contacted by Mark Olson, an engineer with a well known Midwest oil company. Mark was teaching field technicians how to properly inspect oil and gas pipelines for corrosion and pitting to determine whether a section of pipe’s integrity had been compromised due to corrosion. While working with these field technicians, he realized that there was not a device on the market that accurately measured the amount corrosion on a section of pipe. Mark, in conjunction with Exacto Machine, developed the “Pit Depth Gauge”. Mark wanted a device that a technician could use in the field that would measure that amount of corrosion on a section of pipe accurately and with 1/1000 of an inch. This instrument needed to be able to span a section of pipe that had extensive corrosion and be adjustable to assist in the inspection process. This instrument also needed to be able to fit several different diameters of pipe. After several design changes and modifications the first “Pit Depth Gauge” was born. The first “Pit Gauges” we milled out of solid aluminum 12” bar with an adjustable analog gauge and a 6’ ruler riveted on the bar.

 

The “Pit Depth Gauge” was in the field and being used by several different inspection companies for less than a year.  After several months feed back about the “Pit Depth Gauge” and its design and ease of use began to come back from customers.  In reviewing the feedback from our customers who were using the gage, we began to implement changes to the initial design. Improvements such as magnets to facilitate working upside down were made.  Anodizing of the aluminum and having the 6” ruler engraved on the rail made the “Pit Depth Gauge” a much better looking and versatile product. In 2002 a digital gauge was added to the “Pit Gauge”, to make the product even more efficient.

 

Over the years, we have continued to get feedback from our customers regarding design additions that could be make to make the “Pit Gauge” work better for them in a variety of situations.  Several of the technicians asked for a gauge that was easier to read while working upside down. Technicians also requested a longer bridging bar to assist in measuring longer corrosion pits on pipe; so an 18” Bridging Bar (PG1800) was added as a supplement to the “Pit Depth Gauge”. Simply remove the Gauge from the 12” bridging bar and attach it to the 18” bridging bar.

 

Today the “Pit Depth Gauge” is one of the best instruments available in accurately measuring corrosion pits on pipes. Since the inception of the “Pit Depth Gauge” several major inspection companies as well as gas and pipeline industrial supply companies have added the use of this instrument to their lines.

 

The “Pit Depth Gauge” is available in two gauge types, Digital and Analog. It is also available in two kit forms. One kit is the “Pit Depth gauge” in a durable plastic protective case (PG1200) and the other is the (PG12/18) which consists of the PG1200 and the PG1800 bridging bar in one protective case.

 

The “Pit Depth Gauge”

Exacto Machine has several distributors across the country. The “Pit Depth Gauge” can be purchased though their distributors or can be purchased direct from the manufacturer.

Please contact us for information at 317-872-3136 or 317-872-1227fax. E-mail: exactomachine@comcast.net

Web site: www.exactomachine.com