We have recently proposed the new concept of a phase-measuring volumetric interferometer that enables us to accurately measure the xyz-coordinates of the probe without metrology frames. The interferometer is composed of a movable target and a fixed photo-detector array. The target is made of point diffraction sources to emit two spherical wavefronts, whose interference is monitored by an array of photo-detectors. Phase shifting is applied to obtain the precise phase values of the photo-detectors. Then the measured phases are fitted to a geometric model of multilateration so as to determine the xyz-location of the target by minimizing least square errors. The proposed interferometer has been designed and built with a volumetric uncertainty of less than 1.0 $mu extrm{m}$ within a cubic working volume of side 120 mm. Here, in this paper, we also present error sources, an evaluated uncertainty, and test results from the prototype system. The self-calibration of two-dimensional precision metrology stages is applied to test the performance of the interferometer.