Hardinge Workholding Division

Expanding collets and between center arbors (mandrels) grip the internal diameter of a part for turning, milling, grinding, assembly, inspection and automation applications.

The company’s direct-drive rotary tables have zero backlash, permitting rapid bi-directional movement without lost time compensating for position over-travel.

According to Hardinge, vulcanized rubber has superior elasticity for repeated opening and closing of the collet without deterioration.

The FlexC collet systems are flexible, sealed collet heads that can interchange in seconds.

The Hardinge DD100 high-speed, direct-drive Super-Precision rotary table is a high-speed parts positioner with ± 3 arcsecond accuracy and 4 arcsecond repeatability.

Here's a broad look at different ways to approach workholding based upon the requirements of the application.

Low-Profile Rotary Systems are engineered to support heavy loads and high-force cutting applications while offering a fast clamp-and-release feature to speed production, the company says.

The company’s GD160LP rotary table is designed to provide rigidity, speed, accuracy, low-profile and repeatability.

Hardinge Workholding’s GD210LP low-profile rotary table provides rigidity, speed, accuracy and repeatability in an affordable package, the company says. It is designed with high stiffness and rigidity, large-diameter bearings and a fail-safe clamp system allowing part weight of much as 220 lbs. The rotary table uses as much as 233 foot-pounds/315 Nm of clamping torque to handle off-center drilling, cross-axis milling and other high-force cutting applications.

 In collaboration with Citizen Machinery Tech Center, Hardinge has developed and now manufactures standard TF-25 OG overgrip collets for Cincom M20 and L20 lathes. Extra spread is required to open the collet wide enough to go over the screw head or larger diameter. The collet design incorporates teardrop slots and reduced wall thickness for maximum flexibility for the overgrip pickoff process.

Master collets and pads from Hardinge Inc. are designed to save time and money. The style-S master collet, although originally designed for multi-spindle automatic screw machines, is said to have many benefits to the CNC lathe operator.

Hardinge’s GD210LP low-profile rotary table provides rigidity, speed, accuracy and repeatability. High stiffness and super rigidity are accomplished with large-diameter bearings and a fail-safe clamp system allowing part weight of more than 220 lbs. Radial load testing indicated a stiffness of 4 times greater than a competitive model, the company says.

In the early 1990s, Mr. Langlois decided to set up a shop specializing in close-tolerance aerospace parts. A friend of his recommended that he consider a colleted-spindle turning machine and suggested that he look into Hardinge lathes. Mr. Langlois purchased a used Hardinge HNC lathe and began making aircraft landing gear bushings.

Hardinge's two-axis multi-spindle rotary system eliminates the need for sine plates and other expensive fixtures for angular milling when used on a three-axis VMC. The rotary system features dual-bearing spindles and a bearing pillow block for accurate positioning, the company says.

Hardinge HCAC collet adaptation chucks allow any spindle to accept C-series collets, 3J collets, B42/B65 collets, #22/#11 B&S collets, style-S master collets and Dead-Length collets. It is possible to increase your machining capabilities by substituting a collet chuck for a jaw chuck for part diameters as much as

Hardinge has streamlined their indexer to a curved front casting over the spindle and has made the handle removable for increased spindle clearance and tool access. The dual-bearing spindle accommodates heavier radial and axial loads increasing overall indexing capabilities. Having 100-lb part weight and 1,000-lb tailstock thrust per spindle is not a problem, even on a quad unit with tailstocks.

Quick-change collets can improve production times and accuracy while alleviating any change-over issues typically associated with standard collets.

Hardinge has expanded its rotary line to include two-axis models for complex five-axis machining to eliminate second and third operations in shops. When used on a three-axis VMC, the positioning system is said to eliminate the need for sine plates and other fixtures for angular milling. The two-axis unit is a combination of two of the company’s rotary systems.

Hardinge Inc. continues to expand its line of European-style collets to meet the demand from multi-spindle machine owners in North America. The company will manufacture and carry an inventory of solid collets, master collets and pads, solid feed fingers and master feed fingers and pads.

- This pictorial guide of custom workholding solutions is for turning, milling, grinding, assembly and process applications - Learn how to resolve difficult problems such as hard-to-grip shapes and materials, geometric barstock, unusual or difficult process problems and non-traditional applications   .

Hardinge's direct-drive, quick-change rotary systems, called Super-Precision, incorporate a direct-drive, rare-earth permanent magnet torque motor with no mechanical gearing. This frameless motor wraps around the spindle, eliminating the need for a separate motor extension resulting in a much smaller footprint. Liquid-cooling wraps around the motor stator housing to increase continuous torque output by 38 percent to 100 percent when used for rigorous duty cycles and heavy cutting, according to the company.

In large part, because of the machine’s versatility, Swiss turning is increasing its penetration of the precision turned parts market. As more shops look to this technology, a look at workholding considerations is in order.

The 16C and 3J indexers from Hardinge have been added to the company's 5C product offering to provide rapid part positioning for all sizes, shapes and materials. Common spindle tooling can now be shared from indexer to lathe. Collets, expanding collets, step chucks and three-jaw power chucks will automatically center the part and provide grip force for heavy cutting.

- Details the Hardinge line of HCAC collet adaptation chucks- Describes products with reference to machine spindle compatibility- Benefits of using collet chucks include lighter weight, faster setup time, faster acceleration and deceleration time, higher spindle speeds and more .

Hardinge offers a bearing spindle indexer designed for machining applications requiring large radial and axial loads. Dual bearing units are located at the front and the middle of the spindle to support parts weighing as much as 500 lbs, and axial tailstock thrust of up to 1,000 lbs. This 5C indexer features a low-profile spindle nose and a removable handle for increased tool clearance.

Hardinge is now including six hardened and ground collets, two emergency collets and three emergency step chucks and closers at no additional cost when a user orders its indexing system. The tooling package accommodates gripping of round parts from 1/8" in diameter up to 4" in diameter, including step chucks  that can be machined to grip odd shaped parts. The company manufactures single- dual-, triple- and quad-indexers for rapid parts positioning on machining centers or manual mills.

Hardinge Inc.-Workholding Div. has configured its all-digital 5C rotary indexing system with infrared (IR) "send and receive," which is said to elevate program control and editing to new levels. This capability uses handheld computers with a Pocket PC operating system.

The 5C indexer with an all-digital servo control has an intelligent power module (drive electronics) for cool and quiet operation. The servo control features a four-line LCD display that lets the user view and edit the program number, step number, loop count and preparatory code on the top two lines of the display. Store up to 50 programs with up to 1,000 steps in each program and index at a fast 360-degrees per second.

-Explains Hardinge's workholding manufacturing processes-Describes the company's product range including its collets, chucks and toolholders -Complete with many color photos and diagrams.

Including diagrams and specifications, this catalog covers an assortment of chucks, jaws, collets, bushings, toolholders and rotary indexing products. .

The phenomenon of the staying power of the collet, in light of the rapidly changing technology in machine tool design, is attributed to the utility and the elegant simplicity of the device. The collet is a small but powerful component for the machine tool industry, incorporating all of the these features.

The Mach-1 quick-change tooling system includes a mechanical drawbar with a 600-lb die spring that replaces a machine’s existing drawbar and installs directly into the R8 spindle. It can be installed on new or existing knee or bed mills to simplify tool changing. The system allows the user to change tools by inserting a toolholder or collet into the spindle, pushing the quill handle back, and then releasing the handle.

For their larger diameter fasteners, this manufacturer uses a custom-manufactured collet to control part quality and concentricity.

Sure-Grip expanding collet systems have an under-over capacity of -0. 001" to +0. 015" from their specified size to accommodate a range of bore sizes.

It's easy to make equipment purchasing decisions when the customer commits to a fixed number of parts, but it's something else entirely when there is no such commitment and the job could go away at any time.

The company manufactures Sure-Grip expanding collet systems that have an under-over capacity of -0. 001" to +0. 015" from its specified size to accommodate a range of bore sizes from one expanding collet.

Collets are generally used when the diameter of the part or bar to be gripped ranges from 1/16 inch to 2.5 inches. Compared to standard triple-jaw chucks with soft jaws, standard collets tend to be inexpensive and more accurate for gripping in the small-to-medium range. Conversely, three-jaw chucks are usually ineffective and cumbersome when used to grip items this small.