Adjustable Damped Boring Bar Enables Vibration-Free Grooving Process

Precise adjustment of the damping element in the boring bar enables vibration-free grooving. Photo Credit: Horn/Sauermann

Horn’s Adjustable Damped Boring Bar can be adjusted to the vibration amplitudes that occur. Precise adjustment of the damping element in the boring bar enables a vibration-free grooving process. This results in better surface quality without chatter marks and a significant increase in tool life.

The bar is designed to address long tool overhangs that can cause a turning tool to oscillate when boring internal geometries. In addition to the resulting chatter marks on the surface, these vibrations also lead to a significant reduction in tool life. For unfavorable length/diameter ratios, the experienced machinist relies on vibration-damping boring bars, such as Horn’s adjustable damped boring bars, which enable low-vibration machining but can still vibrate during certain machining operations.

The exact adjustment of the damper, made of a carbide rod supported in O-rings, is made from the outside via an adjustment screw. Adjustment is achieved by fine-tuning the pre-tension of the O-rings. This enables the boring bar to be precisely set according to the vibration occurring in each application.

As standard, Horn offers the tools from stock in the length/diameter ratios 5X diameter and 8X diameter. Higher ratios are possible as special tools. For the grooving processes, Horn offers the S224 double-edged grooving system. The Horn cassette system BK 224 ensures a stable interface between the boring bar and the inserts. To further increase process reliability, the boring bars are equipped with an internal coolant supply.