Selecting The Right Workholding Solution
These tips help solve turning, grinding and milling workholding problems, particularly for thin wall parts.
#basics
Line Your Spindles, Line Your Pockets
Urethane spindle liners present a viable option to steel to fill the gap between spindle ID and bar OD. They protect both the spindle and bar stock and increase machine performance.
Complete In One Chucking
Compared to barstock, castings, forgings and sawn blanks present a different set of workhandling challenges for production machining. This article looks at how Hydromat Inc. is meeting these challenges on its rotary transfer machines with engineered indexing workholders.
Ingenuity Wins New Business
To find new business, often all a shop needs is management with experience in other areas of the industry and a little ingenuity. For more than 50 years, Acro-Feed Industries was solely a designer and builder of automatic bar and shaped bar feeding systems for screw machines, as well as automatic part loaders and unloaders, bar load assists and automatic bundle feeders.
Workholding For Swiss Turning
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.
Bar Feed Considerations For High-Speed, Lights-Out Machining
There are design elements incorporated into today’s 12-foot, magazine-load bar feeders that make them more useful for high-speed and untended operation. This article looks at some aspects to consider before purchasing a 12-foot bar feeder.
New Vises Decrease Part Setup Time
During heavy milling operations, parts tended to creep upward and out of alignment within the vise jaws at this shop in Minnesota. Small chips got imbedded between the part and vise jaws, causing all kinds of problems. The company couldn’t operate its new Bridgeport VMC 1000 XP3 to its full potential on this part project, so the company's owner looked for a better workholding solution.
No Touch Up Needed For ER Collet Tools
Downtime, long setup times and hiring skilled employees for night shifts are some of the problems every shop has. In its shop, American Torch Tip has completely integrated the quick-change tool system and drastically reduced those problems by developing a system that will go in any ER-style holder. Tools can now be preset off the machine, during the first shift and while the machines are running.
Accurate Barstock Alignment Provides Faster Speeds
Recent developments in sliding-headstock turning machines allow for faster feed rates and higher spindle speeds—both aimed at increasing throughput to improve productivity. Sometimes, though, these machines cannot reach their full potential because of other equipment that runs in conjunction with it.
Applications Determine Workholding Solutions
Every turning application has a number of factors that should be considered when making the decision between a collet or a three-jaw chuck.