Canadian Metalworking magazine recently published an online and print article on toolholders, in which our Vice President of Sales and Engineering, Jack Burley, discusses toolholder basics, talks about the history of the products and what the future may hold.
Ruihan supply professional and honest service.
This topic is important as toolholders provide the critical connection between a machine spindle and the cutting tool. They are responsible for securely gripping the tool for extremely high speeds, avoiding excessive runout, and maintenance balance.
With over 30 years of experience, Jack has vast knowledge when it comes to the uses of toolholders. He is also a member of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers' (ASME) Technical Committee, where he reviews recommended toolholder designs, suggested improvements, and changes requested from manufacturers on an annual basis.
The Q&A article written by the editor Sue Roberts, highlights the need and importance of this product and the problems toolholders solve. Jack discusses several toolholders, including the cylindrical shank toolholders. Besides these toolholders, he mentions there are systems like shell mill holders that are standard for face mills. Also, with newer technologies like multiaxis machines that turn and mill, BIG KAISER has introduced toolholders that can work with both cutting processes.
When asked how to choose between the various toolholder offerings, Jack responds by saying, 'It comes down to performance quality based on what is spent. Don't expect a lot of performance from the less expensive systems. More investment provides a higher-performing system and longer tool life because of reduced runout.'
To read the full Q&A article in Canadian Metalworking, please click here. To learn more about BIG KAISER'S toolholder offerings, please click here.
The four critical requirements for tool holders are clamping force, concentricity, rigidity, and balance for high-spindle speeds. When these factors are dialed in just right, there's nearly no chance of holder error and considerable cost reduction is achieved thanks to longer tool life and reduction of down-time due to tool changes.
Easier said than done, our experts shared some of their best, quick-hitting advice for top tool holder performance in different situations.
Long-reach milling has some unique demands; when setting up this type of job, always balance tool holders as a complete assembly. While many tooling providers pre-balance their holders at the factory, it's often inadequate, especially for long-reach applications.
Wear and tear on holders can be costly in the end, but there are ways to protect against it. Inspect and care for your holders. Trauma on a holder or spindle'dings, scratches, gouges, etc.'can magnify quickly. One bad holder can spread its problems like an illness. If you're seeing disruptions like these on your holders, get them out of the rotation.
Looking for affordable ways to avoid vibration? Start by opting for a holder with a combination of the largest diameter and shortest length possible.
What many don't realize about tapping operations is that a perceived strength of collet chucks'their rigidity'can actually be detrimental. Rigidity does very little to counteract the dramatic thrust loads imposed on the tap and part, exacerbating the already difficult challenge of weathering the stop/reverse and maintaining synchronization.
If you are looking for more details, kindly visit High-performance Toolholders.
Five-axis machining introduces a whole new set of tooling challenges. While important in any type of machine, balance may be of most importance in full five-axis work. A well-balanced holder helps ensure the cutting edge of the end mill must be consistently engaged with the material in order to prevent chatter and poor surface finish quality.
If you have to choose between shrink-fit and hydraulic holders in a long-reach application, consider the spindle speed required. If a hydraulic chuck exceeds its rated RPM, fluid is pulled away from the holder's internal gripping gland, causing loss of clamping force. But when used within its recommended operating range, a hydraulic tool holder offers superior runout and repeatability. On average, a good shrink-fit holder has about 0.-inch runout, while a hydraulic chuck offers 0. inch or better.
The cutting tool affects holding ability more than most machinists and engineers realize:
Anyone in the market for BIG-PLUS dual-contact tooling should consider this simple statement: Only a licensed supplier of BIG-PLUS has master gages that are traceable to the BIG grand master gages and have the dimensions and tolerances provided to make holders right. Everyone else is guessing and using a sample BIG-PLUS tool holder as their own master gage'a practice that any quality expert will advise against.
Look for the marking: 'BIG-PLUS Spindle System-License BIG DAISHOWA SEIKI.'
You'd be surprised how often we hear from our certified regrinders or engineers in the field about folks that didn't realize their machine had a BIG-PLUS spindle'the message can get lost in the supply chain or during the sales process.
The easiest way to know if an interface is BIG-PLUS is to place a standard tool into the spindle and see how much of a gap there is between the tool holder flange face and spindle face. Without BIG-PLUS, the standard gap should be visible, or about 0.12 in. If it is BIG-PLUS, the gap is half of this amount, or only 0.06 in. These values change depending on 30 taper, 40 taper or 50 taper sizes, but the gap is visibly less than usual.
It may be how it's traditionally been done but touching off holder assemblies in each machine to establish negative tool offsets based on the zero-point surface'the vise, machine table, workpiece, etc.'is not the most efficient process. We think the choice is pretty clear: adapting machines to a single presetter so they can receive positive gage lengths is superior to using all types of machine-specific negative offsets.
This is a change to 'the way things have always been done' that can be met with some resistance, but in the grand scheme of things, it's a relatively small and simple step that makes life much easier. It's a relatively low-cost opportunity to introduce more standardization of holder setup to the shop floor.
Holders are the bridge between the machine and the part. That's a lot of pressure'literally and figuratively. It's important to select, care for and use holders carefully from the day they are purchased until they're tossed into the recycling bin.
From collet chucks to coolant inducers, BIG KAISER is North America's source for standard-bearing tool holders that guarantees high performance. Explore the full lineup.
If you want to learn more, please visit our website Er Collet Sizes.