Adding boring tools to your digital mix

Growing up in the ’70s I got to experience the digital revolution in its early stages. My generation got to see the first digital watches, play the first video games and watch numerous home computers hit the market.

Industry, although slowly, adapted to the changes. We have seen the proliferation of computer numerically controlled machines (aka CNCs), coordinate measuring machines (aka CMMs) take over inspection duties, and computers migrate from the engineering lab to the shop floor. Only a few short years ago it became widely accepted that we are in the fourth industrial revolution, which is driven by digitization and data analytics. Industry is accelerating the integration of digital technology into all areas of manufacturing beyond the ubiquitous CNCs and CMMs.

In the race to digitize we have seen cutting tool manufacturers get into the game with the introduction of digital boring tools. There are several manufacturers now offering digital boring heads that range in complexity. The simplest of these tools offer a digital readout that simplifies fine adjustments. The more complex tools offer wireless connections that tell the user what size the tool cutting is, calculates size adjustments and suggests cutting parameters.

Digital boring tools offer one significant advantage to the user — they are very easy to read, which makes adjustment very precise. Making fine adjustments on an old-style boring head can be difficult as that requires the user to read a vernier scale. While effective, vernier scales can be difficult to read for inexperienced users as they are not very intuitive. In other cases, they can be difficult to see when mounted in the spindle of a large machine. These difficulties present significant opportunities for error and, ultimately, scrap. So making adjustments with old-style boring heads is inherently tedious and slow.

If you’re working with tight tolerances, that can mean taking several cuts to achieve the finished size. Because digital heads are easier to read, adjustments are more precise thereby reducing or eliminating the repetition of achieving final size, and reducing the risk associated with multiple passes. This also helps improve cycle times.

Many of the digital heads offer wireless connectivity allowing the user to read size from a mobile device, which means machinists can make adjustments with fewer ergonomic challenges. Having the ability to see and review settings outside the machine is a huge ergonomic improvement. No one likes climbing on a coolant covered machine table to read a boring head while trying to hold a few tenths on a gazillion-dollar part.

Digital boring heads improve the user experience and help reduce the risks of boring an oversized hole, but they are expensive. You cannot get into digital boring without spending a few thousand dollars. A basic set up with a boring head and a tool holder for the spindle can be purchased in a kit starting around $2,000 on the low side. If you need extensions, boring bars, inserts and other tooling items, the cost goes up. A single head gives the user infinite adjustability but only in a limited range so a large variation in diameters can necessitate multiple size boring heads. Likewise, multiple diameters in the same boring range can necessitate multiple bars of the same size. The cost of outfitting a shop with these tools can escalate quickly making financial justification difficult.