Collet chucks keep the show going

END USER: Haas Factory Outlet, (336) 665-1080, www.jeffreysmfg.com.
CHALLENGE: Run at high machining parameters without chatter when demonstrating machine tools.
SOLUTION: A precision collet chuck.
SOLUTION PROVIDERS: FAHRION Vertriebs-GbmH, +49 7184-92-82-0, www.fahrion.de; HORN USA Inc., (888) 818-HORN, www.hornusa.com.

Demonstrating a machine tool’s ability to cost-effectively boost productivity to a potential customer isn’t effective if the cutting tool chatters at high machining parameters. Haas Factory Outlet, a division of Jeffreys Manufacturing Solutions, was experiencing such a scenario when demonstrating Haas machines tooled with conventional collet chucks, according to Ken Potts, director of training and applications for Jeffreys, Franklin, Tenn. The company is a division of Phillips Corp., which owns and operates Haas Factory Outlets in the U.S., China and India. Haas Factory Outlets provide sales and service for machines from Haas Automation, Oxnard, Calif.

He added that chattering wasn’t an issue when running cutting tools with hydraulic and shrink-fit holders, but end users frequently want to avoid the extra cost associated with those toolholding techniques.

While discussing cutting tools during a meeting, Potts recalled that Michael Morgan, a regional sales representative for HORN USA Inc., Franklin, Tenn., presented a CENTRO/P precision collet chuck distributed by HORN and manufactured by FAHRION Vertriebs-GmbH, Kaiserbach, Germany. Potts was immediately impressed. “The holders are visibly amazing,” Potts said, “and you just feel the difference in them.”

However, he found the beauty of these collet chucks isn’t only skin deep. According to FAHRION, the CENTRO/P collets have a maximum accuracy of 2µm and achieve a system accuracy of 3µm at 3 times diameter, 50mm maximum, when matched to its chucks. This is six times the precision of a conventional ER collet chuck, the company added.

Courtesy of Haas Factory Outlet

A cutting tool clamped in a FAHRION CENTRO/P precision collet chuck machines a part during a Haas machine tool demonstration.