Killing setup time: Turning Performance

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END USER: Highland Products Corp., (440) 352-4777, www.highlandproducts.com. CHALLENGE: Reduce setup time when employing high-pressure coolant for Swiss-style machining. SOLUTION: A through-coolant Swiss-style toolholder that directs coolant over the insert to the tool/workpiece interface. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Streamliner & Associates Inc., (814) 440-1548, www.streamlinertools.com

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Effectively delivering high-pressure coolant to the tool/workpiece interface when Swiss-style machining improves chip control, extends tool life and helps impart a finer surface finish.

To achieve those benefits, Highland Products Corp., Mentor, Ohio, was making 4″- to 6″-long external tubes from 3⁄16″ steel brake line as part of a high-pressure coolant system for its machines. The system delivers straight oil at pressures from 500 to 2,000 psi when needed, noted Matt Nolan, the company’s plant manager. The Swiss job shop produces part volumes from one to more than a million for industries including medical, aerospace and automotive.

Courtesy of Highland Products

Courtesy of Streamliner

Streamliner through-coolant Swiss-style toolholders, which direct coolant over the insert to the tool/workpiece interface using a dovetailed distribution plate, reduced setup times and extend tool life at Highland Products.

To control line output, Highland tapped the tube ID to insert a nozzle. “To make a new tube takes 20 minutes—if you’re good at it,” Nolan said.