Taking a look at live tooling
A review is given of this machining method, its basic concepts and developments in the technology.
Author
Preben Hansen
Preben Hansen is president of Platinum Tooling Technologies Inc., Prospect Heights, Illinois, and a veteran of over 25 years in tooling and is considered a leading authority on the topic in the North American machine tool market. Please contact him at 847-749-0633 or [email protected]. Web: www.platinumtooling.com.
A brief introduction to the basics of live tooling
Live tooling, as the name implies, is specifically driven by the CNC and the turret of various spindle and powered subspindle configurations on CNC lathes to perform various operations while the workpiece remains in orientation to the main spindle. These devices, whether BMT or VDI, are also called driven tools, as opposed to the static tools used during turning operations, and are usually customized for the particular machine tool builder's turret assembly.
Consider live tooling when purchasing a machine
When shops purchase new machinery, a common error some make is accepting the standard live tooling package from the builder without considering other options. This is not a criticism of those packages, but end users should do as much evaluation of their processes when determining the proper tooling package as they do when evaluating machine tools. This examination can range from the simple, such as external vs. internal coolant, to the sublime, such as adjustable vs. extended tooling configurations, to the truly exotic.
Solid Contact
The advantages of dual- and triple-contact toolholding systems for high-speed machining.