Toolholding & Workholding

A lightweight microgripper, the MGR5 was designed for small, fragile part assembly. The MGR brings operation force 10 gram or less capability into range. Light moving mass reduces impact force during small product placement.

END USER: Urschel Laboratories Inc., (219) 464-4811, www.urschel.com. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Blue Photon Technology & Workholding Systems LLC, (855) 777-2040, www.bluephotongrip.com. CHALLENGE: Hold a near-net-shape casting for machining on five sides. SOLUTION: A system that uses grippers, adhesive and UV light to hold workpieces.n

Dillon Manufacturing offers a wide range of workholding products, including soft jaws, hard jaws and full grip jaws for Serrated, T & G, Acme, and Square Key-type chucks, as well as collet pads. Full grip "pie" jaws from 6 to 24 inches in diameter, as well extra high jaws to 10 inches in height for longer service life are available, as are collet pads and collet pad jaws, monoblock jaws, and vise jaws.

To reduce setup—as well as overhead costs—in a job-shop environment, first examine the workholding methods, according to the Shop Operations column in the April 2017 issue of Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Ray Tejeda, who owns Dream Tools Inc., talks about the motivation behind his patent-pending Dream Chuck Stop in the third episode of Cutting Tool Engineering's Shop Ingenuity video series. Tejeda demonstrates how his chuck stop provides clearance for cutting tools to machine through a part.

The Dream Chuck Stop from Dream Tools Inc. allows end users to machine through a part by providing the clearance for cutting tools to go through the part. According to the company, it is reusable unlike soft jaws and conventional chuck stops.

Kurt Workholding offers a complete line of high-density CarvLock workholding towers for precision machining with eight or 12 clamping stations in both manual and hydraulic models. Equipped with easily changeable jaws, these Kurt towers enhance setup flexibility and provide fast changeover between jobs.

Kitagawa NorthTech Inc. provides turnkey, custom engineered workholding services. The company also provides design, engineering, workholding manufacturing, assembly, testing, inspection, documentation, installation and training.

Whereas the retention knob is an unmistakably critical component of the machining process, conventional retention knobs, when installed in a toolholder, may deform the precision taper because of the elastic nature of a toolholder's thin walls. This taper deformation prevents a toolholder from properly mating with the spindle of a CNC machine. JM Performance Products Inc. has worked to overcome this manufacturing bind with its lower-deformation High Torque Retention Knobs.

The Royal Chuck Stop provides a simple, consistent method for locating short parts in a 3-jaw lathe chuck. The chuck stop enables short parts to project beyond the chuck jaws, providing clearance for facing operations.

Vacuum workholding can securely grip difficult-to-hold parts, according to the February 2017 Workholding column in Cutting Tool Engineering magazine.

Time-tested workholding allows a parts manufacturer to target other areas for improvement, if needed. Husky Corp., for example, needed space-saving hydraulic components when refixturing a dial machine with limited space for fixtures and conducted an extensive search 30 years ago for a solution, said Darrell Vilmer, senior manufacturing engineer – machine/fixture designer for Husky.