Productivity can quickly plummet without the freedom of alternately turning workpieces with large and small diameters. Tool specialist LMT Fette, based in Schwarzenbek, Germany, has tackled this challenge by converting a universal lathe into a solution that drastically reduces set-up times. The solution combines Schunk quick-change jaw and chuck technologies, so that even rush orders from other business units can be incorporated during production without impacting on the company’s overall performance.

When Thomas Frankenberger, machine operator at LMT Fette, recalls the strength it took to change lathe chucks in the past, you can still see the stress on his face: “Exact positioning was always an art when you had a 500 mm lathe chuck weighing 220 kg.”
Even with two people, it was a challenge to screw the lathe chuck on to the fine-threaded draw tube. “If you were off by as little as 0.5 mm, it wouldn’t work,” says the experienced operator.
Forcing the screw would ruin the thread, which would spell big trouble. In extreme cases, the draw tube would have to be elaborately re-machined with the thread restorer. “In the past, every time you changed the chuck it would require time, manpower, instinct, experience and physical strength,” says Frankenberger. “Now that we’re using the Schunk quick-change chuck system, I can easily change the chuck by myself with much less effort and far less risk of accidents. It used to take 45 to 60 minutes, sometimes with two colleagues, but now it takes just 15 minutes to do a complete chuck change with only one operator, including all secondary tasks such as cleaning, oiling and storing the second lathe chuck.”
Instead of using multiple fastening screws, the patented Schunk Rota FSW quick-change chuck system is reliably released and locked with a single clamping screw.
For further information www.schunk.com

At EMO 2019, which took place recently in Hanover, Leader Chuck International demonstrated the latest work holding and productivity enhancing products from its range. Visitors were able to see first-hand innovations that included Blue Photon, CARVEsmart, Jato Precision and Orange Vice, with Leader’s 25 sq m stand hosting static and dynamic demonstrations of the improved efficiency and accuracy available from all of these technology providers.

Blue Photon is a photo-activated adhesive method of workpiece clamping that offers engineers the opportunity to take a fresh look at challenging applications.
Managing director Mark Jones says: “Adhesive work-holding technology is the perfect solution for holding delicate workpieces that are prone to distortion in the machining process. Parts such as large, thin rings and turbine blades are easily held in place by Blue Photon without the distortion that is caused using many other work-holding methods.
Elsewhere on the stand, Leader shone the spotlight on the Jato range of rotary, static and three-jaw diaphragm chucks. Offering high repeatability of concentricity, as well as low and adjustable clamping forces for efficiently loading and unloading fragile and thin-walled components, examples of Leader’s extensive Jato range were on display.
EMO 2019 also witnessed the launch of the Orange Delta IV compact vices and zero-point sub-plates for use in multi-axis and high-density milling set ups. The patent-pending Orange Delta IV vices feature a small 150 x 100 mm footprint and an integral zero-point interface, cross compatible with the company’s proprietary locating systems, as well as 52 mm pull-stud interfaces from other brands. Unlike self-centring vices common in the industry, the Orange Delta IV uses a novel serrated design that combines the best of self-centring vices and serrated fixtures.
Alongside the Orange Delta IV, Leader demonstrated a range of Orange machining vices that featured, as standard, the CARVEsmart quick-change vice jaw system with QC dovetailed jaw technology.
For further information www.leaderchuck.com

A range of compact work-holding systems suited to metal-cutting operations on five-axis machining centres has been introduced by Roemheld UK. The SCS vices are manufactured by the German group’s Hilma division in Hilchenbach.

Hilma’s fixed-jaw SCS vices are designed to allow good accessibility of tools to the component. It means that five-sided machining can be achieved without collision using short standard tools, lowering costs and improving workpiece accuracy due to the generation of less vibration.
Stable clamping systems and the high retention force resulting from the use of a reversible jaw mean there is no need to pre-stamp a workpiece before it is secured, even when it is clamped on just a few millimetres of material. Repeatability of positioning is to within ±10 µm.
The SCS work-holding systems have comprehensive swarf protection, so are suitable for use in multi-pallet prismatic machining cells. Operation is either mechanical, via a threaded spindle and torque wrench, or hydraulic, using a single-acting cylinder to effect the clamping pressure, with unclamping achieved by spring force.
Base lengths up to
350 mm are offered, with different clamping ranges to 300 mm, while clamping force is up to 40 kN at 100 Nm torque. A range of hardened and ground jaws, as well as soft jaws, in 80 and 120 mm widths to suit the various vice models, is available, as are customised versions in other lengths, or with individual mounting holes, including for zero-point clamping.
For further information www.roemheld.co.uk

The Allmatic range of German-manufactured vices, which is offered in the UK by Stocdon, is said to be a high-end solution for work-holding applications that include the three or five-axis machining of prismatic parts, as well as non-prismatic components like castings and forgings.

What makes Allmatic solutions different to the rest on the market is that they often fulfil the complete needs of a customer’s application, says Stocdon, where previously they had to spend time using multiple vices or resetting vices between applications.
Allmatic’s engineering allows users to pre-select working pressures, use minimum material work holding and grip rough materials.
The latest Allmatic Gripp solutions are said to lead the way when it comes to all types of component selection, with large capacity, high clamping force up to 7 tonnes and minimum deflections, for easy setting.
Allmatic has been a work-holding partner of Stocdon since 1972, largely because of the company’s pedigree when it comes to accurate pre-selection of material clamping pressures. The vice performance, across the range, is second to none, says the company.
According to Stocdon, a question that clients always ask when enquiring about Allmatic work holding is the cost, versus other brands, to which the company always showcases the savings to be made in the long term. Stocdon knows that budgets are always under pressure, but it also knows that investing in work holding pays dividends, long term.
For further information www.stocdon.co.uk

At Stratos Precision Engineering in Gloucester, where the subcontract machining of plastic parts constitutes the vast majority of output, the manufacture of a particular component was causing problems exacerbated by the need to produce around 5000 per year.

The component in question is an acrylic manifold block for a flow control device that previously had to be clamped three times in conventional vices mounted side by side on the table of a Haas VF4 vertical machining centre. This process has now been replaced by a more modern clamping system based on a four-sided tombstone and indexing trunnion supplied by 1st Machine Tool Accessories.
To be specific, the solution is a US-manufactured Chick indexing subsystem that consists of a Multi-Lok having four faces, each carrying a twin-position Qwik-Lok clamp that secures two parts at once against a central jaw each time the handle is wound to closure. The whole arrangement is mounted horizontally on a fourth CNC axis comprising, in this case, a Haas HRT210 rotary table and Chick tailstock.
Notable among the benefits is that the operator is now able to fixture eight plastic billets at a time, close the machine doors, walk away for an hour to do other jobs, and return to unload eight parts machined on three faces, ready for a second operation to mill away material from the back face. The previous strategy of using three individual vices meant that the operator had to be in almost permanent attendance to open the doors, reset the components and close the doors, to be able to extract one finished part every 15 minutes.
Output is thus doubled, despite the cutters being in contact with the material for a similar length of time. The saving comes purely through less handling of the components, coupled with the need to program fewer tool changes.
For further information www.1mta.com