At last month’s Southern Manufacturinig exhibition in Farnborough, UK, Schunk handed a UK exhibition debut to its Kontec KSC-F single-acting
vice, as well as the KSC 6-jaw gripper vice.

The modular configuration of the KSC-F is credit to the Vero-S interface and 160° quick-clamping system. This all-rounder for raw and finished part machining is suitable for manual and automated machine loading. The KSC-F with its flat, lightweight design is seen as applicable for use in pallet storage units. Each size – KSC-F 80, KSC-F 125, and KSC-F 160 – is designed for the common machine tool pallet sizes of 320 x 320, 400 x 400 and 500 x 500 mm. The KSC-F achieves high clamping forces even at a comparably low torque level, says Schunk.
Alongside the KSC-F was the KSC six-jaw gripper vice. This six-jaw gripper vice system performs well when processing high-strength materials, says Schunk, and the safe clamping configuration can resist extreme lateral forces when machining difficult-to-process materials.
With clamping forces up to 90 kN, the KSC is designed to deliver stability in operations that require a low clamping depth, providing the end user with good access to the workpiece with improved clearance between the component and the clamping system. The vices are suitable for clamping workpieces up to 125 mm wide.
For further information www.schunk.com

Now added to the portfolio of Leader Chuck Systems is the Piranha Clamp range of centring vices. The Swiss-manufactured vices replace the usual dovetail guides found on many vices with parallel, twin cylindrical jaw guides that are said to offer better precision and clamping force.

Designed to act much like a hydraulic press, the hardened and coated spindle guides provide an increased surface area for load distribution, while the drive spindle has been tested to withstand pressures above 1300 Nm². This capability supports high-pressure workpiece clamping with a minimal depth of just 3 mm, so material waste is kept to a minimum.
The nature of the twin-guide design results in an open construction for easy chip evacuation, with any swarf flushed away by the coolant. Another benefit of this concept is an extremely low overall height, so that operators can make the most of the available working envelope.
A built-in zero-point clamping system on the base of the Piranha Clamp provides the interface with the machine tool’s work table and achieves a repeatable loading accuracy of 0.01 mm. However, the quick-change location system can be specified to fit any zero-point design, with adapter plates making the vices totally interchangeable.
Two base sizes are available, the Piranha Clamp 170 is 170 mm long by 90 mm wide, while the larger Piranha Clamp 300 is 300 mm long by 120 mm wide.
Tested against established vices that use pre-stamped raw material, the deflection measured in the Piranha Clamp range is just one-tenth of that measured (at the same clamping pressure) in competitor vices, says Leader. This makes the vice more accurate for first operations and more repeatable for second operation work.
For further information www.leaderchuck.com

When the KTR Group ordered new machine tools to reduce processing times, the power transmission specialist also opted for new workholding technology from Hainbuch. The Rheine, Germany facility of KTR was aiming to generate significant improvements in set-up times and the subsequent manufacturing process.
“Several machines were due to be replaced after reaching the limit of their service life,” explains production manager Günter Schleyer.

“Therefore, we re-examined the clamping requirements. The important questions for us were how to position ourselves in the future and how do we increase flexibility? Among other things, we use machine tools for both series runs and single-item production. Here we were at a crossroads. On one hand, we required a specialised series production solution and, on the other hand, we needed a fast, flexible cell for the single parts.”
The company took a Torok manual chuck with a base plate, a clamping head and a mandrel as part of a trial phase. For KTR, the overall time saving was extremely important.
Says Schleyer: “We needed to know how the system would perform under everyday conditions. We had questions like whether the Torok was rigid, and would it meet our practical requirements? Could we organise our set-up more efficiently? And of course, holding forces and repeatability were highly significant.
“Practical experience had shown us that conventional jaws were out of the question,” he continues. “For our coupling manufacturing, parts are machined at high cutting speeds. Cams and bores are milled and drilled, so we have a wide variety of chip shapes that must not impair the function of the clamping devices. Also, the solution should be practically self-cleaning. Needless to say, the implementation of the Torok manual chuck on one of the milling machines passed the test with flying colours. With these findings, the green light was given for working together with Hainbuch.”
For further information www.hainbuch.com