Kurt Workholding - Tip of the Month

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Kurt Tip of the Month (2008)
View All By Topic 2008 May 2008 April 2008 March 2008 February 2008 January 2008 2007 December 2007 November 2007 October 2007 September 2007 August 2007 July 2007 June 2007 May 2007 April 2007 March 2007 February 2007 January 2007 2006 December 2006 November 2006 October 2006 September 2006 August 2006 July 2006 June 2006 May 2006 April 2006 March 2006 February 2006 January 2006 2005 December 2005 November 2005 October 2005 September 2005 August 2005 July 2005 June 2005 May 2005 April 2005 March 2005 February 2005 January 2005 2004 December 2004 November 2004 October 2004 September 2004 August 2004 June 2004 May 2004 April 2004 March 2004 February 2004	May 2008 Principle Of The Workholder There are many types of machine workholders including clamps, chucks and vises. Of these, the most widely used are various styles of vises, all of which are designed to locate and hold a workpiece securely while it is machined to specified dimensions and tolerances. Download the How to Make Workholding More Productive Guide (325k PDF)

	April 2008 Tightening It is a good practice to become familiar with your vises clamping forces. Too much clamping force could damage parts with thin wall sections. Also remember that repeatable clamping pressures will help you achieve better accuracy. When tightening a vise, never use a cheater bar, impact wrench, or hammer to strike the handle. This excessive pressure can cause damage to the vise's internal parts. The handle of your vise is properly designed to allow for adequate clamping pressure.

	March 2008 Ever wanted to hold a part at a custom angle within a vise? Now you can. Kurt announces the introduction of the 5C Angle Boss (Model No. K5CVMAB) for mounting in any Kurt 6 inch vise. This manually clamped 5C fixture allows machining any custom angle desired or 24 precision indexes (+/-2 arc-min) using the mount’s special index pin. Setup is fast and easy. Once the machining position is determined, simply clamp the 5C fixture using the massive 1-1/4 inch thick ground steel jaws. The vise will now hold the 5C fixture for most machining operations. Parts can be clamped and unclamped using the 5C clamp screw. Collets may also be changed from the top of the fixture without disturbing the original setup. Read more. (Read More)

	February 2008 How do you achieve more machining center part clearance doing continuous 5-Axis Machining? Use a new Kurt 5-Axis clamping system in a low profile model (VB 5AX100-L) with clamping height above the machine table of 100 mm (3.937 inches). This new low profile 5-Axis clamping system provides extra part clearance for applications requiring continuous 5-axis cutting motion of complex pockets, sculptured and contoured surfaces, and intricate 3-D features with repeatable high precision accuracy. (Read More)

	January 2008 Is your machining center productivity restricted because components aren't presented to the cutting spindle quick enough?. Maybe it's time for a productivity checkup! Kurt Workholding technical sales representatives can help you evaluate your present machining setups. Call today for a Free, no obligation checkup Phone: 763-574-8309 or 1-877-226-7823. A recent success story: Setup Time Reduced 50 Percent At Adaero Precision Components Using VB DockLock® Zero-Point Workholding System – 30 Minute Setup Savings Impacts Profitability Production output has increased significantly from eight vertical machining centers on the shop floor of Adaero Precision Components Ltd. as a direct result of retrofitting each machine with the Visher & Bolli DockLock® Zero-Point system distributed exclusively in North America by Kurt Manufacturing Company. Today's machine tools are very fast in terms of spindle speed, rapid traverse, cutting feed rate and tool change. Productivity, however, is often restricted because components aren't presented to the cutting spindle quickly enough after the previous batch has been completed. With current trends toward ever smaller lot sizes, the inability to set up quickly for the next part run seriously impacts profitability. "At Adaero Precision Components, we shorten spindle down time between part runs using the DockLock Zero-Point workholding system," reports Andy Dickinson, managing director. "This is one of the most cost effective systems on the market. On average, we cut 25 to 30 percent setup time on our eight 4-axis Chiron and Fanuc machining centers using the DockLock. The savings are huge because some of our runs call for just 10 to 20 parts with three to four part changeovers a day. We save around a half hour for each setup." (Read More)


9445 E. River Road NW Minneapolis, MN 55433	Phone: 763-574-8309 \| 1-877-226-7823 Fax: 612-623-3902 \| 1-877-226-7828