Manufacturers using turning centres with high-pressure coolant (HPC) systems can now benefit from a system that provides a high-speed drilling or milling capability without the need for costly high-frequency spindles or similar technology.
The new Toodle spindles from Baldock-based Floyd Automatic Tooling Ltd use HPC to power a turbine-driven tool system that can achieve speeds up to 75,000rev/min (
www.floydautomatic.co.uk).
Primarily designed to provide high speeds for small-diameter work, Toodle spindles can be used on most machines fitted with HPC and a coolant filtering system.
The system has a 25mm-diameter spindle housing that incorporates two ball bearings, a turbine driven by the HPC and a locking cap. Toodle spindles are supplied with a device that allows the operator to assemble these components onto the shank of a standard cylindrical tool (3, 4 or 6mm in diameter).
The completed assembly is then fitted inside the 25mm-diameter x 30mm-long turbine housing, before tightening the locking cap. According to Floyd Automatic, this operation can be completed in less than 2min, after which Toodle is ready to be installed on the machine.
The system requires no machine adaptation and can work in conjunction with ATCs. It is available as the standard Toodle Blue 131 system or the Toodle Blue 90deg unit; the latter configuration incorporates a 16mm-diameter x 54mm-long tool shank that holds the unit at 90deg.
Toodle spindles will deliver a maximum speed of 75,000rev/min, based on a coolant pressure of 60 bar. For workshops operating machines with coolant at a lower pressure, 6 bar will give a spindle speed of about 24,000rev/min.