Designed for the clamping of micro-workpieces in the sub-spindles of sliding-head turning machines, the Microconic system is now available in the UK from Baldock-based Floyd Automatic Tooling Ltd (
www.floydautomatic.co.uk), in
association with Masa Tool of the USA.
The Microconic work-holding system, which comprises a cartridge and a precision collet, does not require any machine adaptations tobe made; the collet fits inside the cartridge and is adjusted before being fitted directly into the
existing collet sleeve.
With a concentricity level of 3-5µm, Microconic is suitable for sliding-head lathes — including those from Tornos, Citizen and Star — and is currently available for F20- and F25-style collets. F37 versions are in development, and
a 5C version is also available.
The cartridge system incorporates a solid extended nose and offers micron adjustment of the collet closure; and the fact that the hardened and ground cartridges can be used as gauges to verify spindle accuracy highlights the high level of precision to which they are made.
Masa’s Microconic system also includes ‘over-grip’ collets for applications where clamping behind a shoulder is necessary, for example. The cartridge/collet combination can accommodate openings more than 4mm larger than the clamping diameter (depending on the application).
This flexibility offers production engineers the potential to machine the part the reverse way round, which can sometimes help to improve cycle times.
Microconic collets are available in 0.05mm increments from 0.22 to 10mm diameter. Each collet has a nominal clamping range from 0.05 to 0.1mm depending upon the chosen collet diameter.
With regard to the over-grip collets, the nominal clamping diameter starts at 0.5mm, with a maximum clamping diameter of 7.2mm. Fatigue-tested to over 250,000 full-load cycles, the over-grip collets include a part-ejection guide-sleeve blank.