Modular toolholder finds its groove

END USER: Premier Industries, (763) 786-4020, www.premierind.us

SOLUTION PROVIDER: Horn USA Inc., (888) 818-HORN, www.hornusa.com

CHALLENGE: Reduce cycle times, extend tool life and impart finer surface finishes when parting off parts for pressure regulators.

SOLUTION: A modular toolholding system.

European parts manufacturers frequently apply metalcutting products in their own countries before those products leap the pond and land in the States. A recent example of that is Germany-based Hartmetall-Werkzeugfabrik Paul Horn GmbH’s modular grooving base holder system 960 for the grooving cassette system 845. System 960 consists of a base holder, or baseplate, that is machine-specific, with BMT, Mazak and VDI connections, as well as a height-adjustable grooving tool cassette holder, a cassette and a cutting insert that sits in the pocket on the cassette.

Premier Industries, Blaine, Minn., had a need for that toolholding system. The company produces pressure regulators and was experiencing slow cycle times, short tool life and rough surface finishes when parting off 2½”-dia. (63.5mm) parts with a 5.0mm-wide (0.197″) grooving insert on four Eurotech twin-spindle, twin-turret lathes. The parts are primarily made of 316 stainless steel or aluminum.

Joe Haselbauer, production specialist for Premier, said he discussed the application with his Horn USA Inc. representative and tried some options before being informed about a new modular toolholding system that European manufacturers were having success with. Horn USA is based in Franklin, Tenn.

Premier Industries reduced cycle times, extended tool life and improved surface finishes when parting off after acquiring a modular toolholding system from Horn. Image courtesy of Horn USA.

“They were looking for someone in the U.S. market to give it a try, and we were definitely open to that because it was something we were looking for,” Haselbauer said.

He explained that on Premier’s machines, a toolholder typically mounts on the turret and a square-shank insert holder fits into that turret-mounted toolholder. Horn’s base holder, however, mounts to a turret, and the cassette system 845 mounts to the height-adjustable grooving tool cassette holder on the plate.

“You don’t have compression- or wedge-type fittings or anything like that to hold it together,” Haselbauer said. “Everything is bolted together, which really helps with rigidity. There are also a couple of alignment pins to make sure everything goes together square and straight.”

The modular grooving system 845 incorporates a baseplate that fits onto a turret via a base-mounted turret connection and is matched to the turret of the specific machine, Haselbauer added. According to Horn, the system also includes a height-adjustable grooving toolholder with an integrated coolant supply, a replaceable matching cartridge for various grooving widths and depths, and a grooving insert. The WOC range is from 1.2mm (0.047″) to 4.0mm (0.157″), and the DOC range is from 17.0mm (0.669″) to 55.0mm (2.165″). The system can part off material up to 110mm (4.330″) in diameter.