RFID tagging for toolholders

The tagging applications for radio frequency identification (RFID) are vast, including pets, property—and even people. Recently, Micro-Mechanics Inc., a Morgan Hill, Calif., machine shop, worked with process control equipment provider Caron Engineering Inc., Wells, Maine, to implement an RFID tagging system on its Okuma LB series CNC lathe.

The RFID read-station on Micro-Mechanics’ Okuma lathe transfers tool offset and usage data directly to the machine control. Image courtesy Micro-Mechanics.

Micro-Mechanics is no newcomer to RFID. Company president Chris Borch and his team began “reinventing” the shop 5 years ago after installing several Makino horizontal machining cells with Makino’s Modular Machining Complex (MMC2) technology and integrating them with RFID readers. Since then, the shop has rolled the technology out to every part of the shop. “Nothing hits the floor unless it’s been preset, tagged and simulated ahead of time,” Borch said.

Its latest addition is a Tool Connect system from Caron Engineering, which reportedly is a simple, cost-effective way to automate the transfer of data from a presetter to a machine control. The system at Micro-Mechanics uses an RFID chip epoxied into Sandvik Coromant Capto quick-change toolholders.