In the world of manufacturing, there is an art to proper CNC workholding.
You can have a great design and program for your part and the best machine and material to work with, but if you don’t have the proper means to hold the material (keeping it as rigid and vibration-free as possible) then all that means nothing. “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse!” This quote is understood by every machinist, tool and die maker, production cell supervisor, and operations manager. Nothing stops a successful process in its tracks like poorly secured material, which can cause tool breakage, material slip, high scrap rates, possible machine damage, and worst case scenario, potential operator injury. So, let’s take a closer look at some CNC workholding options.
Many years ago, DATRON AG recognized the importance of reliable workholding and its impact on the machining workflow. That led them to develop a line of workholding solutions for DATRON milling machines. These solutions were designed to be versatile, reliable, accurate, and easy to set up.
A benefit of using DATRON’s tested CNC workholding is the time and material you’ll save. How long does it take the operator to load and unload the machine? How much product gets scrapped from slippage? How many tools get damaged and prematurely replaced? These material and time losses translate to dollars lost. Think about how much that totals per part and production run. It could cut significantly into your profit margins. That’s why it’s important to invest in the right workholding.
Introducing the lineup of CNC workholding that enhances DATRON machines:
T-Slot Tables
T-Slot table CNC workholding mounts to the machine bed and can be equipped with wedge clamping or short stoke pneumatic clamps among other solutions.
Work Pallets
Our work pallets or QuickPallets are one of our CNC workholding solutions that are keyed using a beveled boss-in-cavity system to ensure location repeatability.
Wedge Clamping Elements
The wedge clamping CNC workholding units can be configured for single and multiple clamping setups. The clamps can be used flexibly on the DATRON T-slot plage thanks to the clamping screw and T-nut.
Compact Centric Clamps
The compact centric clamp stays completely protected from dirt, chips, and debris. The special slide geometry with a guide length of 150 mm makes it a fully encapsulated centric clamp.
Pneumatic Clamps: Short stroke, positional
Need to stay flexible and keep cycle times down? Then pneumatic clamps (short stroke and positional) are a smart, time-saving workholding to use.
Pneumatic Vertical Clamps
The pneumatic clamping systems are a CNC workholding solution that helps reduce setup times.
Vacuum Chuck aka Vacuum Table
This is where the DATRON magic happens. No gaskets are needed with this design, just a layer of card stock. The vacuum table efficiently secures workpieces to the milling machine bed. Even thin stock, like plastic foil as thin as 0.001″ and delicate, soft materials, can be secured within seconds.
Precision Rotary Axis
The rotary axis adds 4-axis functionality to any DATRON milling machine.
Precision Rotary Axis with Tailstock
The rotary axis with tailstock also upgrades DATRON milling machines to 4th-axis machining capabilities.
Rotary Swivel Table (Trunnion for 5th Axis)
The rotary swivel table, aka the trunnion, mounts in the cut-out of a DATRON’s machine bed. This upgrades the 3-axis milling machine to 5th-axis capabilities.
Pick n Place System (Automation)
The pick and place uses an automated arm to move blanks and finished workpieces from the pallet to the fixture and back. This CNC automation solution is easy to operate, just one program runs both the automation and machining process.
Each workholding solution was designed to significantly reduce your setup times, help ensure positional repeatability, and improve your production quality overall. DATRON takes it beyond optimized workholding though, since the engineers designed the entire workflow to be more efficient and easy. At DATRON Dynamics, we are your one-stop shop for DATRON CNC mills, workholding accessories, carbide cutters, training, and application support. Curious how a DATRON could improve your manufacturing process? Just ask us.
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