BT vs HSK Tool Holders: What Actually Separates Them BT and HSK are two of the most common tool holder families you will run into on a vertical machining center. They both clamp a cutting tool, register in the spindle, and feed off the same automatic tool changer, but they do it in very different [...]
CNC Cutting Tools: Types, Materials, and Uses Computer Numeric Control (CNC) machines are computer-driven, high-precision tools that repeat the same movements with tight accuracy. The technology traces back to the 1940s and 50s, when numerically controlled machines first reached industry, and it now runs in nearly every manufacturing sector. The tool that actually removes metal [...]
NMTB Tool Holders Explained NMTB is one of the older steep-taper tool holder standards you will still find on manual mills, knee mills, and older NC machines. The name comes from the National Machine Tool Builders' Association, the industry standards group that defined the interface. That association no longer exists under that name, and its [...]
How Shrink Fit Tooling Works Shrink fit tooling is a common choice for high-speed machining, where runout and balance decide part quality and tool life. A shrink fit holder grips a cutting tool through a thermal interference fit. There are no collets, no nuts, and no moving clamp parts. Some machinists argue that a precision [...]
HSK Shanks and Receivers - Introduction Speed, accuracy, precision, and faster tool changes are the benchmark and differentiating factor in the manufacturing world. Modern manufacturers are always looking for ways of improving their products in the shortest possible time. HSK shanks and receivers are tools with which these manufacturers can do just that. In order [...]
The carbide tooling industry is booming! The demand cannot even be met in a timely manner by the distribution, development, and creation of new carbide cutting tools. As this demand continually increases, suppliers of cutting tools are working diligently to handle the heavy load of developing more innovative and high-performance cutting tool products to meet [...]
A tool holder is the part that connects the cutting tool to the machine spindle. Get the holder right and the cutter runs concentric, rigid, and repeatable. Get it wrong and you chase runout, chatter, and scrapped parts all shift. Holders are not interchangeable across machines, because the mounting interface has to match the spindle [...]
Tool holder care and maintenance is of vital importance (especially when working with CNC machines) for many reasons! A rule of thumb to live by when working with CNC Machines is that an inspection of the toolholder and spindle should follow every use. This inspection should include disassembling the entirety of the toolholder and cleaning [...]
Every practice of compensation has to do with offsets (especially in regards to CNC offsets)! One can consider CNC offsets as memories on an electronic calculator. If your calculator has memory, you can store a constant value to each memory for use throughout a calculation. This keeps one from having to enter the number over [...]
Incremental system. Absolute system. Most controls on machine tools capable of handling both by altering code between G90 (absolute) and G91 (incremental) commands. All considerations to this point accept that the absolute mode of programming is used. The CNC word used to refer to the absolute mode is G90. In absolute mode, the [...]
