Machine Tool
Assembly Line
3Din30: How Its Made – the Evolution of Tooling
Using the Toolchanger to Automate Production
The benefits of automation are potentially huge, but the investment required for a robot arm or pallet changer can be intimidating or even prohibitive. “Our customers wanted to get more usage out of their precision vises and felt they wanted to get into automation, but every time you start talking with those ballpark numbers jumping into $250,000 or $300,000 to do setups and vises, it scares so many off,” says Jon Dobosenski, general manager of Lang Technovation. This inspired Lang’s Haubex system, which it designed to be a low-cost, simple way for shops to take a first step in automation by using a feature that’s already included on many milling machines — the toolchanger.
Grinding Simulation Enables Growth in Custom Tooling
Even the best grinding simulation has flaws — namely, a reliance on perfection. Real-world scenarios on the shop floor can diverge from the tested parameters, requiring adjustments to achieve the performance promised in the simulation. Gorilla Mill, a toolmaker based out of Waukesha, Wisconsin, relies on ANCA’s CIMulator3D software to control for these differing parameters.
By providing a virtual testing ground for complex custom designs, the software ensures tool quality, prevents scrap and streamlines the process of developing customer prints. A machine-side simulator application reduces setup time by highlighting how differences between ideal and actual circumstances will affect the ground part and by enabling machinists to adjust settings to achieve optimal results rather than regrind wheels.