machine spindle. Runout decreases tool life and will compromise accuracy, so isolating and identifying problems early prevents scrapped parts, wasted time and unnecessary spending on replacement tools. For shops like Cogitic, with short production runs and expensive raw material, tool presetting both saves setup time and improves quality control and tool life. In the event of unusual tool wear or problems with accuracy or surface finish, the tool presetter can identify or rule out problems too small to see with the naked eye. After all, the presetter is effectively a moving microscope at 45 times magnification, giving the operator a clear view of the cutting edge. “It saves so much time trying to troubleshoot what problems a tool caused, and how to fix those problems,” Cratty says. “Cogitic has really expensive materials and can’t risk scrapping any of those parts.” Measure the Tool, not the Feature “In another case we were about to thread 40 holes on each of a dozen Inconel 625 parts,” Veteto says.
“Before starting the job, we put the new multi-flute cutter in the presetter and discovered that one of the insert pockets had an odd taper that threw the insert way out. That tool was out-of-spec right out of the box. “Before the presetter, we would often just cut the feature and then measure it,” Veteto continues. “We had no good way of checking the actual cutting tool. If it wasn’t right, we were dead in the water with a part in the machine and a long lead time on another custom tool. Now we can inspect tool assemblies long before the time when we’ll need to use them.” Integrate and Automate Beyond measurement and troubleshooting, presetters can serve as a first step toward automating time- consuming manual processes. The presetter supports pre-programming to automate the entire tool inspection procedure. Instead of guiding the camera by hand to check the different features, the cycle is saved, and the operator simply calls up the tool to execute the program. In this way, each tool can be quickly validated before loading into the machine.
“We plan to integrate the SPERONI with our ERP system as a next step,” Veteto says. “The software can communicate with the SPERONI and create a file of all the tool parameters ready to load directly into the machine control.” This connectivity eliminates the potential for human error. There is no need to manually type the tool data into the control or to re-scan each of the tools unless a replacement is needed during the production run.
CONTRIBUTOR Jared Veteto is the President at Cogitic. Patrick Cratty is the SPERONI Sales Manager at BIG DAISHOWA. patrick.cratty@us.bigdaishowa.com
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