Cutting tools
SiGray mentions cutting tools, and this is a good point. Cutting tools are an issue both for machine tools and robots, (Yes, plenty of people use robots to cut things, more on that later).
Cutting tools are almost a black art. A simple mill may use a simple tool, some of the simplest (Like Bridgeport mills) just use collets directly in the spindle head. More complex mills use tapered holders which do their best to minimize the amount of runout the tool has, with more accurate tools requiring more stringent manufacturing processes. At a certain level the error introduced by clamping mechanisms and collets is inadequately innacurate, and hydraulics or heat are used to clamp tools into specially ground toolholders like Techniks
I know most of the players in the cutting tool industry, and I know men who I think are the very best at it, and one of those is a guy named Craig. Craig knows more about cutting tools than I will ever know about all the things i know about. As far as I am concerned, if you are not Craig, everything you think you know about cutting tools is wrong. And that’s beyond relatively simple things like tool wobble and vibration- the gyroscope effect, which in a properly constructed spindle cancels most of the unwanted BS out of properly constructed tools, is another whole discussion.
Thank you for the glimpse into your world. I decided to outfit a nice machine shop. It’s a hobby right now, but I’d like it to develop into a retirement job.
This is great info for an old manual lathe op.
Styx, do yourself a favor and get your ass to the next Machine Tool Show in Chicago. Get to know the folks at Sandvik and Kennamental and Iscar. Go talk to all the people making cutting fluids. Watch Ebay for nice cutting tools. Shoot me a mail when you get closer and I can point you at some things that will save you a good deal of aggrivation. mhardig at aol dot com.
Actually, STx, go here.
http://www.sandvik.coromant.com/en-us/services/education/pages/e-learning.aspx
Sandvik is the people who are so damned full of clue, they have started a free educational program about tooling.