Tips for selecting a workholding solution

With manufacturing operations using higher cutting speeds that place greater force on workholding equipment, choosing the correct system to hold your work is trickier than ever. Careful examination of your clamping application may lead you to either a ready-made solution or a customized workholding answer.

One vendor, Emuge Corp., Northborough, MA has a workholding division that provides tailored solutions to troublesome workpieces and manufacturing applications. The firm specializes in fixtures that demand the highest accuracy and repeatability in a broad market which include low volume job shops through high volume automotive production environments.Dave Jones, Emuge sales engineer, says, &#34Our workholding group stays close to our customers to learn about their unique challenges and production environments.  Doing so helps us avoid potential miscommunication and minimizes additional project costs."There are a number of recommendations that can be followed to ensure obtaining the optimum clamping solution.Initially, the vendor and end user should establish open communications. Be sure the vendor has an open ear beginning early on in the quotation process.  It is critical that they understand the requirements for your entire operation.  Although not always immediately evident, some of this information may prove to be essential to the success of the workholding system.Supply the vendor with complete operation specifications, and then keep the vendor informed of any changes to these specifications even if  the modifications are not workholding related.&#34When we stay close to our customer, we are usually kept informed without even asking. However, even when we are receiving timely updates, changes to the original specs may lead to some added cost or a delay in project delivery because the design or build process may be too far along.&#34This is where the flexibility of Emuge&#39s workholding devices is really put to the test. In most cases our designs allow us to react and adapt quickly to minimize the impact of unforeseen changes. For example, there was a time when a customer didn’t tell us about a special clearance problem and another time when a customer changed the specs on a grinding wheel design." Typically, if the customer is exploring the route of having a custom workholding solution produced for his application, chances are the operation involves either a difficult workpiece and or operating environment.For instance, one challenge is holding very thin-wall parts while performing operations with high transferable torque values. Emuge&#39s System SG (based on a series of short tapers) spreads the clamping forces over the largest possible area of the workpiece. The result is a very rigid, accurate and repeatable workholding solution for these types of   difficult workpieces.  System SG is commonly used for hobbing, shaping, shaving, turning, grinding and inspection applications.The customer has to ensure all areas of his system are accurate. Not only should the new clamping system be precise, but several other related areas of the operation should also be reviewed to ensure the best possible results. For example, look at the  production environment and tooling and make sure these areas are suitable for the application (don’t simply rely on what has worked in the past.). The accuracy of the locating and clamping surfaces on the workpiece should also be considered.Further, a clean workpiece yields the best end product. When debris builds up in the clamping area of a workpiece, it may affect how the piece is being held, and negatively effect the outcome of the entire operation.Consider the volume of work to be performed on the workholding device. If work volume is planned to be high then a mechanical workholding solution can be the answer. In the case where the workpiece has a challenging bore to length ratio a hydraulic system may be an alternative.  Emuge does offer hydraulic arbors, but in cases where the volume is considered to be high, a mechanical solution that we would offer is our System SP. &#34The System SP is our most accurate system," says Jones. &#34It has high accuracy and repeatability (like the hydraulic device) and touts the reliability of a mechanical system." Finally, the customer should try to choose a clamping solution that will serve his needs both now and in the future.  When the vendor is designing the fixture, take the time to outline what the requirements will be in the future. Perhaps the workpiece is just one of many in a series or part family. This may mean that relatively minor changes would have to be made to the workholding device to accommodate the new workpieces.This article was supplied by Emuge Corp., Northborough, MA.

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