Filling our customer needs for unique tooling is a specialty we have much experience in, so a recent requirement for tools to do wood turning on a CNC machining center was a cinch! This most recent application was actually pretty unique for a wood CNC machining operation. Our customer needed two separate tools designed for use on a 5-axis CNC machine to manufacture wooden bowls.
The Application: Wood turning on a 5-axis CNC machine to produce wooden bowls. First, a 1 ft x 1 ft wood block is mounted onto a rotary axis (see images on right, below). Then the block begins turning, much like being mounted on a lathe, followed by the tools coming in to shape the wood in a three step process.
The Tooling: Beginning with the back side, a hogging tool (A376.030.160.25, image not available) removes the bulk of the material to create the basic shape. Then the backside finishing tool, a carbide-tipped profile Router Cutter (DCF.33710.2) puts the final touches on the bottom side. For the top finishing, another carbide-tipped profile tool (DCF.33710.1), will complete the top shape. Due to the size of these profile tools, and to provide best possible finish, HSK heat shrink tool holders were used for tool clamping. The heat shrink clamping system provides an accuracy of .003mm (.0002″) by eliminating compounded tolerances that are inherent in tool holders that use a collet and collet nut to secure the tool.
The process of acquiring these custom made tools was quick and seamless. Once we had a CAD drawing of the end product profile, we went to work on designing the tool and creating a tool drawing. This was provided to the customer for review and approval. Three weeks later, the tools were ready to be delivered!
For questions about our custom tool manufacturing process please contact us or call 800.544.8436
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