Choosing the correct toolholding

Smith & Wesson, Colt, SIG Sauer, and many other firearms manufacturers need to reduce machining cycle times, improve part accuracy, and maintain process repeatability during their production process, and REGO-FIX has worked with some of the biggest names in the industry to ensure their toolholding and other offerings do all three. REGO-FIX’s powRgrip holders and collets have been used for drilling and reaming cylinders and barrels, cutting suppressors out of exotic materials, contouring pistol frames and receiver assemblies, and crafting trigger assemblies, slides receivers, or hand guards. powRgrip is a collet-holding system consisting of press-fit assembly mounting units, collets, and holders. The mounting units quickly press the collets into or remove them from toolholders with up to nine tons of force in less than 10 seconds.

REGO-FIX’s Northeast Territory Manager, Carl Hynes, says there are considerations before selecting the correct toolholding for firearms manufacturers. Hynes says they focus on what type of machine customers are using and if there’s clearance or interference to worry about when machining. Once the toolholding is selected, Hynes believes there are a few reasons firearms manufacturers choose REGO-FIX.

“We give better tool life with our powRgrip holders, we give the ability to run the tools at better feed rates, heavier radial depths of cut, and longer axial lengths to cut,” Hynes says.

Improving efficiency

During the Great Recession, a prominent firearms manufacturer had no capital budget in 2009 for new manufacturing equipment, but they needed to free up existing equipment to produce new models of firearms. That’s when they contacted Hynes and REGO-FIX. The goal was to improve efficiency in the customer’s plant so there would be one available palletized machining center for the new products. REGO-FIX was able free up two machining centers after installing their powRgrip holders to reduce cycle times and improve tool life. Hynes says there are more issues you can avoid and improve with proper toolholding systems.

“When you’re not holding tools properly, or you have ineffective tools, typically you see excessive TIR (total indicated runout) and that leads to a number of issues in trying to produce features on parts,” Hynes says. “Could be surface finish, it can be tool life, it can be the tolerancing of the cut you’re trying to do. It can impact all those things. By having a good system, you definitely alleviate those issues.”

Another major issue in manufacturing is handling high-torque cuts. According to Hynes, a typical hydraulic holder will have approximately 125ft-lb of torque before you’d have to turn or pull a tool out of the holder or the toolholder and/or the tool would chip or break. A shrink fit-type holder has approximately 160ft-lb of torque, while powRgrip holders have 290ft-lb to 300ft-lb torque.

Upgrading now and in the future

REGO-FIX has also been developing new products to help large volume manufacturers as they debuted PGU 9500 powRgrip Automatic electric or air-powered presses which allow a robot to pick up a cutting tool, place it in the collet, place the collet in the holder, and then place the holder in the press. This automated process allows customers to run up to 120 tools per hour. That’s only one of the advances Hynes sees coming in toolholding for firearms manufacturing.

“I see a lot more of the firearms manufacturers getting automated machine tools on the floor where robots are doing a lot of the part changing, so now, they need less people to manage those machines, that’s the benefit of (the PGU 9500),” Hynes says. “As toolholding goes, there’s a much bigger demand now to have more consistency with the toolholding, repeatability when you set the tools up in the toolholders, and performance of the toolholders themselves.”

About the author: Jake Kauffman is managing editor for GIE Media’s Manufacturing Group and can be reached at JKauffman@gie.net.

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