Masa Tool, Inc. is a company founded with the mission of bringing micromachining solutions to industry. 

The Microconic™ work holding system is  a mechanically actuated micro-workholding system for use in high precision, small diameter CNC turning applications.

It's the first and only workholding system for the micro machining industry!
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WhizCut has re-invented the parting off insert for the future. WhizTwin is a bold new insert that helps reduce waste material and has a cutting edge stability.

The patent pending design of WhizTwin generates a cutting edge stronger than any other and a stability not seen before. The strength and increased stability of the cutting edge is maximised with two cutting edges at the front. This lets the toolholder be clamped in a more stable position with a smaller overhang from the toolholder plate - reducing instability and vibrations which are the main chal-lenges when parting off.
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Less material waste, less costs. WhizTwin is forceful, stable and overall brilliant. The narrow insert allows you to lower your production cost as you save material using it. Removing less bar material is great for you and also for the environ-ment. It’s a win win - with WhizTwin.

The WhizTwin insert optimizes cutting geometry and relief around and under the cutting edge which boosts mass and stability. The stability of a WhizTwin 1,2 mm part off insert achieves the same result as a 1,5 mm wide conventional insert from the top – and is considerably stronger below

The WhizTwin design utilizes the two cutting edges to build up an extra strength under and around the cutting edge. Get longer too-life and more stable parting off – the patent pending design gives the WhizTwin insert a bigger carbide mass under the cutting edge.

​A 1,2 mm insert is considerably stronger than a 1,5 mm conventional insert. The strength of a 1 mm part off is the same as a 1,5 mm conventional. WhizTwin represents a new range of carbide grades developed for faster and tougher machines and materials, grade 7.

by Charles Colerich for Horizon Carbide

Here are four guidelines to help improve your threading process when threading on a lathe.

As a good rule of thumb, always start near the top of the Surface Foot per Minute Range for the material that is being threaded.
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Higher SFM reduces Built-up Edge, the major cause of poor tool life in threading. For Harder or more Abrasive Materials start in the Middle of the SFM range. Once setup is complete SFM can be adjusted for optimum tool life. Tough Micrograin Grade 310 reduces insert chipping from edge build-up at lower SFM and on parts under 1” Diameter.

Set the Depth of Cut (DOC) for the first past at 20-30% of the thread height per side.  G76 controls the depth of cut for the remaining passes.

To find the DOC for the 1st Pass multiply the PITCH by 0.6 to get the approximate THREAD HEIGHT. Multiply THREAD HEIGHT by 20 - 30% to get the DEPTH of the 1st Pass.

Use less than 20% when threading hard materials or larger thread pitches. Do not use “Spring Passes” under .002 DOC Per Side.

by ​Jerry McNealy, Owner, Indian Mountain Machine

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My name is Jerry McNealy – I’ve been in the machining industry for over thirty years, and I am the owner and operator of Indian Mountain Machine based out of Jellico, Tennessee. Here, we handle some highly complex and precision parts (most of which have just as high a value placed on their cosmetics as they do their function/tolerance).

Pair this with the fact that I started running a CNC lathe only a couple years into my early career, and I can definitely claim to know a thing or two about some of the problems you tend to come across with thin-wall parts in a lathe.

At our shop, we do several somewhat thin wall long parts, and we’ve bought other anti-vibe bars in the past that have usually resulted in having to turn the RPM down very low, as well as the feed rates, which results in these projects taking a considerable amount of time to achieve the finish we need – and it’s still not good enough.

One day, we were tooling up another machine to do some parts, and I spoke with Gary McNealy at Jones Marketing Inc., who suggested that we try out this new chatter-free anti-vibe bar made by MAQ. I hadn’t yet heard of MAQ, but it looked interesting, and I trusted his recommendation. Looking back on it now, I’m extremely glad we did – because I have never seen anything perform quite as well as these bars do.

We decided to start out with a 1” diameter bar, running some 6.5” long parts – which then progressed into some 8” long parts, and still only required a 1” diameter bar.

And as we continued to run parts, we kept increasing the speed and feed rate, before finally ending up around 1000 RPMs and a feed rate of .005 IPR.

We were completely surprised by the finish, not to mention the speed with which we could now produce these parts!

In fact, another incredible thing that the MAQ Bar’s performance has done is improve the product and its finish, allowing us to actually skip the dreaded sanding and polishing process. Some parts can even be cleaned and shipped straight to plating.

​We ended up going into some 9” long parts, which we were able to get the 1.25” bar for. To really illustrate how great the MAQ Bar is, though, when we first started running the parts, I went over to my toolbox and got the best 1.25” anti-vibe bar that we’d had previously, thinking that we might just try with it first and see how it goes. This bar has seen a lot of parts over the years, and it has a lot of character to show for it; rubber bands wrapped around it, bungee cords wrapped around the parts, the whole deal – anything to dampen vibration.

Using this bar, however, we only ended up with what I figured to be a low RPM, slow speed, and a very poor finish. This particular part we were working on was going to take up to an hour and 15 minutes to rough and finish the bore.

But once we switched over to the MAQ 1.25” Bar, it roughed and finished the part with the same bar in less than 15 minutes. The finished product was checking at under a 20 (micro), and was absolutely immaculate.

Like I said, I’ve been at this a long time – and I’ve definitely been around the block enough to recognize a game-changer when I see it.

MAQ Bars are, without a doubt, true standouts that have impressed me and the rest of the team here at Indian Mountain Machine. They are built to extremely high standards, save us valuable time, and are completely dependable, always resulting in final products that we are proud to ship out from our shop.

​I am personally a huge fan of MAQ, and I cannot recommend them highly enough. You will not be disappointed with what they have to offer.

This video demonstrates how to use a digital protractor - level indicator - angle indicator, to align a CNC turning tool. The video shows setting up the tool both in a turret of a turning machine and multi-task machines.

edited by Bernard Martin

Founded in Hamburg Germany, the Soph Company have focused their efforts on developing and producing magnetic chucks under the BRISC brand name. Brisc Magnetics Co., Ltd was founded in 1998, specializing in designing and manufacturing magnetic work-holding, clamping and lifting equipments. With advanced design, outstanding performance and unsurpassed reliability they fit well in Soph's product mix

Soph's BRISC brand manufactures all kinds of magnetic chucks including permanent magnetic chucks, electromagnetic chucks and electro-permanent magnetic chucks for many work holding applications like grinding, milling, turning, EDM & WEDM.

The goal is to apply their experience and technology into the field of magnetics to provide our customers with the best magnetic solutions available in industry today.

Via MAQ Tool.

Grooving has always been a challenging machining task, both for internal and external machining, due to its vibrations. Particularly for internal grooving operations, the feed force is aligned to the radial direction of the tool, and that excites substantial vibrations in the tool holder.

​Traditionally the recommendation is to use a steel damped bar for grooving operations above 5xD and a carbide-reinforced damped bar for operations 6-7xD. Above 7xD it has earlier been nearly impossible to do grooving. Thanks to MAQ, it’s now possible to do grooving operations up to 8xD!

Using an STMD M25-255 product which is a standard steel bar damped with the STMD technology, with an SXFNR 251724 16 cutter head and 16 IR W 2.25 insert, we perform grooving at 8xD overhang length.

​Machining in alloyed steel of 4340 HRC 28-30, the grooving process was smooth and quiet. Thanks to the STMD technology, with its Self-Tuning capabilities, the tool adapts to different types of vibrations, and the limits are again pushed by MAQ.

Jack Rushlander, Jergens Technical Sales Manager discusses layout and planning techniques for 5-axis machining centers.

Jack talks about how advancements in 5 Axis CNC machining technology has changed dramatically in the past 20 years. Dynamic Work Offsets and other capabilities have made workholding easier but also given shops even more opportunities to to improve process and reduce cycle time.

Check out the video below and see how Galactic Widget Company tackles the workholding of a Thingamajig.

• 00:00 - 01:35 Introduction
• 01:35 - 03:50 The Pros of 5-Axis
• 03:50 - 06:20 The Cons of 5-Axis
• 06:30 - 09:36 Process Essentials
• 09:39 - 11:53 The Machine
• 11:55 - 15:40 Part Drawing & Raw Material
• 15:50 - 19:45 When to Use a Dovetail
• 19:46 - 21:35 Start to Finish Operation in Drawings
• 21:36 - 30:38 Work Envelope in Solidworks
• 31:24 - 33:58 Analyze With Your Machinists
• 35:30 - 37:08 Troubleshooting
• 37:18 - 37:56 Getting Other Eyes on Your Project
• 38:00 - 39:40 The Process of Sending Project to Your Programmer
• 39:45 - 49:36 Questions

by Charles Colerich for Horizon Carbide

Insert heights for most negative rake tool holders are set using .031R Gage Inserts.

There are no geometry standards for negative rake 35° tool holders. Insert rake angles vary between manufacturers and range from -6° to -13°.

This causes problems with inserts having a nose radius other than .031R. Center Heights for smaller radius inserts drop due to the negative rake angles. The drop is significant with 35° and 55° Negative Rake inserts.

​Horizon DNGP and VNGP Inserts are ground to the low side of the height tolerance to reduce center height problems.