Ingenious Workholding Application

What blows me away in the CNC machining business is the creativity applied to solving problems. And not just how to hold a workpiece, but how to do so for the highest possible precision. I know, I know. What's the point of holding something if you aren't going to do it with precision? Ya, I wonder that too. You'd be surprised how many companies accept relatively imprecise workholding solutions, and how many companies try to GET AWAY with imprecise solutions. That's why I get so excited when I find a company that holds precision above all else. Ones that get "high" on the precision - I mean, the greater the precision required, the more they like it. I know a job shop that likes that so much, and is so good at it, that they will turn down jobs that don't require high precision. More about that on another post though.


What really got me going today is this application by Advanced Machine and Engineering Co (AME): they have a customer that needed a workholding fixture that could precisely hold product that had already been manufactured, to measure the accuracy of the machining. So the precision was doubly important. The problem is the particular part in question is small and oddly shaped, and had some very small ID measurement that were required.

AME put their team on this one, and came up with an approach that uses parts from a completely different product line and applied them to the workholding. They have tons of holding options available, but their engineering geniuses realized they couldn't get the level of precision and solid holding they needed, with perfect placement repeatability. Check out this Inspection Fixture for Measuring Highly Detailed Parts.

Custom and Specialized CNC Workholding Fixtures

AME custom mechanical fixture
on an AMROK grid tombstone

Advanced Machine and Engineering builds some pretty awesome custom workholding fixtures.
This one is a custom mechanical fixture designed to hold specific parts for CNC machining. They can build hydraulic fixtures, modular fixtures, pneumatic fixtures - see some examples. AME can build for most any parts-holding application, whether it's CNC machining, 5-axis machining, or even special workholding needs with soft parts or fragile parts where conventional workholding techniques can't be used.

If you have irregular, fragile parts that are very difficult to grasp the triGel Ice clamping fixture by Triag is a great solution. Ice clamping was originally used in the watch making and jewelry industries, but is now being used more widely.

Triag triGel ice-clamp fixture

These devices use a cooling medium like that of a deep freezer -- it uses the latent heat of evaporation of the cooling medium contained in a closed coolant circuit. Both the machine and the workpieces are covered with a fine film of water using a water atomizer.  The cold gas passes through a labyrinth of channels in the machine table bringing its temperature to about -8C. This causes the workpiece to stick to the machine table within approximately 15-60 seconds.

AMSAW R300 Rail Saw and Drill by AME

This video shows an efficient sawing and drilling system designed for cutting and prepping railway rails from Advanced Machine and Engineering Co. (AME). In an automated series of operations this Amsaw R300 Rail Saw cleanly and quickly saws the rail using a carbide circular blade, and then positions and drills the holes needed for connection the rail sections. I've seen this saw and it is both fast and precise. Willy Goellner, the designer of the saw system direct production of these amazing machines that are available on a build-to-order basis right now.  Mr. Goellner has been building carbide sawing systems for more than 30 years, and is renown for his innovative and durable designs. He ships saws anywhere in the world.

Considering Manufacturing.

That's just another way of saying "Manufacturing Musings". The fact is, if you can make it, I'll probably think about it at some point. There are lots of businesses and industries I have been involved in: electronics; health & wellness; automated machines, parts and tools; machine tools, test instrumentation; clothing; marketing automation services; construction; design services; bicycles - the list goes on. But I always seem to come back to manufacturing. It's where I seem to be the most comfortable, and do my best work. I don't mean that I actually make products myself. I like to be involved in businesses which are manufacturing things, and are selling their products to other businesses -- usually some kind of engineer, technician, or manufacturer.

So, as a result, I tend to think a lot about how things are made. It often starts with an idea, how it should be designed, and ultimately how it can be manufactured. I mean, at some point, if I am going to bother thinking about designing something, I'll have to decide how to make it, or what's the point? So ultimately, I consider the processes, techniques and tools needed to make things. Sure, I do marketing, but it's the products that are the most interesting -- and to more technical they are, the better. I suspect since you are reading this blog, it is something that is interesting to you.

Be warned, I also like variety. That means I won't think about any one particular thing for very long. So you'll see all kinds of topics on here. If you like that - great! And if I get in a rut or too boring, I hope you'll tell me in your feedback and comments. After all, what's a blog worth, if there aren't any comments and some back-and-forth discussion? So please comment.

I won't promise this will be the best-written blog you've ever seen, but I do hope that if you like manufacturing of technical things, that it's interesting.

Thanks for reading. More to come...