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16 MoldMaking Technology January 2015 Case Study / Machining Although mounting a workpiece requires creating a tapped hole and counterbore to interface with the rod and ring, the sav- ings provided by the FCS system far exceed that initial time investment. Workpieces can be removed and remounted on the pallet or base plates without re-indicating because the grid keeps the zero-reference point locked in. The modular system also enables quick, customized setups that, in concert with the a82's full 360-degree B axis, provide unrestricted access to five sides of a workpiece. In fact, CS Tool often builds its own FCS fixtures in-house to save money and to right-size the system for its own applications. This system could make a difference on any machine, but CS Tool has found it particularly useful with the a82's B axis and twin-pallet system. "We didn't realize then just how power- ful this would be for our operation when combined with the capabilities of a production-oriented machine," Snow says. "Suddenly, we were minimizing setup time, improving utiliza- tion, reducing time required for pickups, and achieving access to multiple sides of the part. In short, we were performing single-setup workpiece processing." so no time is lost. With that setup completed, the operator can pick a good point to stop the machine, swap the pallets, com- plete the short-run order, and then swap the original, long- running job back into the workzone. Precise, Flexible Setups Although pallet-changing capability delivered an immediate ben- efit, the addition of a separate auxiliary product pushed time sav- ings even further. Available from SST, the FCS modular clamping system (Breyl) has further reduced setup time by improving access to the workpiece and eliminating the need to re-indicate. At the heart of the system are base gage plates with grids of threaded holes spaced 50 mm apart within 5 microns. Work- pieces mount to these holes via cylindrical clamping bodies. Making each connection—workpiece to clamping body, clamp- ing body to base plate—requires a combination of rods and rings. These connections are illustrated in the diagram below. On one end of each rod is a serrated feature that interfaces with the clamping body. The other end of the rod features standard metric threads (typically M12 × 1.75 or M16 × 2.0) that screw through the rings and into a tapped hole in either the base plate's grid or the workpiece, depending on the connection point. According to the supplier, much of the system's preci- sion is due to the TiN-coated steel rings at each connection point. One side of each ring mates with the clamping body via a precision-ground taper, while the other side mates with the hole in either the base plate or the workpiece. Tightening the final assembly guides the tapers on the rings into location to provide an H-7-class fit with micron-level repeatability. This image shows the primary components of an FCS modular clamping system. At CS Tool, the system improves spindle access to the part and adds to the setup-time savings delivered by the a82's pallet system. Illustration courtesy of Single Source Technologies. At CS Tool, operators like Sousack Pongrattana, the CNC machinist shown here, commonly set up one pallet while another is in the workzone. This strategy has proven particularly useful for urgent engineering changes, which the shop can accommodate with minimal machine downtime. Images courtesy of CS Tool/Makino.