Welcome to ToolHIT! It is our goal to be your top choice for Cutting Tools and we would like to do this by offering top quality tooling options as well as an easy way to order online. We also have a lot of industry experience in CNC Machining and would like to be a technical resource for you, so please contact us if you have any tough applications or any general questions. Also, we welcome your feedback, if you would like to see any improvements to our site let us know. With these blogs it is our goal to share what we have learned and can hopefully help you current or future applications or tooling selection.
For our first blog we'd like to go thru Rotary Toolholder of CNC Mill Toolholder selection based on application. The correct CNC Toolholder can make a huge difference in tool life as well as ability to hold tolerances. Here is a quick cheat sheet we put together based on your application:
Drilling/Reaming:
- The ER Collet Chuck is our First Choice for all Drilling and Reaming Applications and can also be used for Thread Milling, Tapping and Light Milling applications. The Holders are held to .0001" Runout (or TIR) and the ER Collets come standard with .0004" Runout (or TIR) with the option to get Ultra Precision Collets wth .0002" Runout (or TIR).
- The MX or VX Holders are a Higher Performance option for Drilling, Reaming, Thread Milling and Light Milling. The Holders are held to .0001" Runout (or TIR) and the Collets also have .0001" Runout (or TIR) giving you the best performance for tight tolerance holes.
Milling (End Mills):
- An End Mill Holder is an economical choice when roughing with an End Mill. The set screw on the End Mill Holder gives you high holding power but it also naturally adds runout to the tool which will effect tool life and tolerances. If your tolerances are not tight then this is the Holder to go with.
- A Milling Chuck will give you the holding power of an End Mill Holder with the runout of a Collet Chuck. The strong holding power with the .0002" runout at 4" out makes a Milling Chuck one of the top options for roughing and finishing applications for 1/2" Diameter to 1" Diameter Tools. Milling Chucks are on size to hold 3/4" or 1" Diameter Tools and offer the strongest holding power on size. You can also use collets with it but you do lose holding power with collets, especially when you get under 1/2" in our experience. In that case either a VX Chuck or a Hydraulic Chuck is the way to go for tools 1/8" to 7/16".
More Blogs to come, contact us with any questions!
Michael O'Rourke
Author