The workholding system consists of a cartridge and precision collet. The collet fits inside the cartridge and is accurately adjusted before it is fitted directly into the existing collet sleeve No machine adaptations are required. The new device has micron-adjustment of collet closure, ensuring that even the most fragile of components can be securely clamped. Concentricity is between 3 to 5 microns. And to confirm precision levels, the hardened and ground cartridges can be used as gauges to verify machine spindle accuracy.
The collets can clamp diameters from 0.2 to 10 mm and are available in 0.05 mm increments from 0.22 mm up to 10 mm diameter. Each collet has a nominal clamping range from 0.05 to 0.1 mm, depending on the chosen collet diameter. Currently available for F20 and F25 style collets, F37 versions are in development. A 5C version is also available.
The Masa Microconic system also includes ‘over clamping’ collets. (i.e. to clamp behind a shoulder). The cartridge/collet combination can accommodate openings beyond 4 mm larger than the clamping diameter, depending on the application. This allows for the possibility of machining the part 'the other way round', which can often help improve cycle times significantly.
These over-grip collets have nominal clamping diameter starts at 0.5 mm, with a maximum clamping diameter of 7.20 mm. Fatigue tested to over 250,000 full-load cycles, the over-grip collets include a part-ejection guide sleeve blank.
