We all know what the CNC Milling Machine spindle is used for - to hold the tool. But it is old and boring. Everybody does that.

Here are the 6 interesting and maybe less common ways to utilize machine spindle, increase productivity and solve some problems you never thought you had.

Use your Spindle as a fan to blow chips and coolant off of your work-piece, table and fixturing.

I saw this little gadget at a local IMTS show and it was quite cool. It is installed into a tool holder like a regular cutting tool would be and at the end of the program you can call the it up and run a little table-cleaning program to make your work a lot cleaner!

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Being a CNC Machinist/Programmer is sometimes more than simply creating a program and machining the actual part, often times it is about creating efficient and accurate fixturing.

In this little project:

I had to machine rectangular cut-outs and drill holes through an already-turned steel ring. Then I had to part each ring to 4 equal pieces.

There were about 100 such rings that worked out to 400 pieces in total.

After drilling holes on an indexer I had to machine a fixture to hold my part through 2 remaining set-ups.

First half of the fixture consists of the expanding mandrel:

The work-piece would be mounted on it like so. A hole on the side is used to properly position it:

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Recently I had to machine a few pieces after turning.

Because the very top of the part was supposed to be machined off, I could not clamp through the central hole like I often do.

Decided to quickly turn an expandable washer out of aluminum and a plastic spacer that would collapse a little bit under clamping pressure and allow the part to sit firmly against the base of the fixture.

I liked this method so much I am going to do the same next time I have similar part to make.

See pics below.

Later on i will try to post some more pictures of other setups I did.

All the pieces apart Fixture, spacer, expandable washer, FH screw Workpiece mounted on

There is more than one way to skin a cat! Previously i have showed how to machine multiple pieces out of a flat plate holding only on to 0.010" thick material on the outside of the part. (here) But there is more than one way to do it. Sometimes your part is so hard to hold, that using tabs or skin is the best, or even the only way of machining something. Very often, working in prototyping, I have to make only one single part and designing and producing special fixturing is also not feasible.

Here is how you can easily machine a difficult-to-hold part from both sides without using a separate fixture:

Setup: Put or part in vise. Make sure to square off at least two sides contacting the jaws for accurate positioning and minimum distortion.

Program part normally. Perform as many operations on the first side as possible.

When machining outside profile, machine to the exact depth of your part.

Here is how your part might look after completing the first OP:Read More 

If you cant, then dont clamp it at all!.
Skin it!

In here i have to program and machine several sets of roundish aluminum pieces with +/-0.001" outside tolerance. and within 0.002" thickness repeatability.
Instead if fixturing it one by one i decided to skim cut a 33" x 23" x5/8" to within 0.0015 flat. And then machine each piece completely leaving .005" outside to holt everything together.

Worked out great. 

for picsRead More