Category: 5C Cartridge - Masa Tool

Design and function: The Microconic Cartridge

5/19/2021

Dragan Marjanovic Masa Tool Co Founder Microconic

At Masa Tool no machine is put into production without a thorough calibration and extensive customization. Here our cofounder and master of precision Dragan Marjanovic personally inspects a newly reconditioned grinding machine.

Masa Tool's Microconic cartridge is made of exotic high-chromium tool steel, triple tempered and cryogenically treated to provide stable construction. All functional seating surfaces are ground with extreme precision on a one-piece, ultra-rigid body structure.

“The cartridge can be used as a calibration gage to verify the machine spindle accuracy,” Co-owner Chip Prescott notes.

Microconic collets are finished to exacting standards with a five-step grinding process that removes the effect of heat-treat warpage. Also, the proprietary Microconic form of the closure surfaces is inherently more accurate than traditional collets, providing for a greater full-accuracy working range.

Cartridges are available to fit in push-type dead-length collet closers and also draw-type closers: F20M10 (for TF20 collet replacement), F25M10 (for TF25 collet replacement), and 5CM10 (for 5C collet replacement). All of these cartridges use the same Microconic UM10 collets, with more cartridge sizes in development to be released soon.

Radical Over-Grip with the Masa Microconic Collet System

7/1/2020

High precision long nose collet system for sliding-head Swiss-type CNC lathe/turning centers. Opens 4mm larger than clamping diameter! Super accurate, super rigid.

Just Released! The 2018 -2019 Masa Tool Microconic Catalog

9/4/2018

We have just released the NEW 2018-2019 Masa Tool Catalog! Our first batch of new catalogs is shipping directly to our IMTS booth in Chicago for release, but you can download your own copy right here!

The 2018-2019 catalog features NEW PRODUCTS including:

The NEW push type F37M10 Cartridge that replaces the standard TF37 collet in your CNC spindle and will be introduced at IMTS 2018.
The NEW Comprehensive Range of Microguide EGS™ Ejection Guide Sleeves in Different Materials. (July 2018)
The NEW push type F201 Cartridge that replaces the standard F20 collet. (April 2018)
The NEW Long-Land T-type Over-Grip Collets (February 2018)
The NEW Large Open V-Type Over-Grip Collets. (February 2018)

The Masa Microconic system consists of the cartridge, which fits into your machine like a standard collet, and the Microconic collets which fit into the cartridge.

The Microconic system provides:

Masa Tool Microconic Catalog 2018 2019

Solid extended nose — extremely rigid
Micrometer-adjust control of collet closure — even the most fragile parts can be held safely and firmly.
Extreme accuracy — concentricity within 5μm (0.0002”) runout.
The Microconic cartridge can be used as a gauge to verify machine spindle accuracy.
Collets available from Ø0.2mm (0.008”) to 10mm (0.394”).
All collets hardened and precision ground to the highest quality standards.
Over-grip collets with performance unlike anything else! Open 4mm larger than the clamping diameter. Unmatched rigidity and concentricity. If you have tried other over-grip collets then you will be shocked at the difference — our Microconic over-grip collets are amazing.
The Microconic collets fit in any Microconic cartridge, no matter which machine.

How to use the Micrograd Face Dial Wrench

3/14/2018

Set ups are quicker and more repeatable with Microconic™. You can document the micrometer-adjust collet closure in your set up plan so it's done the same every time, regardless of operator skill and without relying on "feel".

Our Micrograd™ Face Dial Wrench is included with the purchase of any Microconic Cartridges.

The Micrograd™ Face dial Wrench provides a method of precisely setting clamping pressure on both the Microconic collets and an Microconic overgrip collets .

It can be adjusted in metric increments of 0,02mm and imperial increments of .001"

Micrograd Face Dial Wrench Microconic

Top View of the 5C Cartridge with alignment arrow for use with the Micrograd collet wrench. The locking set screw to fix the position is located behind the arrow line.

How to use the Micrograd™ Face Dial Wrench

Microconic Micrograd Face Dial adjustment wrench

Side view of the F25 Cartridge with alignment line show for use with the Micrgrad collet wrench

Insert a gage pin of the appropriate diameter.
Tighten collet with Micrograd Collet wrench by 2 – 4 graduations to set initial clamping force.
For a firm grip on solid workpieces typically a closure of about .08mm (0.003”) is a good starting point.
Use the screwdriver allen wrench to lock the set screw on the cartridge in place.

Experience will soon teach the best settings, and they may vary significantly for different applications based on the force required, rigidity of workpiece, and machining operation being performed.

For a complete set of instructions please see our installation procedures for more details on how to set up and replicate your clamping pressure on every machine in your shop.

micrograd wrench Microconic um10 collets

Micrograd wrench surrounded by Microconic UM-10 collets

Masa Expands Offering of Microconic Over-Grip Collets with New Long-Land T-type Series.

2/13/2018

OCEANSIDE, CA. Masa Tool has expanded their line of Microconic over-grip collets to include a new style called a "T-type." The T-type over-grip collet has a longer gripping surface than the original W-type. We designed it specifically for longer parts such as bone screws with wide pitch threads.

The Microconic over-grip collets provide more work holding and programming options than previously available. It enables you to move operations from the main spindle to the sub-spindle. This balances the work being performed between the main and sub time which can dramatically reduce cycle time.

The land width on the W-type over-grip collet, pictured at the right, is approximately 1 X Diameter of the workpiece.

Micorconic W-Type Overgrip Collet

The Microconic W-type over-grip collet can swallow up to 4mm over the held diameter

But, in some cases, with longer parts, the land width "B" needs to be longer to support the workpiece properly.

Masa's new T-type collet provides the solution for longer workpieces

Typically with over-gripping applications, a shorter land length/clamping pad length/grip length is desired because of limited space available to hold the workpiece behind the enlarged head or flange that it is reaching over. That is what our original W-type collet was optimized for.

However, with longer parts, with more surface area for clamping and gripping room, a longer land length is often preferred to provide more stability to support the longer length workpiece.

It may also be necessary with very wide-pitched threads, such as on bone screws, where a long land in the collet allows spanning several thread pitches instead of just one or two. This same spanning issue can occur with parts that have wide grooves.

The new "T-type" over-grip collet, has a longer gripping surface than our original W-type: Typically 2 - 3 times the diameter of the workpiece.

For extra long parts, the T-type collet provides the opening needed for the larger head to pass through the collet, so it can be pushed through the back end of the spindle for ejection when required.

Microconic T Type Overgrip 2-3X Land width

The Microconic T-type over-grip collet provides 2 -3 times the land width "B" of the W-type over-grip collet to support longer parts.

Microconic T-Type Over-grip Collet features

Standard gripping land length is 2x - 3x diameter. (vs. about 1x diameter with W-type)
Available from Ø1.55 - 7.2mm (Ø.061" - .283").
Opens 3.5mm diameter (.138") larger than the clamping diameter. (vs. 4mm larger with W-type).
Every size available to ship within 2 days of order.
Same Microconic accuracy and rigidity.

Typical uses are generally for over-gripping of longer parts:

Bone screws with wide-pitch threads
Orthopedic surgical drills and taps
Long shafts with flange
Long, thin walled tubular parts
Long plastic parts

Microconic T-Type Long Land Overgrip collets

Masa Microconic Overgrip Collets: W-type (upper) & T-type (lower)

If you've tried other companies overgrip collets with poor results, Microconic over-grip collets will allow you to do things you might have thought impossible!

Workholding: Design and Function

8/23/2017

Todays Medical Developments Log Masa Tool Article

This article originally appeared in the April 2017 issue of Today's Medical Developments.
It was the cover story entitled: "Micro-Precision Machining" by Elizabeth Modic

Microconic’s cartridge is made of exotic high-chromium tool steel, triple tempered and cryogenically treated to provide stable construction. All functional seating surfaces are ground with extreme precision on a one-piece, ultra-rigid body structure.

“The cartridge can be used as a calibration gage to verify the machine spindle accuracy,” Co-owner Chip Prescott notes.

Microconic collets are finished to exacting standards with a five-step grinding process that removes the effect of heat-treat warpage. Also, the proprietary Microconic form of the closure surfaces is inherently more accurate than traditional collets, providing for a greater full-accuracy working range.

Cartridges are available to fit in push-type dead-length collet closers and also draw-type closers: F20M10 (for TF20 collet replacement), F25M10 (for TF25 collet replacement), and 5CM10 (for 5C collet replacement). All of these cartridges use the same Microconic UM10 collets, with more cartridge sizes in development to be released soon.

Microconic Workholding: Design and Function

Workholding System Enables Switching Operations from Main to Subspindle

7/12/2017

Masa Tool is introducing its Microconic workholding system for use in subspindle Swiss-type machine operations, enabling the operator to switch operations from the main to the subspindle so that usage is balanced.

Masa Tool Overgip Collet swiss machining

Masa Tool is introducing its Microconic workholding system for use in subspindle Swiss-type machine operations, enabling the operator to switch operations from the main to the subspindle so that usage is balanced. This capability is said to reduce cycle time in ways that are not possible with conventional collets.

The Microconic system consists of two primary components: a cartridge that fits in the machine’s standard TF20, TF25 or 5C collet closer, and the collet itself, which fits into the cartridge. Each cartridge model has a solid extended nose and can accept both regular and over-grip collets. The over-grip collets open up to 0.157" (4 mm) larger than the clamping diameter.

The Microconic cartridge’s extended nose design directs all of the chucking pressure directly over the workpiece for concentricity and rigidity. Total indicated runout (TIR) for the Microconic system is guaranteed at 0.0002" (5 µm) at the workpiece, absent any runout introduced by the machine structure or other elements of the setup. The system capacity ranges from 0.008" to 0.394" (0.2 to 10 mm) in diameter, with all sizes available from stock.

This article originally appeared in
Production Machining 2/27/2017
Jedd Cole, Editor
Editor Asistente, MMS Mexico

Just Released: The 2017 Microconic Catalog!

4/13/2017

The Microconic system will be able to do things that are impossible
with any other traditional collet system.

Just-In-Time for the PMTS show! We have just released the NEW 2017 Masa Tool Catalog!

The Masa Microconic system consists of the cartridge, which fits into your machine like a standard collet, and the Microconic collets which fit into the cartridge

Our regular MicroconicTM collets help reduce cycle time by allowing a rm grip on the workpiece without causing damage, and yet holding it much more rigidly than any other collet on the market.

You’ll be able to do heavy machining operations in the sub spindle, such as blind hole broaching, that would not have even considered in the past. Now you can switch ops from main to sub!

Set ups are quicker and more repeatable with Microconic.

You can document the micrometer-adjust collet closure in your set up plan using our Micrograd Face Dial Wrench and it’s going to repeat to the same clamping pressure each and every time, regardless of operator skill and without relying on “feel”.

You can calibrate your spindle accuracy with the MicroconicTM cartridge by using it as a precision cylinder gauge.

When that is good, EVERY Microconic collet will run within .0002” TIR: There’s no ddling and swapping collet after collet looking for a “good” one. Set ups go smoothly and predictably.

Microconic clamping force is directly over the workpiece at the end of the collet

Microconic clamping force is directly over the workpiece at the end of the collet.

The Microconic collets fit into our cartridge to hold the workpiece with great precision and rigidity. Unlike traditional extended nose collets our unique design and closing action is inherently more accurate and consistent.

The clamping force is directly over the workpiece at the end of the collet. The origin of the word “Microconic”, alludes to the precise way in which the collet closing taper is formed to cancel the effects of heat treat warp and grind tolerances. As a result, it provides industry- best concentricity every time.

Download or View the 2017 Masa Tool Microconic Catalog:

Micro-Part Collets Make Subspindles Sing

3/8/2017

A proprietary grinding process and the application of clamping force exactly where it’s needed ensure secure, concentric gripping with a collet system that can potentially fit every turning machine in a shop.

Blog: 2/17/2017
by MATT DANFORD
Associate Editor, Modern Machine Shop

Shop Blog Header Banner Masa Tool Microconic

There’s good reason why subspindle-equipped turning centers, particularly Swiss-type lathes, are so popular for small, complex parts produced in high volumes. However, there’s also good reason for the prefix “sub.” Automatic part hand-off for backworking operations isn’t viable without secure gripping, and the smaller, already-machined portion of the work presented to the subspindle tends to create more challenges than the raw barstock gripped in the main spindle. As a result, subspindles can be limited when it comes to blind-hole broaching, heavy peck drilling and other processes that risk pushing a part off-kilter or damaging it.

However, the right workholding can break down these barriers, says Matt Saccomanno, CEO of Masa Tool (Oceanside, California). Founded in the wake of Mr. Saccomanno’s own frustration with secondary operations and underutilization of subpsindles, Masa Tool offers the Microconic system, an alternative to traditional, extended-nose collet designs that applies force closer to the part for greater rigidity and concentricity—advantages that extend to main-spindle operations as well. Another benefit is the ability to adjust clamping pressure at the spindle nose to grip securely without damaging small, fragile workpieces. On the efficiency front, a collet in one size can be swapped for another without reaching anywhere beyond the spindle nose, and any collet can fit multiple draw-type or push-type machine collet closers. This saves time and eliminates the need for different collet series for different machines.

Microconic Collet Bone Screw Workholding

Finally, overgrip models that expand 0.157 inch (4 mm) beyond the clamping diameter enable reaching over and gripping the part behind large-diameter areas.

Microconic system components swiss machining

The Microconic system consists of two primary components: a cartridge that fits in the machine’s standard 5C, TF20 or TF25 collet closer, and the Microconic collet itself, which fits into the cartridge.

Collets accommodate workpiece diameters ranging from 0.008 inch (0.2 mm) to 0.394 inch (10 mm).

Total indicator runout (TIR) is guaranteed at 0.0002 inch (5 microns) at the workpiece, absent any runout introduced by the machine structure or other elements of the setup, Mr. Saccomanno says. He adds that the cartridge can be used as a precision gage to calibrate spindle accuracy.

Installation is simple. Users place the machine in a safe state for collet changing; insert the appropriate Microconic cartridge; and thread the Microconic collet into the cartridge. “You put it in your spindle and leave it there,” Mr. Saccomanno says about the three cartridge models, each of which can accept any standard or over-grip collet. This capability enables switching to a different-diameter collet for a different-diameter part and setting the correct chucking force in roughly 2 minutes, compared to the 15 minutes it might take to swap, say, a TF25 collet, he says.

There’s no “feel” involved in tightening the collet, he says. That’s a task accomplished with the company’s Micrograd wrench, which features micrometer graduations of 0.001 inch (0.02 mm) to aid users in dialing in the perfect closure on either a workpiece or a gage pin of the same size. This configuration relegates the machine’s own clamping mechanism to the role of an actuator that triggers the opening or closing of the collet. As such, he advises keeping the machine’s own function at a medium force setting and allowing the Microconic cartridge to control the actual chucking force. Machined from a single piece of hardened steel, the cartridge preserves the dead-length operation of “push-type” collet systems (that is, the collet itself doesn’t move in or out as the machine cartridge actuates the chuck).

Micrograd clamping pressure wrench swiss machining

In addition to better facilitating secure clamping without damaging thin-walled or otherwise delicate workpieces, self-contained, dial-micrometer force adjustment helps ensure setups aren’t affected by temperature fluctuations that might subtly alter the machine structure between collet-closer and collet. As Mr. Saccomanno puts it, “From the first part in the morning to the last part on second shift, it grips the same. You don’t have to play with it throughout the day.”

Microconic Overgrip collet with dental drill

He credits much of that precision to the fact that clamping force is applied directly over the workpiece, a contrast with traditional extended-nose designs that apply force farther back. He also credits the manufacturing process. Tapering collet jaws to interface with the machine is nothing unusual.

However, Masa Tool employs a proprietary, five-step grinding process that leaves each jaw with a particularly precise conical shape (hence the name “Microconic”) that forms a particularly tight fit. More specifically, a “slight crown” ensures that the contact point is always centered, he explains, citing the pattern of wear marks on well-used collets as evidence.

“Traditionally, you’ll see wear closer to the slots rather than in the center, between the slots,” he says. “There’s no uncertainty about whether (a Microconic collet) will touch on the left or the right side first. That’s where you’ll get some variation in traditional designs.”

Gripping wasn’t the company’s only focus when designing the Micronic system. Reliable part ejection is also critical, Mr. Saccomanno says, particularly with overgrip collets that offer such a wide gripping range. That’s why overgrip models ship with a Microject, a brass ejection guide sleeve that can be machined to mirror the outer profile of the workpiece.

Once threaded into the over-grip collet, the sleeve prevents parts from falling inside the chuck or getting stuck rather than ejecting into the parts catcher. The sleeve also provides a tight seal that improves the ability of through-spindle coolant or shop air to aid in part ejection.

Microconic workholding System overview

Granted, Mr. Saccomanno recommends using programmed cycle stops while validating a production setup to ensure part ejection is reliable. Nonetheless, combined with the precision and gripping security common to all Microconic collets, capability for extreme overgripping can enable “doing things on the subspindle that you never would have dreamed of before,” he says.

Masa Tool Get's Interviewed at IMTS 2016!

11/22/2016

We where honored and privileged to be interviewed by IMTStv during the show in 2016! It enabled us to get the word out about our Microconic workholding solution that solves clamping problems that have never been solved before!

We discussed that many many people had just given up on trying to find a solution for balancing out production between the main spindle and the sub-spindle years and years ago. We where even more excited than most of the people that stopped by our booth to learn that we had indeed invented something that fixes the problem!

A big thank you to the folks at AMT and IMTStv who interviewed us at the show for the big screen!!

"If you manufacture small parts, you have to see this microconic system, it's no ordinary collet! Check out what we found in the west hall at Microconic by Masa Tool's booth W-2232!" Watch more videos at IMTS.com/IMTSTV