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.
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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.

The push-type F201M10 micro-workholding cartridge system replaces F20-201 cartridges allowing the user of Microconic collets to achieve concentricity within 5µm (0.0002") in production use.

For use in high precision, small diameter CNC turning applications, it enables users to move more work to the sub-spindle for reduced cycle time.

The F201M10 cartridge is compatible with spindles that accept F20-201 collets including DIN 136E, Meister Swiss 136E, Schaublin F20 (76-201), Southwick & Meister F20-201, KEB (MasWerks) MC20-201, and Hardinge F20-201/4709 collets.

This article originally appeared in
Today's Medical Developments
July 5, 2018

Masa Tool’s Microconic push-type F201M10 cartridge pairs with its Microconic collets for concentricity said to be within 5 microns (0.0002") in production use. The cartridge is a micro-workholding system for use in high-precision, small-diameter CNC turning applications. The cartridge is compatible with spindles that accept F20-201 collets.

The cartridge and accompanying collet are designed to vector the chucking force directly over the holding surface, reducing the chucking force while also increasing the holding power. This reduces chucking damage on the workpiece and reduces cycle times by 20 to 40 percent, the company says. 

The cartridge’s solid extended nose enables access for tooling and coolant with minimal overhang. Its core diameter is a single-piece construction that is designed to maintain 5 microns (0.002") concentricity at the extended nose tip. Used with the company’s Micrograd wrench, the cartridge features micrometer dial control of collet clamping pressure regardless of the machine’s hydraulic or pneumatic collet closing force. The cartridge is suited for small-diameter parts ranging from 0.22 mm (0.008") to 10 mm (0.3934") in diameter.

"Micro-movement" of the workpiece is reduced, resulting in a longer tool life, better finishes, fewer chatter problems, and less damage to the workpiece. The cartridge eliminates secondary operations, saves time and enables operations to be done in the subspindle. Broaching, milling, saw cutting/slotting, turning, boring and drilling can be machined in the subspindle.

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!

OCEANSIDE, CA - Masa Tool has just released the newest product in the Microconic line of cartridges for swiss machine workholding. The NEW push type F201M10 Cartridge replaces the Tornos F20-201 collet in your CNC spindle. This enables you to use our Microconic collets to achieve concentricity guaranteed to be within 5µm (0.0002") in production use.

The F201M10 Cartridge is a micro-workholding system for use in high precision, small diameter CNC turning applications which enables you to move more work to the sub spindle operations and reduce cycle time.

​The F201M10 Cartridge  is compatible with spindles that accept F20-201 collets including  DIN 136E,  Meister Swiss 136E, Schaublin F20 (76-201),  Southwick & Meister F20-201, KEB (MasWerks) MC20-201,  Hardinge F20-201 / 4709 collets.

Masa’s Cartridge and Collet assembly is designed to vector the chucking force directly over the holding surface.  This means that the chucking force can be reduced while at the same time the holding power is increased. This opens up the possibility of moving part operations to the sub-spindle and dramatically reducing cycle time.  20% ~ 40% cycle time reduction is commonly achieved.​

F201M10 Cartridge Features

• Solid extended nose, giving superior access for tooling and coolant, with minimal overhang.
• The cartridge's core diameter is a single piece construction that will maintain 5 µm/.0002" concentricity at the extended nose tip.
• Micrometer dial control of collet clamping pressure regardless of the machines hydraulic or pneumatic collet closing force with the use of our Micrograd™ Wrench. Ideally suited for small diameter part size range from .2mm/.008" to 10mm/.3934" diameter
• 2-days shipping on all cartridges and collets​.
  

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.

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.