 Microconic standard collets on the left and over-grip collets on the right are ideal for machining bone screws in Swiss Style CNC Machines (UM10 Collet series shown here) The standard Microconic collets will help with bone screws and other bone implants by allowing a firm grip on the threaded exterior without causing damage, and yet holding it so much more rigidly that they will be able to do heavy operations in the sub spindle. This includes operations like blind hole broaching. Set ups are quicker and more repeatable with Microconic. With the Microgram Dial Wrench 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".
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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
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".
How to use the Micrograd™ Face Dial Wrench
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 surrounded by Microconic UM-10 collets  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.  We got a very unexpected present in the mail this past week! We where very excited to learn that our Microconic workholding system for small diameter part machining was featured in the Rapid Traverse section of the June 2017 issue of Modern Machine Shop!!! We've got pictures of the article below in case you don't currently subscribe to Modern Machine Shop. You can also download a PDF copy of the entire June issue below in the link. It starts on Page 25 of the PDF download. If you have the print edition it's on Page 22, or you can just read thought the screen shots below. We want to really extend a very big THANK YOU to Matt Danforth at Modern Machine Shop who wrote this article. Matt really did an awful lot of work learning about the various features of our system. We know there where many many hours that he spent to develop this story just from the sheer number of follow up questions and conversations. We really have an awful lot of respect for the entire MMS team and the effort they put into getting their story's "just right".
     This article originally appeared in the April 2017 issue of Today's Medical Developments. It was the cover story entitled: "Micro-Precision Machining" Matt Saccomanno’s Microconic collet-type workholder for small part machining was inspired by his experience in a Swiss screw-machine job shop. By Elizabeth Modic
The Microconic system will be able to do things that are impossible |
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| 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. 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:
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
Blog: 2/17/2017
by MATT DANFORD
Associate Editor, Modern Machine Shop
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. |  |
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.
 | 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). |  |
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.”
 | 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. |  |
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.
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!
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!
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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 |
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