The announcement was made by Platinum Tooling president, Preben Hansen, at headquarters in Prospect Heights, Illinois.
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A longtime global leader in high-end knurling and marking tools, Hommel & Keller manufactures the QUICK line with a combination of function and innovation. Quality, precision, and stability are the key principals used to make QUICK tools successful. Furthermore, the company prides itself on a rich history of providing customized solutions for its customers.

The QUICK product spectrum offers innovative solutions for diverse knurling technology applications. For both form knurling and cut knurling, QUICK fulfills the most stringent quality standards and masters difficult tasks. Knurling tools are available for use on a wide range of workpiece diameters, including small tools for Swiss type lathes from Ø1.5mm.

QUICK marking tools make it possible to mark workpieces in seconds on a variety of surfaces and part geometries. Through single marking segments, the marking text can be individually customized. Tools are available in two diameters for interchangeable lettering, as well as custom logos. 

​These tools are used whenever absolute precision and first-rate surface quality are needed. Examples include medical and dental instruments, watches, fishing gear, windshield wiper shafts, barbells, screwdriver bits, fittings, connectors plus welding and cutting equipment. 

To download the full catalog just click below.

Platinum Tooling, the importer of live tools, angle heads, marking tools, Swiss tools, and multiple spindle tools manufactured by various global suppliers, has been importing and stocking Henninger Speed Increasers in North America since 2019.   

Henninger,  located in southwest Germany is a manufacturer of specialized equipment and precision machine tool accessories. Spindle Speeders, mechanical, air, and electric motor driven, Custom Angle Heads and Live Centers are amongst their specialties. ​

These systems are particularly useful for small-diameter tools that require more rpms than the machine tool spindle offers. Speeders enable using small-diameter tools that require more rpms than the machine spindle can offer. An additional benefit is said to be less wear on the machine spindle because it is not required to run at maximum rpm.

These speed increasers help maximize productivity by achieving a higher spindle rpm required for certain applications in today’s marketplace. 

Mechanical speeders are available with up to a 1:8 gear ratio and a maximum speed of 50,000 rpm. Air speeders can run continuously at up to 80,000 rpm and high frequency motor spindles can maintain up to 80,000 rpm with high torque, and have variable speed options.

Many of the speeders have automatic tool change capabilities and are modular in design to offer the customer greater flexibility.
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Henninger also manufactures custom angle heads, live centers, face drivers, and live chucks.

​Be sure to give us a call if you want to know more! 

by Preben Hansen
This article originally appeared in Cutting Tool Engineering. 

Live tooling, as a component on a lathe, is specifically manipulated by the CNC to perform various milling, drilling and other operations while the workpiece is being held in position by the main or sub-spindle. 

​These components, whether BMT or VDI, are also called driven tools, as opposed to static tools, that are used during turning operations.

When the need arises for a new machine tool, careful consideration should be made to determine which live tools are appropriate for your application. While a standard machine tool package will help you get started, it is important to anticipate job and volume changes, as well unforeseen machining challenges from the beginning, in order to avoid machine downtime.

Tool life is the product of cutting intensity, materials processed, machine stability and parts produced. Two seemingly identical job shops can have vastly different tooling needs because one is automotive and one is medical, or one specializes in the one-off and low-volume work, while the other has a greater occurrence of longer running jobs. The totality of your operation determines the best tooling for the machines being purchased.

Bearing construction and the resulting spindle concentricity drive the life of any tool. You might find that just a 10-15% greater investment in a better design can yield both longer-lasting cutters and consistently superior finish on your products.  ​

Likewise, high pressure internal coolant might be desirable.  Look for 2000 psi capabilities in 90 degree tools and 1000 psi in straight tools.

You need to ask another question, namely, is the turret RPM sufficient to handle the work to be done?   
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It’s possible that a live tool with a built-in speed increaser, often called a speed multiplier, would be helpful. Would it be beneficial to move secondary operations to your lathe?  Gear hobbing can be accomplished in this manner, as can producing squares or flats, through the use of polygon machining. ​

Now, an application example showing clear evidence of the value of testing live tool performance...

One company was performing a cross-milling application using an ER 32 output tool on a Eurotech lathe, running 10 ipm at 4000 rpm.  They were making three passes with a cycle time of 262 seconds and were having difficulties with chatter on the finish, while producing 20,000 pieces per year. ​

Preben Hansen is president of Platinum Tooling Technologies Inc., Prospect Heights, Illinois, and a veteran of over 25 years in tooling and is considered a leading authority on the topic in the North American machine tool market.

NEW ENGLAND - F&L Technical Sales is excited to announce our new partnership with Platinum Tooling Inc. based in Prospect Heights, IL.  Platinum Tooling is the sole importer of live tools, angle heads, and multiple spindle tools manufactured by Heimatec as well as the Tecnicrafts Swiss Collet and Guide Bushing line, Henninger Spindle Speeders, and AMF Markers and Cleaners.

• Heimatec is an international manufacturing company headquartered in Renchen, Germany. Heimatec specializes in the development and production of high-precision static and live tools for all CNC lathes, CNC turn-mill machines and CNC machining centers.
• ​Henninger is a manufacturer of Spindle Speeders, mechanical, air, and electric motor driven, Custom Angle Heads and Live Centers are among other specialized equipment and precision machine tool accessories.
• Tecnicrafts Collets and Guide Bushings are available in Standard and Ultra-Precision grades. The bore profiles include Round, Square, Hexagon, Rectangle and Custom as per customer specifications.
  
• AMF Markers are tools for the permanent marking of workpiece while AMF Cleaners are a thorough cleaning system with no aerosol pollution harmful to the health of the machine operator while reducing cleaning time and preserving the machine guides with no risk of injury from chips.