Weldon Flat Grinder: Perfect Solution For Tooling Pullout

Machinery is vital for many diverse industries, including the automotive, medical, aerospace, power, and optical industries. These industries use machinery to remove unwanted materials when creating numerous components used in machines and other applications. The tools used by manufacturers include grinding machines, milling machines, power saws, and turning machines such as boring mills and lathes. Most of these machines, especially end mills, are susceptible to one major issue: tooling pullout. If you are interested in learning more about this issue and the best way to resolve it, this piece is for you.

Tooling Pullout Explained 

Tooling pullout is common in industries that mill superalloys and rigid, heat-resistant, corrosion-resistant, and robust materials like titanium alloys. By definition, tooling pullout refers to the tendency of a cutting tool to pull out of the holder while machining is underway. This problem sometimes comes with devastating effects. For instance, it causes delays, which undermine your ability to stick to deadlines. Moreover, frequent tooling pull-outs eventually lead to the damage of mechanical parts that are extremely expensive to repair or replace.

How To Prevent Tooling Pullout Using Weldon Flats 

Pull-outs hurt the processes and machining tools used in your industry. That is why you should try to prevent it from happening. Fortunately, today, you can use a solution known as a Weldon flat to achieve this end. Carl A. Bergstrom invented Weldon flats after discovering his tool holder lacked the gripping power required to effectively hold onto the newly developed end mill that came with a 30º helical flute. The problem was the equipment kept turning out of the holder. Therefore, Bergstrom decided to grind a flat spot on the tool's side, otherwise known as a Weldon shank, that allows you to clamp the tool holder, using appropriate screws. Today, reputable tool holder manufacturers use Weldon flats and other technological advancements to improve anti-pullout in machining tools.

Why You Should Consider Using a Weldon Flat

Industries like the medical and aerospace sectors have a zero-tolerance policy. That means all processes and products need to be precise, optimized, and high-quality. The reason is that the equipment used in such industries is costly, and products are designed for sensitive applications. For instance, in the aerospace industry, the production of aircraft parts like wings demands high precision. And machining the material required in manufacturing such parts requires extreme forces too. But, the more demanding the machinery is, the more likely tooling pullout will occur. When it does, the results can be devastating because it leads to costly damages. To prevent such problems, you need to use a Weldon flat grinding machine to make a Weldon flat guaranteed to hold the tool in place. That way, it can't rotate and pull out of the holder during machining. 

For more information, contact an equipment supplier in your area, such as Cutter Masters.