Why You Should Transition Your Shop To Live Tooling
Posted on: 3 November 2020
If you work with a CNC machine, a lathe, or any other type of machinery that uses a stationary tool that you then press your materials up against in order to complete your work, you should know that there may be a better way. Today, more and more shops like yours are switching to live tooling instead of sticking with their stationary tools. Here's what live tooling is and how it can provide benefits for your business.
Live Tooling Moves
"Live" tooling is any tool that can physically move in one direction or another while still being attached to your lathe or other machinery. Before live tooling was invented, a machine might have, say, a stationary blade the moves one specific pattern the entire time it's turned on. Your workers then, of course, turn the materials in their hand in order to make adjustments to what they are cutting. But with a live tool, that same blade might be able to move to the left or right in a set path, and the worker might not have to make as many adjustments with their materials.
Live Tooling Lets You Get More Done with the Same Machine
Once live tooling is set up, you can switch out the specific tool to accomplish a variety of different tasks. For example, you could install a drill that will move forward to drill cleanly through your material each and every time. You could also install a borer, a blade, or whatever you need to get the job done. Prior to live tooling, a worker might have to turn the material into the drill or blade but then move the material to a completely different machine to finish the job with a different tool type. Live tooling is swappable and because it can move, you can get everything done without moving to a different machine.
Live Tooling Creates Better Precision and Accuracy
Whatever final product you are creating, you of course want everything you create to be of the same quality. When your worker has to manually turn the material into a stationary drill or blade, this opens up an opportunity for human error. But when the material can remain stationary and your blade or drill does the moving automatically, the machine will always take the same path through the material, leading to exact precision on each and every piece you create.
Talk to a supplier of live tooling today for more information.
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