The Benefits of Tool Balancing, and a Surprising Application (Video)

Over the past few years the spindle speeds of modern machine tools have been increasing, and this helps shops achieve higher cutting volumes and operate more profitably. The increases have also raised the demands for the tools and holders used, because the higher spindle speeds make the effects of imbalance increasingly more noticeable. Imbalances can cause vibrations, bad surface finish and shorter tool life. Fortunately this can be solved with tool balancing equipment, such as the Tool Dynamic from Haimer (a member of Partners in THINC). In this video Haimer’s Tom Marron shows some of the benefits of tool balancing and discusses applications – including one that might surprise you.

4 Benefits of Tool Balancing

There are four major benefits of tool balancing, all of which save money:

1. Improved tool life
2. Improved surface finish (reduces time spent on secondary operations such as polishing)
3. Dramatically improved spindle life
4. Repeatability

Haimer’s tool balancing technology provides an intuitive graphical user interface, plus various assistance functions, making the balancing process very easy and user friendly.

Tool Balancing Applications

These benefits sound excellent, but what exactly would you balance using this process? According to Tom, toolholders can be balanced, along with cutting tools, cutter grind wheel pegs , and grinding wheels.

Even Parts Can Be Balanced

You may be surprised to learn that even parts can be balanced. For example, turbochargers are very popular in automobiles today. In a car, these can run at up to 40,000 rpm, so they need to be machined quite precisely. In this application, balancing becomes even more important. Haimer offers a large variety of balancing adaptors so you can balance all kinds of rotors and workpieces quickly and easily.

Great Productivity Advantage

Increased spindle speeds are a great advantage, and this is available on many of Okuma’s machine tools. By adding tool balancing to your process, you can boost this advantage by further decreasing costs while achieving higher productivity.

Is Tool Balancing For You?

How about you – are you using this technology in your shop? Please comment below and share your experiences. If you’re not already using tool balancing, perhaps this has sparked your interest. Feel free to contact us, or your local distributor, and we’ll help you evaluate the options.

Jeff Estes is Director of Partners in THINC, Okuma America Corporation.

Learn More: Check out Haimer’s excellent demonstration video, which provides a step-by-step description of the tool balancing process.