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Toolholding Showdown: Heat Shrink vs Hydraulic

 In our previous blog, we explored the different types of Toolholders, so now we’re going to take you through a more in-depth, specific comparison of Heat Shrink vs Hydraulic Toolholders.

 

So first, a quick recap of the fact sheets for both:

Hydraulic Toolholders

·        The easiest holders for most operators to use and should be applied in close tolerance operations, where expensive round tools are being used and when you want to maximise tool life. 

·        They minimize tool chatter with vibration damping, plus give you excellent balance and high runout accuracy. 

·        No additional equipment is required to use Hydraulic Toolholders.

·        Runout accuracy of 3 micron

 

Heat Shrink Toolholders

·        Designed to secure cutting tools used in high-speed milling machines.

·        Rather than using a set screw or Collet chuck to grip an end mill, the Shrink fit variation uses the heating and cooling properties of metal.

·        Gives you excellent concentricity and balance, as they have no moving features and thin nose diameters, making them great for high-speed machining.

·        Will provide you with better reach to get into awkward 5-axis places. 

·        A Heat Shrink machine should be purchased to achieve optimal performance. 

·        Runout accuracy of 3 Micron

Our Applications Engineers say…

The Hydraulic vs Heat Shrink debate has been around for a long time, and there are pros and cons with each.

You can see from the fact sheets above the benefits of using each type of Toolholder within various applications.

Hopefully, you’re finding this information useful, because something we see regularly on-site with customers is a preference to buy cheaper Collets, but the customer not understand why they are struggling to hold tolerances.

If you need access to sidewalls and versatility when 5-axis machining, the Heat Shrink Toolholder will perform much better at this than the Hydraulic. 

Why? The Heat Shrink is much more streamlined in its’ external bore dimensions (OD). The hydraulic system in the Hydraulic Toolholder on the other hand takes up a lot more space, meaning the Toolholder is less streamlined.

As well as matching to your machining applications, it is worth considering an overall cost comparison too. 

To use Heat Shrink Toolholders you’ll need to purchase a Heat Shrink machine, whereas when using Hydraulic you don’t, but the Toolholders themselves are much more expensive to purchase.

Some companies may cut corners and use blow torches to try to replicate the effect of using a Heat Shrink Toolholder, but the inconsistency of heat going into the holder changes the stresses of the material in the holder and causes the toolholders life to deteriorate faster. We’d advise against this.

Using a Heat Shrink machine and Toolholders will ensure the same performance every time.

However, it’s important to understand how to use the Heat Shrink machine properly, giving enough time between reheating for your Toolholders to cool down. Not doing so will destroy the holder, and you may struggle to get tools in and out too!

When using Hydraulic Toolholders it is a lot quicker to change tools over, simply loosen the clamping screw.

Finally, we’ve seen many a customer attempt to Heat Shrink a Hydraulic toolholder and the results aren’t good!

That’s why it’s worth taking the time to understand what you’re working with and why, and we hope these blogs have helped you on your way to doing that.

If you’re ready to shop Toolholding and want to make the most of your Priority Club 10% discount, head over to https://www.mscdirect.co.uk/toolholding-and-workholding now. Look out for the products labelled with the Gold Priority Club logo!