In recent years, offline tool pre-setting machines have made great strides. Pre-setting is the calibration of CNC tooling offline, prior to the tools being physically installed onto the CNC machine. While the machines get physically faster and more accurate in measuring tools, they have also had software updates. Rick Self, the business development head for Terminator Diamond Products, San Carlos, CA, explained some of the updates the machines have made in recent years.
“There have been two significant developments,” said Self. “First, is the number of systems that have found their way to the market in the last year or two, along with a stratification of price points. Second would be the tool management aspect of the software on the machines, which speaks to the data management capabilities of the machine. Regarding speeds and accuracy, that is something I can only speak to in terms of the Zares, but it’s something we have definitely made progress on. We can now scan a single tool in four and a half seconds, and that entails a 360 degree 3D scan – that is not only measuring, it is also illustrating eccentricity and tool ware patterns.”