QT-8 bar feeding questions

We haven't seen much use out of this machine in the last 6 months and was thinking of selling but of course a new long term project (for our in house products) just made itself available ~ 30,000 per year.

Some 5/8" X 1.5" long threaded parts and was thinking about throwing a collet chuck on it and picking up a used bar feeder. I don't know if it has an interface available (option screen shows nothing about bar feeding) but we have used bar puller in the past but kinda slow. So first question is how safe is it to bar feed without an interface or is it just a no no?

Second, With a collet chuck is it possible to open the chuck to feed without stopping the spindle? We had a gang tool machine that we bar feed without stopping the chuck and it really made a big difference on cycle time and power consumption.

What ya think?

if you go with an old school LNS hydrocarbon the interface schematic us in the book.
5/8" x 1.5" is perfect for that machine and feeder.
collet Chuck is perfect for that set up but you do stop spindle my guys would some times jog it but that's probly not needed
you got a collet Chuck yet ?

hydrobar
spell check bastard

the interface is bone simple.
and there is no need for any "stock buttons on machine"

if you decide to got with the newer short bar feeders installation is still pretty simple and the mfg. can usually cut it in no problemo

wippin' boy said:

if you go with an old school LNS hydrocarbon the interface schematic us in the book.
5/8" x 1.5" is perfect for that machine and feeder.
collet Chuck is perfect for that set up but you do stop spindle my guys would some times jog it but that's probly not needed
you got a collet Chuck yet ?

Click to expand...

I'll have to look in storage but I think so, if not you got one?

Bar puller speed is not important. 30,000 parts / 2000 hours = 15 parts per hour (8 hr days, 5 day weeks, one shift. And you can control the bar puller time (" but we have used bar puller in the past but kinda slow") by the feed rates you use to grip, pull, re-grip, and release. Chuck/collet time is minor.

This avoids debugging a bar feeder, changing machine parameters, and any other risks you can think of. Some 3/4" id tubing mounted on solid supports will be less money than a bar feeder.

Of course, once a bar feeder is installed you may find other opportunities.

yep,.......

Check with DavidN, he got one of those sweet Hardinge quick-change collet chucks. They run special deals where you get some free collets and a wrench maybe. Kinda spendy, but worth it if you change over a lot.

Buut...sounds like you may dedicate the machine to this job? If so, then a good 'ol S20 collet chuck would be a good ticket. Sometimes you can find new on Ebay, always good used stuff.

I agree about the bar feeder not being absolutely necessary. If you can get some solid support to run 6-foot bars, you can pull quite a few parts before grabbing the slug and loading a new 6 footer...

ToolCat Greg

We use Royal Grippex pullers and have found them to be almost as fast as our LNS barfeeders. Cheaper and easy to set up, simple and reliable.