CBlair
Diamond
- Joined
- Sep 23, 2002
- Location
- Lawrenceville GA USA
How many times have you strained your eyes to see the condition of your cutting tools in a turning center? Do you have to keep a flashlight and mirror or magnifying glass nearby? How often does the operator pull and insert out just to look at it?
Well I may have found a solution to this problem I purchased a cheap digital Microscope off Amazon. This is a 10X magnifier with led lights and it is powered through a USB connector and will work with any Windows XP computer.
By holding this hand-held microscope up to your cutting tool you will get a view of your cutting tool that looks like the photos you see in the insert manufacturers catalogs. No more two pair of glasses, no more leaning in to get coolant dripping on your head as you strain to see if your insert is chipped. Now it is just hold the camera to the insert and shoot.
The best part of this story is that no one wants to carry around a laptop computer to the machine. Here is where the Okuma P200 control comes in, with the help of Bryan Newman of Partners in Thinc, we loaded the software onto the control of my Okuma Captain turning center. Now you can plug the camera in to the USB port and right on the screen you can see your tool. You can even take still photos of it to show your tool rep or boss just how bad or good your insert is performing.
Pretty cool, and if you have a laptop near the computer you can just use it so folks without an Okuma wont have to go wanting. I ll bet this may become a regular feature on machine tools in the future.
Charles
Well I may have found a solution to this problem I purchased a cheap digital Microscope off Amazon. This is a 10X magnifier with led lights and it is powered through a USB connector and will work with any Windows XP computer.
By holding this hand-held microscope up to your cutting tool you will get a view of your cutting tool that looks like the photos you see in the insert manufacturers catalogs. No more two pair of glasses, no more leaning in to get coolant dripping on your head as you strain to see if your insert is chipped. Now it is just hold the camera to the insert and shoot.
The best part of this story is that no one wants to carry around a laptop computer to the machine. Here is where the Okuma P200 control comes in, with the help of Bryan Newman of Partners in Thinc, we loaded the software onto the control of my Okuma Captain turning center. Now you can plug the camera in to the USB port and right on the screen you can see your tool. You can even take still photos of it to show your tool rep or boss just how bad or good your insert is performing.
Pretty cool, and if you have a laptop near the computer you can just use it so folks without an Okuma wont have to go wanting. I ll bet this may become a regular feature on machine tools in the future.
Charles
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