Coventry Quick Change Tooling

[magicniner]

Cutwel tools have remanufactured the system and the prices are lower than previous suppliers, ask for Leigh Cole at Cutwel for details.

[m_c]

I did notice them advertising that a couple months ago, but they didn't seem too keen on publishing details.

However, they do have it listed on the website now - https://www.cutwel.co.uk/tool-holding/spindle-tooling/ezchange-quick-change-tool-holders

[magicniner]

A friend who bought my old benchtop CNC is looking at buying a holder for his larger mill to facilitate easier tool sharing between machines, I thought I'd post the info here as people have asked for this tooling.

[MetalMagus]

Coventry Engineering also have them listed on their website.

Not sure how they compare price wise to Cutwel, as Cutwel's website is not showing any products in the category at the moment.

https://www.coveng.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=223_343

[magicniner]

Coventry Engineering also have them listed on their website.

Not sure how they compare price wise to Cutwel, as Cutwel's website is not showing any products in the category at the moment.

https://www.coveng.co.uk/shop/index.php?route=product/category&path=223_343

They were there 2 days ago, they may have sold out.

[Muzzer]

I got an email flier last week. The master holder is £79 (range of fittings inc R8, 30, 40 and MT) and the toolholders are £49 each, drill chucks £89 or £99, compared to £20 or so for std ISO40 holders. Note these prices exclude VAT. Given that I have a power drawbar, I'd rather have several normal holders than one of these.

Having written all that, they seem to have suddenly reappeared on their website today. https://www.cutwel.co.uk/tool-holding/spindle-tooling/ezchange-quick-change-tool-holders

Note they are not recommended for heavy cuts. That pretty much ended the thought process for me.

In my experience, the best price for std ISO40 tooling is currently APT Tools (or Cutwel when they are on offer).
https://www.shop-apt.co.uk/din-2080-40-end-mill-holders-side-lock-adaptors.html

[magicniner]

I got an email flier last week. The master holder is £79 (range of fittings inc R8, 30, 40 and MT) and the toolholders are £49 each, drill chucks £89 or £99, compared to £20 or so for std ISO40 holders. Note these prices exclude VAT. Given that I have a power drawbar, I'd rather have several normal holders than one of these.

Having written all that, they seem to have suddenly reappeared on their website today. https://www.cutwel.co.uk/tool-holding/spindle-tooling/ezchange-quick-change-tool-holders

Note they are not recommended for heavy cuts. That pretty much ended the thought process for me.

In my experience, the best price for std ISO40 tooling is currently APT Tools (or Cutwel when they are on offer).
https://www.shop-apt.co.uk/din-2080-40-end-mill-holders-side-lock-adaptors.html

The Coventry system is smaller than BT30 or ISO 30, and was common on some educational and hobby mills, I run BT30 and wouldn't be using an adaptor down to Coventry, or suggesting anyone else does so, there is no choice for some who have a mill where this was the OEM fitment, the original supplies have all but dried up if you actually try buying one.

[alanambrose]

Hmmm, that's pretty interesting actually.

Are there other options for quick change for MT3 spindles or is that it?

On a similar topic, if I were to buy a new mill, what spindle taper should I look at? I'm seeing old R8 anglophile but MT / BT / HSK on the continent?

I appreciate this article is a bit serve serving, but reading between the lines, I'm getting an HSK buzz :)

https://www.sandvik.coromant.com/en-gb/knowledge/machine-tooling-solutions/tooling-considerations/pages/spindle-selection.aspx

Alan

[JAZZCNC]

On a similar topic, if I were to buy a new mill, what spindle taper should I look at? I'm seeing old R8 anglophile but MT / BT / HSK on the continent?

I appreciate this article is a bit serve serving, but reading between the lines, I'm getting an HSK buzz :)

https://www.sandvik.coromant.com/en-gb/knowledge/machine-tooling-solutions/tooling-considerations/pages/spindle-selection.aspx

Alan

Depends really on how ridged the machine and how aggressively you want to cut, plus how deep your pockets are.?
HSK is far better than R8, MT, and to a lesser degree ISO/SK or BT, etc. BUT the holders cost nearly twice the price of BT so if you don't need the extra rigidity HSK offers then you'll have more money for BT holders.

Also, need to consider the strength of the machine, the main advantage of HSK is the rigidity it provides allowing more aggressive cuts to be made but if the machine doesn't match the taper what's the point.?

[Muzzer]

I get the feeling that 40 taper is the most readily available and cheapest for medium sized machines. 30 taper costs more due to less industrial usage. HSK is for big and really high speed machines and big pockets - unless you are running >10krpm in a large, powerful spindle there's no advantage for the likes of us. R8 is a US activity and more readily available over there but it's only really suitable for small to medium machines - created by Bridgeport for their machines.

I can get a wide range of good quality ISO40 tooling for my Shizuoka for around £20-25 a pop. My Bridgeport has ISO30 and the holders are more difficult to find and cost a fair bit more. I don't get close to challenging either of those with the work I do.

[JAZZCNC]

I get the feeling that 40 taper is the most readily available and cheapest for medium sized machines. 30 taper costs more due to less industrial usage.

I have fit a few ATC spindles with BT30 and ISO30 tapers and find they are the same or very similar price to 40 taper holders, but If I had a choice I'd go with 40 taper everytime.

On a Side note, the people I use for planning my large frames have a new machining centre with HSK100 and the size of the 100 Taper is huge.! I could fit my fist in the spindle nose..:congratulatory:

[m_c]

My preference for anything home based, would be BT30.
However, due to the strong anti-change US scene, there are a lot of options for R8 if you want to make tool changes easier.

The Coventry system is good, but I wouldn't use it on any kind of high speed or high HP spindle. The biggest machine I'd say it's good for is something Bridgeport sized, which is the original market it was aimed at. It's just that the educational CNC machine suppliers realised it was a good option to get consistent tool changes, without requiring a full blown ATC.



I get the feeling that 40 taper is the most readily available and cheapest for medium sized machines. 30 taper costs more due to less industrial usage. HSK is for big and really high speed machines and big pockets - unless you are running >10krpm in a large, powerful spindle there's no advantage for the likes of us. R8 is a US activity and more readily available over there but it's only really suitable for small to medium machines - created by Bridgeport for their machines.

I can get a wide range of good quality ISO40 tooling for my Shizuoka for around £20-25 a pop. My Bridgeport has ISO30 and the holders are more difficult to find and cost a fair bit more. I don't get close to challenging either of those with the work I do.

BT30 tooling is cheaper than BT40.
ISO30 isn't that popular, and why it's generally more expensive. But if you want to save money, BT30 will fit with a slightly longer drawbar (I had various BT/ISO 30 holders for the Harrison mill I've just sold, and they all worked fine with a longer drawbar. The ISO ones just had a bit more thread engagement)

If you've not seen them, APT have spindle tooling at reasonable prices - https://www.shop-apt.co.uk/cnc-spindle-tooling.html

[alanambrose]

Any love here for R8 with TTS holders?

Alan

[magicniner]

Why Tormach didn't have the sense to go with BT30 is beyond me, but then they think dovetail slides and gib strips are a good idea for a modern commercially sold CNC too, the only possible conclusion is maximising profit at user expense.

[alanambrose]

Yeah, profit, lock-in, 'setting a new standard', and easy-ish conversion of all those old R8 millls...

But ... the Chinese TTS holder copies are fairly cheap.

Alan