Under its sole agency agreement with the Japanese manufacturer, Kitagawa, Salisbury-based 1st Machine Tool Accessories (www.1mta.com) is offering the new Swift Klamp to machinists in the UK and Ireland. The rigid workholding product uses proven HSK tool interface technology to provide a secure, low interference, quick-change clamping arrangement that resists bending forces generated during metalcutting […]

Ideal for production shops where manual mills may still be in operation, but equally well suited to use on a CNC vertical machining centre (VMC), a new, manually adjustable indexing head has been introduced by 1st Machine Tool Accessories, Salisbury. The RotaVice can be rapidly set to position a component at a multiplicity of rotary […]

Reducing job set-up times is key to saving money when machining, particularly if the work repeats regularly. Switching from hard jaws needed for a first operation (op 1) to soft jaws for a second (op 2) requires removing them, cleaning the serrated interface, bolting on the soft jaws, inserting the boring ring and skimming the […]

1st Machine Tool Accessories has introduced a range of workpiece handling cells that allow components to be clamped manually onto pallets, automatically loaded into store and subsequently retrieved for robotic transfer into and out of 3-, 4- and 5-axis machining centres. The equipment is ideal for long periods of unattended and lights-out running and hence […]

Workholding equipment supplier, 1st Machine Tool Accessories – www.1mta.com – has provided tombstones with quick-acting, versatile clamping fixtures for six of the 10 pallets in an Okuma flexible machining cell (FMC) at control valve and marine steering system manufacturer, Hydraulic Projects (Hy-Pro). In addition, 1st MTA has equipped two original tombstones with heavy duty, rapid workpiece clamping […]

A highly repeatable zero-point clamping system in various configurations has been introduced to the UK and Irish markets by Salisbury-based 1st Machine Tool Accessories under a new agency agreement with the Czech manufacturer, V-Tech (www.1mta.com/news/new-zero-point-clamping-system/). Intended primarily for highly accurate, safe clamping of workpieces on CNC machining centres, the pneumatic, quick-change system features powerful, 24 […]

Plastic prototypes, electrodes and injection mould inserts machined faster using quick-acting CNC vices In the prototyping department and toolroom at BNL (UK), a leading British manufacturer of plastic bearings and gears, machining lead-times are much shorter following the purchase of a pair of Chick One-Lok CNC vices through sole UK agent, 1st Machine Tool Accessories. […]

When Chick Workholding in the USA launched its One-Lok clamping system seven years ago as an alternative to the conventional machine vice, it introduced more precise workpiece positioning and a time-saving ratchet mechanism to adjust the position of the moveable jaw quickly. New lightweight versions have now been introduced to be marketed alongside it, offering […]

Bespoke solution from 1st Machine Tool Accessories costs 2.5 times less than zero-point workholding Turned parts subcontractor, Empire Manufacturing, bought its first vertical machining centre (VMC), a Leadwell V32i, in April 2015. Its purpose is to fulfil regular orders placed by an existing customer for rotational parts requiring a lot of additional milling, too much for […]

Workholding equipment manufacturer OK-VISE has announced two new systems for checking how tightly a component has been clamped, mindful that during automated machining in particular, verifying holding force has always been a challenge. The Finnish-made products are available in the UK through 1st Machine Tool Accessories, Salisbury. The accuracy of workpieces, especially those that are […]