Blue Photon® will demonstrate the advantages of their photo-activated adhesive workholding system at IMTS 2018 this September in Chicago.
Born in the lab and field-tested in manufacturing plants all over the world, Blue Photon’s workholding products are manufacturers’ solution to secure parts for tight-tolerance machining and inspection.
Blue Photon® is releasing their new 2018 Product Catalog.
For ease of use, each section contains a picture with description and part number. Their new catalog goes into depth of the Blue Photon product lines and their continued commitment to revolutionizing the workholding industry using innovative photo-activated technology.
The catalog features Blue Photon® Gripper and Insert products, BlueGrip™ Workholding Adhesives, and Adhesive Dispensers and Accessories. Other products include a selection of UV LED Controllers and LED Accessories to quickly cure BlueGrip Workholding Adhesives, a variety of Soak Tanks, Pressure Washers and Cleaning Tools; along with their new Universal Fixture Kit allowing the user to begin using the workholding system immediately by easily adapting to most parts.
Aerospace engineering firm JJ Churchill has announced it has reduced its tooling costs by 5% with a 50% reduction in the number of machining operations on a specific critical part.
This has been achieved with Blue Photon technology which is marketed in the UK and Europe by NCMT Limited.
This technology is applied to a titanium aluminide aerofoil blade component which is an extremely difficult material to fixture and machine. Blue Photon fixes the component to the tool with an adhesive, which cured under UV light, is strong enough for the most rigorous machining techniques including 5-axis CNC. The process is a replacement for encapsulation, providing reduced fixture complexity. Read the rest of this entry »
Precision Grinding and Manufacturing uses an atypical means to fixture thin parts that are prone to flexing when conventional workholding clamps are used: adhesive cured by UV light. -By Derek Korn
Sometimes, the trickiest aspect of developing an effective machining process is figuring out how best to fixture the part. This can be especially challenging for castings and other workpieces that are relatively thin, because those parts are prone to flexing when conventional mechanical clamps (and even vacuum chucks in some cases) are used. Operators must take care not to distort such parts while tightening clamps, otherwise the parts will spring back to their natural state once the clamps are removed after machining. Vibration can also be an issue for parts like these if they aren’t rigidly fixtured, meaning a quality surface finish might be tough to achieve and cutting parameters might have to be dialed back, extending cycle times. Finding a way to effectively fixture complex, contoured parts can be just as difficult. Read the rest of this entry »
By Kip Hanson – Published September 1, 2015
Let’s say you want to machine your initials on your favorite Hummel figurine or cut the likeness of the school mascot on your daughter’s Little League helmet. How are you going to grip them? A conventional way to grip fragile, difficult-to-hold workpieces is to encapsulate them in some sort of potting compound, a time-consuming and wasteful process.
Rather than mix up a tub of two-part epoxy, consider photo-activated adhesive workholding (PAAW). Read the rest of this entry »
By Alan Richter – Published May 3, 2017, in Cutting Tool Engineering magazine
Adhesive is applied to the gripper head of a Blue Photon photo-activated adhesive workholding system. Image via CTE and courtesy of Urschel Laboratories.
Urschel Laboratories Inc. manufactures industrial equipment to slice, dice, shred and mill virtually any food product.
According to Bill Monroe, senior manufacturing engineer for Urschel, the company machines parts for the food processors at its only manufacturing facility, located in Urschel’s 350,000-sq.-ft. headquarters. Urschel produces many of these workpieces in its two foundries. “We have a no-bake foundry and an investment foundry,” Monroe said.
As part of a major new project that Urschel, Chesterton, Ind., started late last year, Monroe needed to hold a 300-series stainless steel billet that was convex on one side and then access five sides when machining it on a 5-axis machine. Read the rest of this entry »
A new method for securing a turbine blade prior to machining by gluing one side of its aerofoil to a fixture, rather than using mechanical clamping, allows the root and tip to be ground in one operation. Traditionally, due to clamp interference, at least two operations are required on conventional CNC grinders to machine the fir-tree and wedge face on the root as well as the shroud end features at the tip.
The one-hit manufacturing process is not only faster, but also eliminates work-in-progress and the risk of introducing inaccuracy due to repeated refixturing. The technique is being developed in the UK by NCMT, which sells Makino’s VIPER grinding platforms across Europe. Since May 2015, the company has also been European agent for the patented Blue Photon photo-activated adhesive workholding system from the USA. Read the rest of this entry »
Spindle Mounter Gripper Cleaning Tool
After removing the part from the grippers, you can insert the fixture back into the machine, insert the Spindle Mounter Gripper Cleaning Tool, and run the program. The head grinds residual, cured adhesive off of grippers in seconds. You are ready to load a new part without resetting the grippers in the fixture. The replaceable head is good for 1000 to 1250 cleaning cycles when using the Blue Photon cleaning cycle parameters and a coolant.
Here is the Cleaning Tool in action:
The Part: A turbine part.
The Material: Ceramic.
The Problem: The brittle nature of ceramic was easily damaged when traditional workholding methods were being used.
The Solution: Blue Photon’s photo-activated workholding system was designed to eliminate scrap from fixture induced damage and part movement during processing.
Additional Benefits: By implementing the Blue Photon workholding system the manufacturer was able to eliminate clamping induced scrap, part movement during machining and increased output feed rates. Overall, the manufacturer saw quality improvements. The new workholding system allows for easy automation of this highly valued part.
We are proud to announce that we have established a strong network of well-trained manufacturers’ representative agencies to cover sales and support throughout the U.S. Individual sales representatives from the following agencies will take the lead introducing Blue Photon grip technology, and supporting end users with training and applications.
In addition to U.S. coverage, we have established agreements with MDS in Ontario, Canada, Dynamic Tools Corporation in Japan and NCMT in the United Kingdom to cover Western Europe.
For additional representative information, visit our website at BluePhotonGrip.com/contact/find-a-rep or contact our National Sales Manager, John Joyce at John@BluePhotonGrip.com to schedule a hands on demo of Blue Photon’s patented workholding system.
Introduction of the sales network coincides with the release of our updated website. The new site features in-depth technical product information, instructional videos, and full descriptions of system components and how they work.
Blue Photon is a photo-activated, adhesive workholding solution that first hit the market in the aerospace industry. Complex-shaped, hard-to-hold parts, and delicate materials like ceramic and laminated composites are keenly suited to the technology which supplies up to 605 lbs of tensile holding power. However, it soon became apparent that the technology was well suited to every industry from automotive to medical. Any part that is at risk for distortion from traditional clamping, or that poses complications in fixture design is easily and simply held with Blue Photon’s patented grippers and BlueGrip workholding adhesive.
We look forward to hearing how Blue Photon can help you!