Teaching Kids About Manufacturing

Angle heads can improve the capabilities and productivity offered by industrial machinery. However, it's important to fully understand how they work and what equipment they can be used with to fully take advantage of this valuable industrial and manufacturing tool. 

If you're planning to use angle heads on your industrial machinery, you should be aware of the following five things before you get started integrating angle heads into your existing machinery.

Angle heads improve versatility.

One of the biggest reasons why angle heads are used in industrial applications is because they make it so that three-axis machine tools enjoy improved versatility. This provides more freedom of movement and ease in specifying the positioning of tools and workpieces during production. 

Angle heads provide advantages when it comes to both milling and drilling.

It's important to note that angle heads make not only milling but also drilling more precise. Angle heads can assist with milling and drilling applications both on the horizontal plane and in an angular orientation. 

With angle heads, the workpiece does not need to be repositioned so that secondary operation can be executed on it. 

Angle heads do present some challenges, including postprocessor use and programming capabilities.

While angle heads clearly offer numerous advantages in industrial and manufacturing operations, it must be noted that incorporating them into existing mechanical mechanisms can present some challenges.

The first challenge to be aware of is the fact that angle heads require the implementation of a new postprocessor that can accommodate them.

The other significant challenge is that angle head incorporation typically requires a new programming strategy to be adopted so that tools with differing lengths can all be accommodated by the angle head. 

Angle heads are attachments rather than spindle outputs.

The incorrect assumption is sometimes made that an angle head is a direct spindle output. However, this is not the case. In fact, an angle head is an attachment on the spindle. 

What this means is that cutting passes might need to have lower depths of cutting and smaller chip lengths to accommodate the changes brought on by angle head use. 

Angle heads' benefits generally outweigh any challenges

Angle heads will require some initial work and investment. However, their incorporation is beneficial enough to outweigh any initial challenges. 

Angle heads are especially beneficial when shops don't have access to a five-axis machine that can handle the same applications that angle heads can. 

For more information on angle heads, contact an industrial retailer near you.