Erickson Quick Change 30 loosening up while cutting
I have an old BOSS 5 with the Erickson Quick change 30 system. I've had the quick change loosen up and drop the tool while cutting. Just happened today and killed a nice new carbide end mill. I know I tightened it very well just before the cut.
Is there any fix to this, or do I just need to really crank that nut down super tight?
I've had this happen before and it was because the spindle had some stray chips up in it. See if is dirty up in there and clean it out. Sometimes a stray chip won't let it lock properly. Hope this helps.
How did you know the nut needed to be replaced? Any way to check mine. I did just run a 6 hour job and it held fine, but I really tightened the nut as tight as I could. Is the nut expensive? Perhaps it worth just getting a new one. It gets expensive when it drops a endmill.
Hi, I am new to the site this is my 1st post, i hope this is of help, i have a interact mk 1 series 2 with a heidenhain 151 b system (an oldie but good), it has a qc 30 chuck, i have on a few rare occasions, when i put a holder in felt that it doesn't feel tightened securely, if you turn the chuck on the m/c back(as in to open it farther) a few turns but not excessive, then put the holder in chuck, then tighten the holder you can feel it tighten, this has so far for me sorted the problem, if not then you may need to adjust the button heads round the m/c chuck, the chuck doesn't need to be overtightened, if you do this then you will need to adjust the chuck using the button heads round the outside of the qc chuck (called nmtb? in the states i think), overtightening will just eventually damage the 1 longer button head in m/c chuck. depending on the amount of use the m/c has had you may need to change these button heads, make sure they are in place as they stop a lot of muck going into chuck/spindle.
Thanks for the post and welcome to the Zone!! Stick around. Myself I'm not that active of a poster, but I would have NEVER gotten my machine running without the help I've received on this great site!
I'll have to look into adjusting the button heads. I did not know they where adjustable. This last time when it dropped the endmill I clearly remember it tightening up properly and I know I tightened it down good and tight. I suspect that it's out of adjustment or just plain worn out.
Hi Roger, Thanks, i think (if i remember right) you have to remove button heads 1 at a time to find the longest 1, you can then move the button head to make the adjustment, sorry thats the best description i can give you as its been years since i've had to do it, atb, Barrie.
you can adjust the nut to properly tighten the toolholder. It tells how in the manual.
Be really careful. I read a post where a guy ruined his spindle when a tool came loose.
If anyone is interested, I actually have solved this problem. I’m posting this in case anyone else has the same issue. First I must say go over the nut adjustment procedures first. I’ve tried this adjustment several times and had others try as well and I could not solve this by adjusting or replacing the nut.
My solution I slit the nut and made a clamping collar. I tighten the nut, and then lock the collar. Problem solved. Now I’m confident it absolutely will not back off no matter what. Only slightly increases tool change time and I don't bother locking the collar if I'm using small tools or taking light cuts. The problem only occurs with heavy cuts or chatter situations.
Attached is a picture of the clamping collar. Simple, but effective. I turned down the nut a few thou to create a small solder so the collar does not slide down when loose.
For the record, here are some better pictures if it dressed, blued and installed. I still think the real problem probably relates to improperly adjusted nut or for some reason on my machine it can't be properly adjusted, but if anyone has ever had one loosen up on them this may be a good fail safe for you. As you can see there is still plenty of room to get the spanner wrench on the nut. This small modification and minor inconvenience of tightening the collar allows me to trust this machine again. Now I'm happily making chips and have run it for many hours with this clamping collar without problems.
Re: Erickson Quick Change 30 loosening up while cutting
OK just ruined a job with dropping tools. not to mention cutters and time. Here is what I now, your and my problem is probably the collar on teh toolholder might just be too thin. I bought a shars indexable insert NMTB30 ( too cheap to be true)and the collar was ridiculously thin. Nut would rotate and it would rattle in there. How did I solve the problem. I wrapped clear packing tape on the shiny taper. Overlapped that tape. With a razor blade cut a line on the overlap. removed excess of the tape from above and below the line of overlap. Now tape is flush all way around, same thickness. Collar tightens on the tool holder now. been using that cutter on aluminum and light fly cutting steel last 15 yrs. Just had a 3/8 EM holder do the same to me, so I saw this thread and my memory got jogged. Part was finished EM fell in pocket when tool retracted, table presented itself to me and and snap cutter busted. Gonna try a thinner packing tape this time.
Re: Erickson Quick Change 30 loosening up while cutting
The clamp worked for me just fine, but it was a pain to have to loosen it to change tools. The permanent solution for me was to replace my solid spindle with a hollow one I found on eBay and I added a Maxi Torque-rite power draw bar. Can't drop now!
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Erickson Quick Change 30 loosening up while cutting
