News

Adhesive Workholding Pallet System Designed for Complex Parts

April 22nd, 2022 by Blue Photon

Published 4/20/2022 | 1 MINUTE READ

Adhesive Workholding Pallet System Designed for Complex Parts

Blue Photon’s Grip Pallets are designed for quick change and adhesive workholding of complex and hard-to-hold parts for EDM, grinding, inspection, laser and milling operations

Blue Photon has added five Grip Pallets and three new inserts for 52- and 96-mm quick-change receiver systems. The addition enables more applications using existing fixturing systems in machining centers. Blue Photon Grip Pallets are designed to simplify how parts are loaded, reduce scrap and increase spindle uptime.

Available in 150, 225 and 300 mm square pallets, the Grip Pallets are designed for quick change and adhesive workholding of complex and hard-to-hold parts for EDM, grinding, inspection, laser and milling operations. The pallets can hold parts securely, providing increased machining access on five to six surfaces while using standardized fixturing systems already in place.

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(VIDEO) Swarf Talk: Blue Photon Video Clip

September 29th, 2021 by Blue Photon

Check out the video clip about Blue Photon using ultraviolet light to cure BlueGrip workholding adhesive on the grippers!

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Learn more about the world’s only ultraviolet workholding technology

June 29th, 2021 by Blue Photon

Blue Photon® will demonstrate the advantages of their ultraviolet (UV) workholding technology at the Ceramics Expo, Gosigerfest, Rapid+tct, Southtec and Wichita Industrial Trade Show this fall.

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The NEW, 2021 Blue Photon Product Catalog is ready for viewing and download.

January 28th, 2021 by Blue Photon

Blue Photon’s workholding technology solutions.
Blue Photon is pleased to announce the release of new products to the Blue Photon workholding system line-up. Blue Photon is committed to revolutionizing the workholding industry. This is achieved by using innovative ultraviolet (UV) technology to design unique workholding and fixturing for specialized applications. Our customers in turn receive the solutions they need most. If you have machining challenges, you’re sure to find a solution with Blue Photon’s workholding system.

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(VIDEO) Ultraviolet (UV) Workholding Technology for Additive Manufacturing

May 28th, 2020 by Blue Photon

How do you hold additive parts for post-machining?

Blue Photon workholding products are designed to hold complexed-shaped, additive parts for tight-tolerance machining, and final finishing while creating better parts, and lowering manufacturing costs. To learn why we are the world’s solution to holding additive parts, check out the video below:

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(VIDEO) Blue Photon Product Video

May 28th, 2020 by Blue Photon

Blue Photon is ecstatic to announce the following release of their new product video with examples demonstrating the Blue Photon technology and workholding system.

For a more in-depth visual of how Blue Photon’s ultraviolet (UV) workholding technology is a solution to your workholding needs, check out the video below:

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Workholding for High Accuracy Medical Device Machining

May 20th, 2020 by Blue Photon

Post Processing | 3D printing presents challenges in workholding for finish machining

Mark Kirby
AM Business Manager,
Renishaw Canada

Metal 3D printing can enable rapid, low cost iterations of new medical devices, since no tooling costs are involved. All devices need testing to uncover problems and develop solutions—allowing the product shape to change “for free” is a powerful advantage with Additive Manufacturing (AM). Other benefits flowing from AM besides enabling more complex geometry are improved accuracy with no component tolerance stack up, and a simplified supply chain with reduced part count. Read the rest of this entry »

Turning to an Adhesive for Lathe Workholding

May 19th, 2020 by Blue Photon

5/19/2020 | 4 Minute Read

Turning to an Adhesive for Lathe Workholding

“Adhesive cured by ultraviolet light is an option for securing parts for machining that could otherwise distort when traditional, mechanical clamping techniques are used.”

Check out the article from Production Machining Blog to learn how BlueGrip workholding adhesive could be a solution to your turning applications:

Turning to an Adhesive for Lathe Workholding

Photo of Blue Photon adhesive being activated on a gripper with UL light

Thin rings such as this one are candidates for a photo-activated adhesive workholding process. The process eliminates part distortion that can might happen when conventional, mechanical clamping devices are used.

For some turning applications, chuck jaws or other conventional workholding devices for CNC lathes can cause a part to distort as clamping force is applied. This can be the case for large, thin rings such as the one shown on the left. Those workholding elements can also prevent full access to a part, which might necessitate reclamping for an additional operation.

Blue Photon offers an alternate workholding method for these types of situations that uses adhesive cured by ultraviolet (UV) light to secure a part for turning. It can also be used for other processes such as milling, grinding, electrical discharge machining and 3D printing/additive manufacturing.

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Workholding Adhesives

December 12th, 2019 by Blue Photon

December 12, 2019 | 2 Minute Read

Workholding Adhesives for Optical and Ceramic Components

Check out the article from Photonics Spectra to learn how workholding adhesives provide alternate solutions to the challenges of traditional holding methods:

Workholding Adhesives for Optical and Ceramic Components

New optical workholding adhesives provide alternate solutions to the challenges of traditional holding methods.

DAN BILLINGS AND SHANNON OSBORN, BLUE PHOTON TECHNOLOGY &, WORKHOLDING SYSTEMS LLC

The way optical workpieces are held during processing has changed little over the decades. During grinding and polishing, vacuum fixturing and adhesives such as wax, pitch, and epoxy resins have traditionally been used. The waxes and pitches are heated to reach a flowable state and are then applied to the fixture or part. Once the wax or pitch has cooled, the workpiece is placed into a holding device for processing. In both fixed and rotating applications, the vacuum is often applied with a rotary union. Once the workpiece is loaded into the fixture, the vacuum is turned on to allow the part to be pushed into the fixture by atmospheric pressure. The vacuum is turned off to remove or release the part.

Examples of vacuum fixtures. Photo courtesy of S.I. Howard Glass Company

Figure 1. Examples of vacuum fixtures. Courtesy of S.I. Howard Glass Co.

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Join us at Southtec!

October 4th, 2019 by Blue Photon

Blue Photon® will demonstrate the advantages of their photo-activated adhesive workholding system at Southtec 2019 this October in Greenville.

Blue Photon’s workholding products are a manufacturer’s solution to hold parts for tight-tolerance machining and inspection. Complex-shaped, hard-to-hold parts, and delicate materials like ceramic and laminated composites are well suited to the technology which supplies up to 605 lbs of tensile holding power per patented gripper. Any part that is at risk for distortion from mechanical clamps, or that pose complications in fixture design and tool access, are easily and simply held with Blue Photon’s patented grippers and BlueGrip™ workholding adhesive.

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