VIDEO: TOOLING UP – Pioneers of Shrink Fit Technology

Narrator: This video is brought to you by Haimer, where quality wins. If you're looking for real world insights, tips from leading industry experts, the latest trends in products and technology, you've come to the right place. From MSC Industrial Supply, this is Tooling Up.

TONI NEARY: Hello and welcome to Tooling Up. I'm your host, Toni Neary and we're so glad you're here with us today. I am going to be talking to a guest that I'm thrilled to introduce. The president of Haimer USA, Brendt Holden. And before we jump right in and do our pleasantries here, I have to do a more formal introduction because having Brendt on the show is like having a guest on the Oscars for a lifetime achievement award. Looking at his history and what he's accomplished is no small feat.

So while he needs no introduction, he is a true entrepreneur. He exemplifies dedication in the manufacturing industry and with the support of his wife, he started his business from his home, quickly expanding into over 5000 square feet. Since then, he has expanded his office space to over 40,000 square feet. He helped launch the organization of Haimer here in the U.S. He drives sales, service, support, and inventory of the Haimer family in the U.S. And he started the first subsidiary for Haimer, which is now over 17 subsidiaries globally.

He's on a mission to provide accurate tools that are easy to use. And I love the fact that he is a machinist by training, a salesman by trade, and an all around great guy. I also love the fact that he's a fellow hockey parent, so we have that in common as well. Without further ado, Brendt Holden, welcome to Tooling Up.

BRENDT HOLDEN:  Thank you Toni I appreciate the introduction. It's very nice to talk to you today and it's good to talk to another hockey parent. But, pleased to be here to tell you a little bit about Haimer and what we offer the market and as for me personally, it's been great to be part of the Haimer team for the last 21 years.

TONI NEARY: Absolutely. And I have to say, I know that you're a businessman and I know time is precious, you’re jet setting around the world right now, doing what you do well. So let's get right down to business and talk about the use of shrink fit holders in manufacturing, because Haimer really pioneered this technology and I feel like it's become a little generic in how the terminology is used.

So when people say shrink fit, it doesn't mean the same thing everywhere. Can you talk a little bit about Haimer, the pioneering technology, the innovation and what's different about Haimer when it comes to shrink fit?

BRENDT HOLDEN:  Sure Toni, yeah you're exactly right. So, you know, it has become a very generic word when it comes to a tool holder clamping system. But just like anything, there's good and bad shrink fit on the market. So the problem came about though, as some things always do with innovations, there's a lot of copycats out there and what happened was a lot of poorly made shrink fit holders entered the market and kind of created an issue when it was either the machine or the holder itself, where some people started to look away from it.

But at Haimer we always provided the consistent product through our process internally in Germany, and we also evolved the system to solve other issues or other problems that people saw that came about by incorporating shrink fit into the system. So yeah, we definitely took it to the next level. I do want to be clear though it's a generic term, so keep your minds open, if you've ever used shrink fit or haven’t used shrink fit, it's certainly just like anything. There's good and bad in all things that we consume on a daily basis.

TONI NEARY:  So if you haven't tried the Haimer shrink fit you absolutely should, because you may have had a bad experience elsewhere, but you certainly won't. And I think that sort of dedication and quality transfers itself over not just for the shrink fit tools and machines that you have, but also just in the way that you develop and innovate. Can you talk a little bit about the development of the team, the quality assurance, the process that you go through in this family run business?

BRENDT HOLDEN: Yeah, that's a great point. We believe in using the top quality products and really making sure that what we purchase and what we actually produce is inspected for high quality control. And that's what makes Haimer very unique. So internally, we do everything to make sure that we're giving the most consistent product every time so that we give you, as the customer, the most consistent tool holder assembly on your production floor to give you the most consistency and most metal removal rate efficiency that we can provide.

TONI NEARY:  I love that, and I think consistency is key and it's really, it's just the foundation of who you are as an organization. And I think that's a great opportunity for us to really dive into the differentiators of Haimer. So I know some of the things are, you know, balance, repeatability, you've got high-gripping torque, you've got run out accuracy.

What are some of those Haimer advantages that you bring to the market?

BRENDT HOLDEN: We do have some of the things you mentioned there. We also have the slim profile, no maintenance, coolant through options and again, back to consistency of the set up, but also Haimer in general has evolved shrink fit and I think that's where it was very unique. So in other words, the first shrink fit holders in the market were basically developed for drilling and reaming and some high speed machining.

So high speeds and feeds, low depth of cut. But if you were really hogging through material, maybe it wasn't appropriate because it was so rigid of a connection. So we developed the Power Shrink, the heavy duty shrink. So we, we basically have solved a lot of issues where you can shrink from eighth inch to two inch for roughing or finishing and have a good success with a full one system solution of shrink fit.

We also developed certain things that helped make some advantages even better. So we developed what's called the Cool Jet. That's a coolant delivery method where the coolant can shoot down towards the nose of the tool. We took it a step further for high speed RPMs. We developed the Cool Flash, and this is a laser welded cap on the nose of the tool in which the coolant can go through and effectively even at higher RPMs not fan out, and effectively go down through the flutes and clear the chips out.

In addition, we created the Power Mini Shrink. So again, for five axis or die mold work, we're able to do very thin profile but still have a more massive rear towards the taper so you get less vibration and a better surface finish. And finally, probably one of our most revolutionary developments was the Safe-Lock. So the Safe-Lock was originally developed with shrink fit in mind, in which we had the accuracy of a friction fit like shrink fit, but the reliability of a form fit.

So the form interfaces with the back of the bore, and it allows you to get, take a very aggressive cuts without any fear of the tool pulling out. So any other system in the market with 360° clamping with no form, there's a possibility the tool can pull out. So the Safe-Lock solved that where there's no way the tool can pull out of the chuck.

So if you have a very expensive part or important part or you just don't want to take that risk, we have the Safe-Lock, what we call the Safe-Lock, the seatbelt for your cutting tool. And that means there's no way that tool can pull out. So what we did was we evolved shrink fit, we feel that still to this day, we're one of the only companies that's taking it to the next level and listening to feedback and finding solutions for what the customers need to accomplish.

TONI NEARY:  I'm blown away. I mean, from, from the first minute I met you and then conversations that we've had even regarding filming this episode, I continue to be impressed every single time we talk not just about you, but also Haimer as an organization. I can't thank you enough for being here with us today.

BRENDT HOLDEN: You're welcome, Toni I appreciate it. It was a pleasure to be here. And thank you again for the opportunity.

TONI NEARY:  Fantastic. If you enjoyed the conversation here with Brendt as much as I did, make sure you like this episode and subscribe so you don't miss any upcoming episodes on the MSC YouTube channel. If you want to find out more about the pioneer shrink fit technology, go to www.mscdirect.com/haimer. Thanks so much and we'll see you next time on Tooling Up.

Narrator: Want more insights and ideas to improve the efficiency and productivity of your operations? Check out the Tooling Up video playlist to hear tips that can take your company to the next level. And subscribe to our channel so you won't miss out.