Enjoying Trade Shows

Many people make a living from teaching others how to correctly exhibit products at trade shows. You can learn the proper way to greet visitors, the dos and don'ts of booth etiquette, what you should do about handouts along with many other topics. I am not sure you can ever be totally prepared for what can happen at a trade show.

I have always enjoyed trade shows because it gives me a chance to catch up with friends in the industry as well as meet many new people. I can talk face to face with a customer or potential customer about why I believe Criterion's products will do the job for them. I get to hear how people envision making their products and the challenges they face making them. It gives me greater insights into the current world of manufacturing.

It is also extremely interesting watching visitors as they walk by in the aisle. They will casually walk by and then bang! something catches their attention. They may make a bee line directly to it or they may stand and stare for a while trying to figure out what it is or how they can use it. I must confess this is where I fail the classes on how to properly work a trade show because I give you time to ponder your thought before asking you any questions and trying to engage you in conversation.

Conversation at Westec 2012

Over the many years I have done trade shows always leaving with more knowledge than I began because so many people want to talk about what and how they think they can use a product. This year was no different at Westec and it makes the thought of IMTS even more exciting because manufacturing in the US has seen a nice recover from the recession. If you didn't make it to Westec, I certainly look forward to seeing and talking with you at IMTS.  

IMTS2010 Generates a lot of Interest in CBER

IMTS Visitors discussing CBER applications

IMTS 2010 generated a lot of interest in the CBER product line. The ability to convert standard ER collet holders into precision boring systems was exciting to many of the visitors to our booth. In the past modular boring systems required special tool holders most of which we unique to the manufacturer of modular system. The special holders increased the cost of the boring systems and limited the ability of the user to use different systems because of these costs.

CBER on Display at IMTS 

A number of our visitors wanted to discuss using the CBER products in their swiss machine as well as in live tooling applications for the mill/turn centers. Precision boring in these applications has not been common in the past because of the physical limitations of the holding systems. This is no longer the case because so many of these machines are tooled for ER collet holders.







We thank all of the visitors to our booth and look forward to working with you and meeting the needs of your precision boring requirements,

We Can't Split an Atom but We can Split .0001 of an Inch

For years the industry standard was .0001” adjustment for “Precision Finish Boring” applications. The demand for closer tolerance Finish Bores pushed us to develop our Modular Boring Systems with .00005” (50 Millionths) adjustability. Putting this into perspective you would have to move our dial 60 graduations to equal the thickness of a normal piece of paper. We have accomplished this with a unique moving wedge design so the boring heads do not require a locking mechanism to ensure their accuracy during the cutting operation.




This Micro-Adjusting feature is an option on our Cri-Bore Modular Boring System, CB Boring Heads, Cri-Bar Adjustable Boring Bars and CBER Modular Boring System for ER Collet Holders



The Micro-Adjusting finish boring products have a .006” on diameter range for the micro adjustment. We use our standard .001” on diameter dial for making major diameter adjustments so you save time when making your initial set-up. We look forward to working with you on any of your Precision Finish Boring Applications.

Is it a Boring Head or an Adjustable Height Centering Tool Holder?

A few years ago we introduced a small boring head for use on drilling/tapping style CNC machining centers and small benchtop style machining centers. The boring head is 3/4" square and has a boring range from .035" to .580" in diameter. The direct reading dial is graduated in .001" increments.  The first cutomer purchased the boring head did so to use in a gang tooling set-up on his lathe. He was exicted about the fact that he could now adjust his tools so they would cut on center. This was an unexpected use for the tool but it spawned the idea of making an adjustable boring head that could use ER11 collets as the tool holder.

We are introducing the TMT-ER11 Boring Head at IMTS2010. This boring head has the same .035" to .580" range as the TMT-0750 Boring Head but the cuting tool shanks are not limited to 1/8" or 1/4". ER11 collets have a holding range from .019" to .275" so you can hold any type of tool in this boring head. You can now use it to boe small holes or hold small shank tools in a gang tooling set-up.

We look forward to showing it off to you at our Booth #W-2100 @IMTS. You can decide what its best use is after seeing it.

CBER16 is Being Introduced at IMTS2010

We will be introducing the new CBER16 size to our innovative ER precision boring system at IMTS2010. The CBER Boring System converts precision ER collet holders into Precision Boring Systems. The CBER16 will fit into most Swiss Automatic style turrets as well as many Right Angle Heads so you can now easily do precision boring where it was difficult to accomplish before.

The addition of CBER16 means the system now covers ER16, ER20, ER25, ER32 and ER40 collet holders. The system is capable of boring holes as small as .035” in diameter to as large as 1.700” in diameter. All of the CBER sizes have a standard .001” on diameter directing reading adjustment dial. The ER32 and ER40 sizes are also available with a 0.000050” on diameter Micro Adjusting Dial. All sizes will be available in a standard and a short length.

All of the CBER sizes have a locator flat for easy establishment of the adjusting axis as well as a convenient location to indicate from when closer adjustments than the dial graduations are required. The CBER systems do not require special tool holders but they do require that the collet nut does not have the extractor lip as it will prevent the boring system from properly being installed into the collet holder.

Be sure and see our booth @IMTS2010 W-2100

If you're making your plans to visit IMTS be sure to include us in your show planner.

You can access the IMTS Show Planner right on the IMTS website under Floorplans.  We're located in the West building.

We'll be displaying the the new products that you're seeing here on our blog.

This year we're talking about cycle time savings!

Check out the picture on the right.  This is where our booth is located. Our booth W-2100 highlighted in red at the right.  

When you click on our booth you can see some of the featured products.

But be sure and stop by for a first hand look at some of the newest time saving Modular Boring Products and Adjustable Boring heads for both CNC Mills and Swiss Turning machines.