In a world where machine shops are struggling to stay open and maintain their business and in a day when “going into dad’s business” is not what it once was, Platinum Tooling Technologies, Inc. is an exception to the rule. Located in Prospect Heights, Illinois, the company is set to reach an important milestone.

​In 2022, company President Preben Hansen and his family will celebrate 100 years working in metal cutting and four generations of Hansen men in the industry. How cool is that?

The story began with Preben’s grandfather, Louis Eckart Hansen, who learned his trade in Copenhagen, Denmark in the early 1900s. Louis worked as a machinist in the Danish Navy’s repair facility. Preben’s father, Svend Eckart Hansen, honed his skills under the guidance of Louis.

In 1958, Svend emigrated with his family, including young Preben, to the U.S. Despite not knowing English, he found employment within days of arriving in Chicago, because of his skill as a tool maker. Svend began his career as a machinist and ended it in the 1990s as a master tool maker at Ramcel Precision Stamping and Manufacturing LLC in Northbrook, Illinois.

With manufacturing and tooling in his DNA, Preben worked in the machine shop of the former Fulton Machine Company in downtown Chicago, while attending the University of Illinois/ Chicago and pursuing a degree in engineering. Following college, he worked in the shop at Oakley Industries building custom machinery.

​After several years in the shop, Preben moved to the front office and into an inside sales position. Later, at Jemco Tool & Die, he learned programming and set-up on their CNC lathes and machining centers which was his introduction to machine tools and their accessories. His next job was at HPI, now known as Pioneer Heartech Precision Inc., a distributor of tool holders and related products, in Elk Grove Village, Illinois.

Preben started as an Outside Sales representative of tool holders and rotary tables, then became the company’s Sales Manager. This was followed by work at Lyndex-Nikken, another machine tool accessory supplier in Mundelein, Illinois. Here, Preben was introduced to live tools and once again worked as Sales Manager.

​In 2010, Preben started a joint venture with heimatec GmbH, becoming the President of Heimatec, Inc., a company specializing in live tools, angle heads and multi-spindle drill heads. In 2018, Heimatec, Inc. was purchased by Platinum Tooling Technologies, Inc. with headquarters located in Prospect Heights, Illinois. Preben Hansen is the COO and President at Platinum Tooling.

In total, Preben has over 30 years of experience in the machine tool accessory market and over 40 years in the manufacturing industry. Given his credentials, it’s no surprise that Preben has established himself as a leading authority on these topics in the North American machine tool accessory market. He often hosts knowledge bars at trade shows to SRO crowds.

In keeping with this family tradition, Preben’s son, Luke Hansen, joined his dad’s company in 2018 as a Technical Sales Specialist for several of the product lines sold by Platinum Tooling, including Tecnicrafts collets and guide bushings for Swiss machines. After graduating from high school, Luke joined the army in search of his calling and received great training there. Upon his discharge, he decided to put into practice the motivational and goal orientation skills he had learned in the military. In his current position at Platinum Tooling, Luke continues to expand his knowledge of the machine tool accessory market as well as build valuable relationships with the North American sales and distribution network of the company.
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Reflecting on 100 years as a family in the manufacturing industry, Preben Hansen says, “The machine tool industry has been and continues to be an extremely vital part of our country’s continued success. My son Luke and I are proud to be 3rd and 4th generation professionals involved in this exciting industry.”

Platinum Tooling Technologies, Inc. in Prospect Heights, IL, serves its growing North American customer base with an extensive inventory of machine tool accessories. Its experienced staff is dedicated to providing the most innovative tooling and technology. Platinum Tooling Technologies, Inc. serves the auto, aero, medical, woodworking, composites and other industries, as well as an ever-increasing number of machine tool OEMs worldwide, through its network of manufacturers’ representatives. Platinum Tooling is the importer of Heimatec, Henninger, Tecnicrafts and AMF Tooling for North America

​OSG is pleased to announce the release of their NEW OSG PHOENIX® PDZ Flat Drill Series!

The OSG PHOENIX® PDZ is an indexable drill series designed for stable flat-bottom hole making. It is an ideal solution for a wide variety of materials such as carbon and alloy steel, stainless steel and cast iron.

The following list numbers are associated with the new OSG PHOENIX® PDZ Flat Drill series:

• List #52513 OSG PHOENIX® PDZ (inch)
• List #78537 OSG PHOENIX® PDZ (metric)
• List #78PZAG OSG PHOENIX® PZAG inserts for PDZ
• List #7808H OSG PHOENIX® PDZ accessories

This series offers the following features & benefits:

• High Precision finishing on flute improves rigidity, chip evacuation, and reduces cutting force
• Flat bottom cutting edge for machining a wide range of applications including drilling, counter-boring, inclined surface drilling and more.
• Superior chip breaking capability during drilling, counter-boring and turning with enhanced muscle breaker

Check out the new tools HERE

by Sean McIntosh, OSG District Sales Manager

One of the challenges Allied Tool & Die faced recently was the machining of aerospace brackets made of Inconel 718. As is with most shops, machining Inconel 718 is time consuming. Moreover, due to the material’s special high strength and heat resistance properties, short tool life is a common obstacle.

​In search for performance improvement, Allied Tool & Die CNC Process and Machining Manager Jamie Lerma reached out to his local OSG representative for new solutions. Lerma had worked with OSG previously on a 13-8 stainless steel application by utilizing OSG’s HY-PRO® CARB VGM series end mill to achieve high-efficiency milling.

OSG’s HY-PRO® CARB VGM is a high performance variable geometry end mill series. Its variable index and unique flute geometry enable the reduction of vibration and chatter, promoting smooth and stable cutting with low cutting forces.

​With the addition of OSG proprietary multi-layer EXO coating, higher wear and heat resistance is achieved to prolong tool life. OSG’s VGM offering features 5-, 6- and 7-flute lineups, and is available with multiple lengths of cut, with both square end and corner radius variations. This series is suitable for carbon steels, alloy steels, die steels, stainless steels, cast iron, nickel alloy, titanium, and hardened steels up to 45 HRC.
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For the 13-8 stainless steel application, the VGM end mill dominated the machining result by extending tool life from seven parts to 21 parts per tool. The parts were also completed in half the time and the tool cost is also cheaper than the competitor tool. Lerma was so impressed by the VGM end mill that he decided to apply the tool to the Inconel 718 aerospace bracket application.

BMT is one of the newest technologies for Mill Turn machines and it is a more rigid solution than more traditional VDI holders. When the tool holder is mounted to the turret, four screws are used to tighten the tool holder, and is further secured with keys that are located on the turret face.

This process eliminates the need for indicating the tool holder to straighten it, which is normal with more traditional VDI tool holders.

The Operator does not need to adjust the straightness for the BMT toolholder.  BMT holders are more rigid, and are often preferred for heavy duty cutting.  With BMT Holders no need to adjust the straightness. 
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Parlec has been making BMT65 tool holders for one of the largest machine manufacturers in the world for many years. They have the know-how to produce top-quality BMT65 tooling to the most exacting standards.
Parlec BMT65 holders match Haas BMT’s in design, dimensions, and material

Ductile iron has a higher abrasion resistance due, in large part, to the high % of graphite that acts as a graphite lubricant

Adjustable coolant delivery ports are included on all Parlec BMT65 tool holders.

American-made tooling is on-the-shelf and ready to go into production – today!

Engineered to meet threading challenges from ISO M1.4 x 0.3 and 0-80UN, HARDCUT thread mills deliver high performance in hardened steels, high-temperature alloys, Titanium alloys and ultra-hard formulations such as Hastelloy, Inconel, and nickel base alloys.

Thanks to their short profile, they are capable of working at high cutting speeds, thereby shortening cycle times.

The increased cutting diameter delivers better rigidity and stability, and the advanced PVD triple coating results in high wear and heat resistance and longer tool life.

The use of hard and super-hard materials in industries such as moldmaking, aviation, energy and medical implants and tools requires a new generation of thread mills capable of standing up to hard materials while, at the same time, delivering increased productivity through better performance and longer life.

​The Carmex HARDCUT line meets those demands through an extensive size range that delivers the Carmex guarantee of “X-TREME results.”

Download CAD Drawings for you toolholders!

Techniks is excited to announce that they are entering into a new stage of development for their website. Over the past several weeks Techniks has compiled 2D and 3D model files for each product available on www.techniksusa.com.

That’s almost 4,800 total SKUs, 9,600 2D and 3D model drawings added for your convenience!

The addition of downloadable CAD files is just the next phase in thier continued development of their site to improve its user-friendliness. You can now find your specific drawings through directly searching for the part number in the “Drawings” section of the main menu or by navigating directly to the product page. 

​Simply navigate to the appropriate product table, locate the item you need, and click on the drawing file format you require. You will see a links to the 2D DWG and 3D STP files in the right-hand columns.

Can’t find what you’re looking for?
Techniks is adding more drawings every day, but if you do not find the drawings you need let them know at info@techniksusa.com and they'll
prioritize your request to get you the drawings you need, FAST!

As you begin to take advantage of their available CAD files, please don't hesitate to continue to provide feedback on your website experience to us and we can pass it along to Techniks. It’s been with your help that Techniks is able to provide the highest levels of customer service. A lot of that feedback comes form us passing along that information from you!

Hoffman Estates, IL - BIG KAISER Precision Tooling Inc. is excited to share important news concerning the name of its company. BIG KAISER Precision Tooling Inc. will change its name to BIG DAISHOWA Inc., effective January 1, 2022. 

“BIG DAISHOWA is a global leader of tooling systems, and we have been a member of the BIG DAISHOWA group of companies for many years,” said Jack Burley, President & COO. “The name change is a natural evolution in this relationship. Being known as BIG DAISHOWA in North America will strengthen our corporate presence on a global scale.

“Our customers won’t notice any change in our business day-to-day,” Burley said. “They will receive the same superior products, personal support and performance guarantee we’ve been delivering for more than 30 years.”
The name change will not impact operations, product lines, staff, distribution or licensing agreements in North America. The company will continue to offer the same high-precision tool holders, cutting and boring tools, workholding, tool measurement systems and accessories manufactured in Japan, Europe and the United States.

As a member of the BIG DAISHOWA Group (Osaka, Japan), BIG DAISHOWA Inc. has grown into a recognized global tooling provider, with manufacturing facilities in North America, Switzerland and Japan.

​In addition, BIG DAISHOWA is the North American representative of Speroni tool measuring machines, Sphinx high performance drills, mptec measuring stands, Tekusa spindle cleaners and the UNILOCK zero-point workholding system.