Fritz Weber founded REGO-FIX in 1950. His curious, innovative and entrepreneurial spirit fueled the company’s culture and led to the development of many innovations, including the popular powRgrip toolholding system. That system, in particular, was designed for easy, heat-free tool clamping and offered extremely low runout, high-vibration dampening and easy, secure handling for demanding high-speed, high-precision milling and drilling.
At the time of powRgrip’s development, shrink-fit and hydraulic toolholders were becoming more widely used with the proliferation of multi-axis machining. Looking for an entry point into that high-accuracy, high-strength milling and drilling market with a new clamping system, REGO-FIX shied away from shrink-fit and hydraulics deeming them too unsafe, and instead created a new mechanical-based toolholding and collet system. After all, the company invented the ER collet that is now the industry standard.
As company lore has it, then REGO-FIX President Peter Tester and Stefan Weber, who was in Engineering at the time, used an airplane napkin to sketch out how this new system – named powRgrip – would work. The system works using special shallow-tapered collets and holders with matching shallow tapers. Either a hydraulic hand pump or a tabletop hydraulic unit presses the collet into a holder and does so in less than 10 seconds with up to nine tons of force.
In 2002, at IMTS, the first generation powRgrip, the PGU 6000, debuted, along with the PG 15 and PG 25 collet series, and became widely available to customers the following year.
The PGU 6000 6-ton clamping system turned out to be a very successful. It delivered significant speed and ease of use with reduced tool change out times. In addition, it provided superior TIR, clamping forces and high-vibration dampening to anything on the market.
In 2005, REGO-FIX launched the PG 10 collet series as part of the powRgrip system. The company also added coolant flush collets to fill a market need for a more efficient alternative to flood coolant. Collets direct coolant down along the cutting tool shank so shops wouldn’t have to constantly adjust their machine’s external coolant wand or hose or have to purchase expensive coolant-through cutting tools.
In 2007, the 9-ton PGU 9000 series mounting unit was launched because customers, particularly those in the aerospace and automotive industries, were demanding a system that could generate more force for the bigger-diameter tools used in larger part processing. Along with it came the debut of the PG 32 collet series, which was introduced for large-diameter milling and drilling.
From 2007 through 2011, REGO-FIX launched many powRgrip-related innovations, including its secuRgrip threaded insert that locks the cutting tool in a powRgrip holder. SecuRgrip was primarily for aerospace applications and designed to work with PG 15, PG 25 and PG 32 collets – just the right sizes for rough machining. Around the same time, minimum quantity lubricant (MQL), tapping, turning and CO2 short- and long-shank collets were added in addition to the PG 6 for micro machining typical in medical device and dental implant manufacturing. New collet holders were added during this time as well. One of which is the XL Holder that minimizes vibrations faster than standard long-reach collet holders for better surface finishes, longer tool life and less spindle wear.
In 2018, REGO-FIX introduced its HD Holders that added to the company’s range of larger collet sizes. Made for heavier milling applications common in the aerospace industry, they’re twice as rigid as standard toolholders and feature extra outside material on the profile for higher material removal rates.
Last year, PG-ST short tail collets were added. They’re shorter in length than a standard collet, enable a quick change of live tooling heads inside the machine and offer more repeatability and better runout in the assembly.
In use for nearly two decades, the REGO-FIX powRgrip is among a complete line of toolholding innovations incorporating Swiss precision with industry-leading quality for the automotive, aerospace, medical engineering, watchmaking, telecommunications and die and mold industries.