b'needed, ARCH Cutting Tools canThe biggest aspect for modu-provide it without the need to makelar would be the interchangeabil-a special boring bar. ity, he said.You dream it upwe can build it, Mulcahy said. Lets ConnectHe said the ability to switch headsTwo set screws provide a securewhether standard or custom union between the bar and head makes a modular design cost-effec- on an Ultra-Dex tool, Mulcahy said, tive when a shop requires multipleand the screws back up but dont geometries. come completely out of the bar Nonetheless,wheneverthere is a connection between compo-nents as there is in a modular de-sign, theres a risk of deflection be-cause of that connection, said Pat Mulcahy, senior manager of strate-gic accounts/product specialist for indexable at ARCH Cutting Tools Corp. in Bloomfield Hills, Michi-gan. However, he added, the de-sign of the companys Ultra-Dex brand of modular boring bar pro-vides 90-degree conical contact to grab the entire connection surface and hold it tightly and rigidly.It basically unites the modular head to the modular bar and acts as one, Mulcahy said.The Ultra-Dex system offers 28 different head configurations.You essentially could use one modular bar for 28 different appli-cations in ISO standard geome-tries, he said.If a special application head is about the author Alan Richter is editor-at-large of CTE. Contact him at [email protected]/cteguide.com25HoleFinishing.indd 25 12/15/22 1:35 PM'