Vero Software’s Machining Strategist V14.0 multi-axis CAM Shoulder Milling Inserts program generates high speed CNC tool paths for both the office and shop floor. The program is a CAD-independent solution that is compatible with data from major 3D modeling systems. This release incorporates support for Visi 20, and CAD interfaces have been aligned to Parasolid v25.
A new roughing algorithm reduces rapid moments TCMT Insert by controlling the tool movement so that it remains on the part and follows previous cut paths. The algorithm also enables the use of a large stepover (greater than 50 percent), and an offset algorithm ensures coverage of the machining area by adding smooth transition corner pips to clean up remaining areas.
The software enables the automatic machining of flat areas only, instead of adding extra Z levels to clean up planar zones. Retract moves on vertical walls are minimized. The program includes improved linking core area clearance tool paths and provides more consistent lead arcs when linking. It is possible to link horizontal area passes from outside to in (core linking) and use pre-drilled entry points for cavity regions of core roughing tool paths.
The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/indexable-inserts/tnmg-insert/
It sounds simple: Initiate training that addresses your company’s specific needs. The best in-plant training programs do just that. surface milling cutters Actually accomplishing this goal, however, usually requires a pretty big commitment on the company’s part.
In the CNC environment, the position of CNC operator tends to be the most difficult to keep fully staffed, simply because it requires the largest number of people. Here are some suggestions that should help you assess your needs for this critical position:
Define your expectations. What specific tasks must people be able to do in order to perform in the position for which they are being trained? Enlist the help of current workers as well as their managers to come up with a list of answers to this question. Include those tasks the current workers are doing, along with anything they could be doing better. This will provide a checklist for choosing and/or developing a training curriculum.
Work from general to specific. One of your general operator tasks may be “make sizing adjustments on workpieces during the production run,” but you also should list the individual subtasks required to perform this task. You may come up with: 1) measure a workpiece attribute; 2) determine the target value, and high and low limits for the workpiece attribute; 3) determine when the attribute is approaching a tolerance limit; 4) determine the amount of deviation; and 5) adjust the appropriate offset by the deviation amount.
You will likely come up with a pretty long list of tasks and subtasks, but avoid the temptation to skip or skim through this step. You must ensure that there are no holes in your curriculum.
Group related topics. This may be more related to actual curriculum development but can be done while assessing needs. For CNC operator training, you might come up with something like:
• Machining operations and cutting tools (specific to machine type).
• Understanding the CNC machine being used (components, axes, buttons and switches).
• CNC compensation as it relates to making sizing adjustments.
• Tasks related to completing a production run (workpiece loading/unloading, cleaning and deburring workpieces, measuring workpiece attributes, sizing adjustments, replacing worn tools).
Limit topics to those that address your specific needs. Several of these individual topics could fill the curriculum of an entire class. Of course, it will not hurt if employees know more than they need to know. However, paring down content to only those specific skills you expect of trainees will minimize what they must learn and, in turn, shorten the time required for training. It will also keep you from confusing trainees with content that will not be applied in the immediate future.
The mores specific you are, the more targeted your training can be. Here are a few suggestions:
Basic machining practices. Your company surely has some practices that are unique to its operations. For instance, while most general safety practices will likely apply, you may have specific hazards that require other additional measures. Maybe you machine titanium or magnesium, and therefore operators must be aware of the related fire hazard. Similarly, the way you create, dimension and tolerance workpiece drawings is probably unique to your company. You may, for example, exclusively use high/low-limit tolerance values to specify attribute dimensions. In this case, there is no need to address other tolerancing methods in your training. Your company probably also uses a unique set of measuring devices. Target them, and only them, for lots of practice during training.
Machining operations and cutting tools. CNC operators must be able to recognize when cutting tools start showing signs of wear. Indicators may include changes in sound or chip color during machining. Target the machining operations your company performs for discussion in class.
Machine configuration. Describe only the specific types of machines your CNC operators will be running. Include any unique components or accessories that are provided with or used in conjunction with those machines.
Compensation types. Address only the kinds of sizing adjustments you expect CNC operators to make, including when and how they Cermet Inserts should be made. You likely have some unique problem areas, like extremely tight tolerances or special surface finishes, that you should target as well.
Tasks necessary to complete a production run. Target those that are specific to your company. Your workpieces may require special loading considerations. Operators may have to monitor the CNC cycle at some critical point in the program’s execution. A workpiece attribute may require special attention due to a tight tolerance or special finish requirement. Special trial-machining techniques may be required when a given type of cutting tool is replaced. Target all of the tasks the CNC operators must perform.
The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/coated-inserts/dcmt-insert/
The performance of diamond cutting tools in particular points to one of the most harmful misconceptions affecting the use of high-performance tooling. That is, the belief that the price of the cutting tool equates to the cost of the process.
Diamond Innovations machining products manager Jim Graham calls this the “sticker shock” fallacy. A shop compares the price of, say, a high-performance CBN tool to the price of a general-purpose carbide insert. Seeing the price difference, the shop assumes the high-performance tool is less economical. Is it?
In truth, the high-performance tool may or may not be the right choice—but the price is too small a factor to make that determination.
While the cutting tool’s price does add to the cost of the process, the same cutting tool also subtracts from the cost of the process through savings in various areas.
To make the point even more clearly, consider that a machining facility is not delivering a tool to its customer—it’s delivering a part. Therefore, the cost of the part should be the focus. And the price of the tool is such a tiny portion of the cost of the part that it is actually very easy for a high-performance cutting tool to bring the overall cost down.
The pie chart illustrates this. In a typical machined part, the cutting tool accounts for only 3 percent of a machined part’s cost. By contrast, labor and Tungsten Steel Inserts machine time account for much larger percentages—around 30 percent apiece. By allowing more parts to be machined per hour or per shift, a high-performance cutting tool reduces the impact of both of these big contributors to part cost.
The price of tooling is actually an ineffective place to look for savings. Would you rather have a 30 percent savings on your cutting tools or a 20 percent increase in cutting speed? The analysis on this page shows that the right choice is not even close. Assuming the baseline cost of the part is $10, the reduced tooling cost would save only 9 cents. By comparison, the increased speed would save 16 times that much—even after assuming that the tool that achieves this speed increase is 50 percent more expensive.
Now try that same analysis with a tool that costs two times or three times Carbide Drilling Inserts as much as the baseline tool. It can easily be shown that even very large increases in tool cost do not affect the savings resulting from even conservative gains in productivity.
In addition, some shops apply high-performance tooling to achieve levels of savings that are truly off the chart—at least off of the chart on this page. Tooling engineered to provide both long life and high reliability can make it possible for shops that have never done so before to achieve successful “lights out” machining processes. If the shop can run unattended after hours, capturing machine capacity that is not even being used today, then arguably the costs of both labor and machinery for this work drop to zero. After all, no operators are present, and the machinery has been paid for by the daytime machining. That is why unattended machining can be one of the most profitable ways for a high-performance tool to can transform the machining process.
Next: Rule #5 – Consider the Cutting Tool from the Very Beginning
The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/product/npht-npmt-bta-insert-coating-alloy-deep-hole-drilling-insert-p-1173/
In 2022, Platinum Tooling, located in Prospect Heights, Ill., will celebrate 100 years of working in metal cutting Carbide Milling Inserts and four generations of Hansens in the industry.
Company President Preben Hansen’s grandfather, Louis Eckart Hansen, worked as a machinist in the Danish Navy’s repair facility. In 1958, Preben’s father, Svend Eckart Hansen, emigrated with his family to the U.S. and found employment within days of arriving in Chicago, Ill. Svend began his career as a machinist and ended it in the 1990s as a master tool maker.
Preben has over 30 years of experience in the machine tool accessory market and over 40 years in the manufacturing industry. Preben’s son, Luke Hansen, joined the 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. In his current position at Platinum Tooling, Luke is said to be TNMG Insert building valuable relationships with the North American sales and distribution network of the company.
Reflecting on 100 years as a family in the manufacturing industry, Preben 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.”
The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/product/hunan-estool-manufacture-cnc-turning-tools-lathe-carbide-grooving-inserts-pvd-coating-of-mgmn200-300-400-500-600/
When a shop runs at full capacity, it must make efficiency gains any way possible. A few years ago, one such shop, Kennebec Tool & Die, embarked on a lean manufacturing program to eliminate waste and improve productivity. With 70 employees working in three shifts around the clock seven days a week, the Augusta, Maine-based company needed to standardize processes, equipment and tools in order to streamline its operations. One of the changes the shop made in order to meet its goals was to invest in a machining center equipped with through-spindle coolant.
However, the shop faced a persistent problem in its attempts to use the new machine and corresponding tooling for an important job—producing 700 assemblies per year for the semi-conductor industry. The shop was still on a learning curve for the new machine and tools, and cycle time issues on a particularly problematic component of the seven-part assembly reduced productivity.
Made of 17-4 heat-treated stainless steel, the raw stock for the component arrives as a 4-inch-diameter bar that is cut to a rough length of 8.5 inches. After rough and finish turning, the component requires drilling of a 5-inch-deep internal bore with a tight tolerance. "Our turning operations were running pretty standard; it was really the drilling that was taking a long time," says Harvey Smith, vice president of operations.
Paul Owen, tooling room supervisor, says the source of the drilling operation’s lengthy cycle time could be traced to problems with consistent tool life. "Chips were wrapping around the drill, destroying the tool and/or scrapping the part," he explains. "We might get five parts from one insert and then six or eight from another."
Kennebec tried to work through the problem, but had to slow down the entire process in order to clean out the chips, further impacting productivity. The shop knew it needed to upgrade its drilling tools. However, in keeping with its lean manufacturing program, it sought to do so with the goal of not only addressing this specific application, but also reducing its total number of drill styles by finding a product that would work in a variety of situations. Soon, it had narrowed the vendors down to Seco Tools (Troy, Michigan) and a competitor.
To make a decision, Mr. Smith issued a challenge to Seco technical specialist Bryan Daniels: "If you can make this particular operation work, then I’m changing over to Seco."
Mr. Daniels delivered. He suggested a 1.187-inch-diameter, 5×D Perfomax indexable drill for the troublesome assembly component application. The Perfomax drill features two coolant holes and large chip flutes with a flute angle that is said to promote efficient coolant flow and effective removal of coolant and chips. This flute and the tool’s coated body and inserts are designed to allow high feeds and speeds while avoiding deflection, poor tool life and quality, even with long lengths and deep-hole drilling applications. Unlike many other indexable drills, the Perfomax can use two different insert grades. A tougher grade is located in the inboard position, while a more wear-resistant grade is mounted in the periphery pocket. Inserts are square to provide a strong 90-degree corner and the economy of four cutting edges.
RCGT Insert"The operation was pretty much nailed as soon as we tried it," Mr. Owen says. "Bryan suggested the feeds and speeds, and we had no problems. He worked with us and optimized the parameters until we got a good average of parts per insert."
The drill ended up producing about 20 parts per edge—a threefold improvement in tool life compared with the shop’s previous drill. Additionally, the tool reduced cycle time from 1.21 to 0.53 seconds. While this might not seem significant, Mr. Smith explains that the actual cycle time savings are greater than the numbers show because the shop previously changed tools every five to eight parts. The drill’s longer tool life provided cost benefits, as well. While the Seco inserts cost more than competitive inserts, the increased tool life achieved with Perfomax actually reduced WCMT Insert the comparative cost by $1.05 per produced part, Mr. Smith says.
Now, Kennebec uses Perfomax for almost all of its standard drilling applications. In fact, the drill has worked well enough to prompt the company to give Mr. Daniels a chance to prove Seco’s worth in other areas, including an 8,000-part aerospace order that requires a combination of turning and milling operations. "After (Mr. Daniels’) dedication on this last process and the success we achieved, we will certainly at least give Seco a try," Mr. Smith says.
