Oren Elliott Products, Inc. is located in Edgerton, Ohio near the Indiana border. It is a large North American supplier of air-dielectric variable capacitors, which are used in such diverse applications as magnetic resonance imagery equipment, mass spectroscopy equipment, silicon chip plasma etching and deposition devices, plus surface-to-air missile guidance systems.

One of Oren Elliott’s latest products actually combines the capacitor, PC board and enclosure into a single unit. To achieve this compact design however, requires some very complex machining capability. The capacitor’s body is milled from a solid block of 6061 aluminum measuring 4 inches by 4 inches by 2 inches thick. Five outside sides are faced for size, squareness, and size tolerances. Next, more than 40 holes are drilled, tapped, milled or reamed into and through the block. Finally, a central internal pocket and several multi-level pockets are milled to form the housing with finished sidewalls of only 1/16-inch thickness. Most tolerances are held to ±0.005 inch, however, the rotor-bearing bore is held to ±0.0002 inch.

One of the challenges in producing such a complex part is producing it cost effectively. The current production rate is 100 pieces per month, with 300 pieces per month expected by the end of the year. A Haas 710 VF-1, 15-hp vertical mill was dedicated to producing these parts. The part is held in a vise by a ?-inch bite to the bottom edge of the sides. Machining the inside cavities was previously done with a 0.750-inch diameter, three-flute, tin coated carbide cutter. The engaged flute length was 1.WCMT Insert 25 inches. The depth of cut per pass was 1.25 inches plus 0.250 for the pockets. A cutter speed of 3,000 rpm was used at a 30 ipm feed rate. Climb milling is the preferred method of cut at Oren Elliott Products.

Darrel Stevens, Sales Representative from Technical Equipment Sales in Cleveland, heard about this particular application, and called on the company’s production personnel. He suggested working with IMCO Carbide Tool Inc., located in Toledo, Ohio, because of its reputation for working closely with customers and dramatically improving complex machining operations. IMCO developed a new 0.750-inch diameter prototype cutter with two flutes and special chipbreaking capability. The new cutter, "STREAKERS," increased pocket cutting rpm’s from 3,000 to 6,000 and increased the feed rate from 30 ipm to 120 ipm. All Helical Milling Inserts other parameters remained the same.

Matthew Elliott, Production Manager, conducted and recorded the test which saw a reduction of internal pocket milling time from 5 minutes, 30 seconds to 1 minute, 28 seconds, a time reduction of 75 percent. An additional benefit was improved chip removal performance, which reduced clogging by dispersing the chips away from the cutter and cutting area.

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005006185380264.html

Sandvik Coromant is releasing two series of ceramic end mills for optimal performance in nickel-based alloys: The CoroMill 316 and the CoroMill Plura. RCGT Insert These brazed ceramic end mills are said to offer a more productive means of roughing ISO S materials compared to carbide milling cutters.

These end mills share the CC6060 grade designed for nickel alloy machining. The negative geometry provides a tough cutting edge. The six-flute geometry enables highly productive side milling operations, while the four-flute geometry eases face milling, according to the company. The choice between the two depends on machine conditions and the application. Those seeking solutions for difficult-to-reach applications or the extra flexibility of the exchangeable-head system can opt for the Carbide Threading Inserts CoroMill 316, while those requiring better stability are advised to select the CoroMill Plura.

According to Sandvik Coromant, ceramic tools retain their hardness at the high temperatures associated with milling heat-resistant superalloys (HRSAs). As a result, 20 to 30 times the speed can be achieved in comparison to solid-carbide tools, delivering considerable potential for increased productivity. A stable setup is advised without the use of coolant, as coolant would simply burn at such high temperatures.

Beyond shoulder milling and face milling, the new end mills can also be used for pocket milling, helical interpolation, ramping and slot milling. 

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005878622088.html

At IMTS, attendees will be connecting with emerging technology such as MTConnect. (Photo courtesy of AMT—The Association For Manufacturing Technology.)

We know how teenagers can use Facebook to keep track of who's got the biggest party planned for the weekend. In a similar fashion, MTConnect-enabled Coated Inserts machines and shop networks can let managers know which machines are the most productive, which ones are experiencing the most downtime, which cutting tools are performing best and so on.

MTConnect is a communications protocol standard for passing data between devices, equipment and higher applications. Just as Twitter is one way to share a brief but important idea with a network of friends, MTConnect lets machine tools share critical data so that other devices and shop personnel can respond appropriately. The data being shared could include internal event signals, alarm messages, part counts, inspection results and similar “vitals” about the machine and its performance.

MTConnect was introduced to the industry two years ago at IMTS 2008. At IMTS 2010, MTConnect will be making an even bigger splash, it seems. It will be featured as one of the Next Big Things at the IMTS 2010 Emerging Technology Center (ETC), where Carbide Turning Inserts a live demonstration will showcase the ability of applications to collect data from machines and devices to help shop personnel make better decisions. Today, social networking helps people stay connected with an unprecedented ease and immediacy. MTConnect helps machines integrate into communications networks and production monitoring systems with the same potential for interactive connectivity.

For a background article about MTConnect from MMS, click here.

To subscribe to the MTConnect newsletter, click here.

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005876032827.html

One year after the acquisition of SGS Tool Co. by Kyocera Corp., Kyocera SGS Precision Tools has broken ground in Danville, Virginia, beginning work on the Kyocera SGS Tech Hub. Representing a $9.5 million investment and partnership with The City of Danville and The State of Virginia, the Tech Hub is projected to create over three dozen jobs supporting next-generation engineering and manufacturing of cutting tools serving the automotive, aerospace, medical and power generation industries, among others.

The 30,000-square-foot facility will be built on 10 donated acres within an advanced manufacturing and research community known as Cyber Park. Featuring open work environments and collaborative spaces, the Tech Hub facility is designed for easy communication and idea sharing across the Cutting Tool Carbide Inserts office and manufacturing floor.

“The support and investment elected officials have made into developing a skilled workforce and engineering technology hotspot truly differentiate Danville and make it a great place to plant roots and drive innovation,” says Jason Wells, President of Kyocera SGS Tech Hub. “Excellent high school education and trade programs, world-class university engineering programs, and supporting industry research groups such as CCAM and the Institute for Advanced Learning and Research combine into a tour de force that makes Virginia an integral part of our future.”

Building construction is scheduled to last one year with a planned opening in May of 2018. Until building completion, the Tech Hub will be operating out of space provided by the Institute of Advanced Learning and Research through the assistance of the Carbide Drilling Inserts Danville Economic Development Department.

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005874893569.html

An Airbus research and technology leader was quoted in this article describing what he sees as low-hanging fruit in the supply chain—that is, opportunities to get greater output from existing CNC machines. One opportunity he sees is increasing metal removal rate in milling by selecting spindle speeds with an understanding of the machine’s and the overall system’s tendencies to chatter. The practice has been known for decades, and Dr. Scott Smith of BlueSwarf explained in a recent Webinar just how to obtain this productivity gain.

The webinar is worth your time, because the steps for increasing WNMG Insert productivity by mastering a machine tool’s dynamic characteristics can be counterintuitive. For example, while a shorter milling tool is likely to produce a more rigid system, that shorter tool is not necessarily better when it comes to chatter’s effect on how deep the cut can go. Dr. Smith explains why a longer tool more Cermet Inserts prone to deflection might actually be the tool able to take the deepest cut. Animations in the webinar illustrate the various frequencies your milling process is subject to, and why your cut is behaving the way it is.

The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005005925324127.html