Fullerton Tool Co. (Saginaw, Michigan), a manufacturer of solid carbide cutting tools, has hired Justin Verburg as National Sales Manager. In this position, Mr. Verburg will be overseeing the company’s direct regional sales managers and outside sales rep agencies.
Mr. Verburg joined Fullerton’s sales team in early October 2017 and is based out of Fullerton’s headquarters in Saginaw. He has experience in both the manufacturing and cutting tool industries and has held a diverse range of roles including product management, general manager, and director of sales and marketing.
“Justin brings a well-rounded, family-oriented perspective to WCMT Insert Fullerton Tool,” says Mat Machining Inserts Curry, Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “Justin’s passion and experience will provide valuable insight to Fullerton and will help guide our sales team to provide the best total solutions to our customers.”
The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/indexable-inserts/
For production parts with various holes, the way to save time and cost with a high speed machining center would appear to be obvious. Simply put, the machine can move faster. Workpiece machinability may limit how quickly each feature of the part can be cut, but certainly the cycle time can still be reduced if the rapid traverse moves and tool changes are performed more quickly. A certain significant fraction of the processing time can be saved in this way.
But is this the best way for a high speed machine Indexable Inserts to improve productivity?
Not necessarily, say representatives of machine tool builder Toyoda. Machining centers that use linear motors for axis motion in place of rotary motors and ballscrews can improve the process by taking advantage of a different approach to machining holes. Because of their ability to maintain tight contouring accuracies at high feed rates, these machines can generate holes through circular milling to a level of speed and precision that may rival that of boring and other straight-line approaches. When one tool efficiently produces many different-sized holes in this way, the speed, capability and economy of the process can all improve.
Horizontal machining centers offered by Toyoda (U.S. headquarters in Arlington Heights, Illinois) include both fast machines with ballscrews and even faster machines that use linear motors. For these latter machines, tungsten carbide inserts the higher cost is an important drawback. Also important is the fact that quality ballscrew machines have done quite well, performing effectively even in applications where high feed rates are involved. But milling in circles is one application that does play to a linear motor strength—specifically, its capacity to achieve speed and precision at the same time.
When a machining center uses ballscrews, the rotary motor, ballscrew and drive train make up a mechanical linkage with various small opportunities for backlash and compliance. The overall result of this “play” is a measurable motion error whenever an axis reverses direction. The axis reversal error presents a problem in circular milling, because both the X and Y axes have to reverse direction in the course of feeding the machine through a circle. A higher feed rate only increases the magnitude of this error. As a result, a hole milled rapidly on a ballscrew machine is prone to fail a tight specification for hole roundness. The more standard approaches to hole making are therefore preferred.
A linear motor machine does away with much of the axis reversal error because it does away with the mechanical assembly. The linear motor moves along the axis, carrying with it the moving element of the machine. Because of this, the linear motor machine can mill out a high-precision hole at high feed rates. It can mill a precise hole so quickly, in fact, that it allows milling to rival more conventional hole-making approaches.
When the process relies on milling for hole making in this way, a variety of savings may result. Frank Petravicius, an account manager based in Toyoda’s Wixom, Michigan, office, summarizes the potential savings as follows:
The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.cuttinginsert.com/product/lnmu-insert/
Parlec sees the tool presetter and the tool data it generates as a vital hub in the machining process. However, it’s essential to have reliable communication among the tool presetter, tool data management system, CAD/CAM software, the machine tool CNC and other systems, such as a computerized tool crib and a shop scheduling/ERP system. The ability to interface with this diverse array of systems and devices is a major issue for the company.
“This is the main reason we’ve taken such a strong interest in manufacturing communication standards such as MTConnect,” says Chris Nuccitelli, vice president of this Fairport, New York company. When MTConnect, a royalty-free, open-source protocol for shop floor communication, was introduced about five years ago, Parlec was quick to investigate the standard and apply it to its products as well as implement it in its manufacturing facility. “What we’ve been able to do with MTConnect so far mirrors the state of most other companies who are interested in the standard,” Mr. Nuccitelli reports. “Initial benefits have been encouraging, but we see a much greater potential on the near horizon, especially now that the latest release of this standard includes a comprehensive vocabulary for cutting tools and cutter body assemblies,” he says.
Parlec’s experience is instructive, Mr. Nuccitelli points out, because the company is involved with MTConnect as an end user and as a supplier. The company manufactures its toolholding, boring, tapping, and presetting products exclusively in the United States. On its shop floor in Fairport, all of the Mazak machining centers are equipped with an turning inserts for aluminum MTConnect adapter, a software utility running on the CNC to gather machining data issued in the MTConnect format and make the data available to other applications on the shop network. At the moment, Parlec is evaluating shop floor monitoring systems enabled by MTConnect.
Machine monitoring is a priority because the shop floor is set up to run 24/7. “Machine monitoring will help us sustain round-the-clock production, but more important, it will help increase productivity by improving the efficiency of our machining centers,” Mr. Nuccitelli reports. For example, machine monitoring helps managers detect and respond quickly to delays or slowdowns.
From its standpoint as a supplier, the company also sees substantial value in MTConnect. “The first releases of the standard provided only limited options for Carbide Insert for Cast Iron sharing tool data such as cutter length and diameter, but this gave us an opportunity to create functional MTConnect adapters and agents for our line of tool presetters,” Mr. Nuccitelli says. These serve as a foundation for expanding MTConnect compliance as new applications emerge.
“The big breakthrough in this area is the recent release of extensions to the MTConnect standard for what are called mobile assets, Mr. Nuccitelli points out. Mobile assets include cutting tools, cutter body assemblies, fixturing components and other elements that tend to circulate among machines, storage units, inspection devices, automatic changers and so on. Parlec participated in the development of this extension by being an active member of the mobile assets committee under the auspices of the MTConnect Institute.
The new MTConnect vocabulary for cutting tools is based on ISO13399 (Cutting Tool Data Representation and Exchange), which defines all parameters for cutting tools and toolholder assemblies. Data such as tool length, diameter, primary radius, insert lead angles, clearances, weight and other measurable characteristics can be formatted in compliance with the MTConnect protocol.
“Historically, Parlec has been a leading developer of tool measurement and management systems to organize and communicate tool measurement data,” Mr. Nuccitelli says. Its flagship product in this category is Parlevision PGC Plus 6, a PC-based system for its toolsetters that is designed to act as a networkable conduit of tool measurement data throughout a manufacturing enterprise. This system is highly configurable so users can connect with CNCs, presetters and other software applications. “Over the years, we’ve developed an extensive library of interfaces. MTConnect now gives us a standard protocol that will ease and eventually end the need for customized interfaces,” he says. In addition, Mr. Nuccitelli notes that as third-party software developers create new MTConnect-enabled applications that rely on current, comprehensive cutting tool data, Parlec will be positioned to connect its PGC software seamlessly with those applications.
“MTConnect compliance helps us leverage the capability of our presetters and tool data management software. Going forward, this will be a significant advantage in the marketplace,” Mr. Nuccitelli concludes.
The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.cuttinginsert.com/product/vcgt-insert/
ModuleWorks has released the 2015.12 version of its CAM software, which includes new features for five- and three-axis programming as well as simulation.
For five-axis programming, a new “extend curve” feature automatically extends curves when a surface extends beyond the ends of a curve. This feature prevents unwanted wrap-around of the toolpath, improving the pattern and saving time by eliminating the need to manually extend the curves, the company says. The software also includes enhanced automatic spine creation for port machining. If the spine gets too close to the machining surface at any point, the toolpath with full collision checking is created up to that point. A new projection method for geodesic machining projects the containment curve in the surface normal SNMG Insert direction for the selected machining surfaces.
New trimming criteria for three-axis programing provide more efficient processing of cusps near the containment curve by preserving all the cuts where the tool contact points are inside it. A “multiple stock to leave” feature enables users to define different rest material thicknesses for different machining surfaces. According to the company, this is useful for die/mold production that involves multiple machining steps with heat treatment in between. In the case of multiple machining surface offsets, the enhanced roughing algorithms speed up roughing calculation.
For simulation, an automatic quality-improvement feature refines the accuracy of the stock model whenever the cutting simulation is idle. This improves accuracy and saves time because there is no need for tube process inserts manual refinement. Additionally, the software now gives users the option to make spindle clamps transparent when the spindle is rotating.
The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.cuttinginsert.com/product/ermn-profile-grooving/
Brush Research Manufacturing’s diamond flex-hones are designed for deburring, edge blending and surface finishing in hard materials such as carbide, ceramic and aerospace steel alloys. The tools are engineered using resin-bond diamond crystals with high friability, a characteristic that makes edges self-sharpening. The free-cutting tool features a rapid cut rate that produces an optimal finish, the Carbide Threading Inserts company says.
The tools are made with Cermet Inserts premium, nickel-coated abrasive to aid in heat dissipation and improve bond retention. Sizes from 4 to 20 mm are standard in three different mesh sizes, with other diameters and mesh selections available as options.
Applications include carbide wear parts; guide and drill bushings; ceramic cylinders; heat-treated steel; high nickel stainless steel; MMX aluminum alloys; chromed and plated bores; aerospace components; medical parts; and EDM recast layers.
The Carbide Inserts Website: https://www.estoolcarbide.com/product/vcmt-cemented-carbide-turning-inserts-use-for-steel-cutting-p-1206/
