Minimum and maximum amount a workpiece dimension is allowed to vary from a set standard and still be acceptable.

END USER: lllinois Carbide Tool Co. Inc., (800) 323-2414, www.crobaltusa.com, www.brakedrumtool.com. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Agathon Machine Tools Inc., (203) 730-8741, www.agathon.com. CHALLENGE: Keep up with increasing production demands for carbide brake lathe inserts. SOLUTION: A 4-axis grinding machine that enables lights-out production.

Turning machine capable of sawing, milling, grinding, gear-cutting, drilling, reaming, boring, threading, facing, chamfering, grooving, knurling, spinning, parting, necking, taper-cutting, and cam- and eccentric-cutting, as well as step- and straight-turning. Comes in a variety of forms, ranging from manual to semiautomatic to fully automatic, with major types being engine lathes, turning and contouring lathes, turret lathes and numerical-control lathes. The engine lathe consists of a headstock and spindle, tailstock, bed, carriage (complete with apron) and cross slides. Features include gear- (speed) and feed-selector levers, toolpost, compound rest, lead screw and reversing lead screw, threading dial and rapid-traverse lever. Special lathe types include through-the-spindle, camshaft and crankshaft, brake drum and rotor, spinning and gun-barrel machines. Toolroom and bench lathes are used for precision work; the former for tool-and-die work and similar tasks, the latter for small workpieces (instruments, watches), normally without a power feed. Models are typically designated according to their “swing,” or the largest-diameter workpiece that can be rotated; bed length, or the distance between centers; and horsepower generated. See turning machine.

Mini added that the person with the most experience operating these grinders could repair about 85 percent of the problems, but obtaining parts was a challenge and not an effective use of company resources. The inserts in these grinders had to be manually loaded and unloaded by the operator into the machine’s single magazine. The operator had to manually dress the grinding wheels, check that a machine was operating properly so an insert’s IC tolerance of ±0.001" (0.0254mm) was being held while ensuring that the center screw hole was concentric to the insert’s triangular shape.

Imaginary circle that touches all sides of an insert. Used to establish size. Measurements are in fractions of an inch and describe the diameter of the circle.

Left to right: Mark Wawiorka, operator and technician; Chuck Best, CNC operator and technician; and Dan Quinn, operations manager; discuss setup and operation of Illinois Carbide Tool’s two Agathon grinding machines: a 250 PA-CNC Ultra (foreground) and a Leo Peri. Image courtesy Presage Professional Inc.

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The Waukegan, Ill., manufacturer has two operating divisions: Brake Drum Tool Co., which produces inserts, tool bodies and cutting tools for the automotive industry, such as cylinder boring tools; and Crobalt, which manufactures a high-cobalt cast alloy used in metalcutting and woodworking tools and wear parts.

Mini explained that automotive repair shops apply the brake lathe inserts to resurface brake drums and rotors. However, the six semiautomatic grinders the company was using to make these inserts were built in the 1980s and were unable to keep up with increasing production demands because they were slow and would consistently break down. Once out of service, the troubleshooting and the search for repair parts would commence. Because of their older technology, it could take up to 3 or 4 weeks to get a grinder back up and running. “There were usually only about four out of the six running at a time,” he said.

Alan holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Southern Illinois University Carbondale. Including his 20 years at CTE, Alan has more than 30 years of trade journalism experience.

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Veser adds that the control of the machine was also important to him. All the milling machines in the company have a Heidenhain control system. This means that every employee is able to operate the milling machines. This brings planning security to the company.

So after numerous tests and comparisons, the decision for a Micro HD was already in the final stretch. There was only one important criterion that Kern had not yet been able to fulfil: the integration of the MHT medium distributor. Vema had already had very good experience with this minimum quantity lubrication system in the past and did not want to do without its advantages in the future. In addition to increasing the service life of the milling tools, the medium distributor also has a significant effect on the achievable surface qualities. Not to mention the company's green footprint. After all, it does not require any emulsion or machining oils in toolmaking.

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The basis of MHT's minimum quantity lubrication system, which functions technically and physically differently from conventional minimum quantity lubrication systems, is a precisely fitting nozzle body with which each tool holder is equipped. A red sleeve equipped with 16 small air nozzles does not rotate during the milling process and thus ensures that the air, which is slightly mixed with aerosols and expelled at a pressure of six bar, is drawn over the entire tool and permanently ensures optimum lubrication and cooling on all cutting edges. At the same time, all chips are blown off efficiently.

Machining operation in which material is removed from the workpiece by a powered abrasive wheel, stone, belt, paste, sheet, compound, slurry, etc. Takes various forms: surface grinding (creates flat and/or squared surfaces); cylindrical grinding (for external cylindrical and tapered shapes, fillets, undercuts, etc.); centerless grinding; chamfering; thread and form grinding; tool and cutter grinding; offhand grinding; lapping and polishing (grinding with extremely fine grits to create ultrasmooth surfaces); honing; and disc grinding.

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The grinder interfaces with up to six standard pallets and these pallets can be purchased for specific sizes of inserts. Complete automation of the periphery grinding process by the new grinder achieves insert quality that was previously unobtainable by the older technology, according to Mini. “We currently are not producing on Sundays, but we certainly could if the need would arise.”

The senior boss was never really happy with the earlier processes: “Apart from the fact that I don't know anyone who likes to polish by hand, some places on our moulds are difficult to access, so it didn't always fit at first go.” In addition, when polishing, it is important to create polished sharp edges between the lenses to ensure a perfect beam of light when used in vehicles later on. Another challenge that sometimes requires repeated reworking. “Since we have been using the Kern Micro HD with the MHT medium distributor, these problems no longer exist. Now perfect components in polished surface quality always come directly from the machine, without any rework. This has allowed us to reduce throughput times by 20 to 30 percent — with better quality.”

Powers a grinding wheel or other abrasive tool for the purpose of removing metal and finishing workpieces to close tolerances. Provides smooth, square, parallel and accurate workpiece surfaces. When ultrasmooth surfaces and finishes on the order of microns are required, lapping and honing machines (precision grinders that run abrasives with extremely fine, uniform grits) are used. In its “finishing” role, the grinder is perhaps the most widely used machine tool. Various styles are available: bench and pedestal grinders for sharpening lathe bits and drills; surface grinders for producing square, parallel, smooth and accurate parts; cylindrical and centerless grinders; center-hole grinders; form grinders; facemill and endmill grinders; gear-cutting grinders; jig grinders; abrasive belt (backstand, swing-frame, belt-roll) grinders; tool and cutter grinders for sharpening and resharpening cutting tools; carbide grinders; hand-held die grinders; and abrasive cutoff saws.

Replaceable tool that clamps into a tool body, drill, mill or other cutter body designed to accommodate inserts. Most inserts are made of cemented carbide. Often they are coated with a hard material. Other insert materials are ceramic, cermet, polycrystalline cubic boron nitride and polycrystalline diamond. The insert is used until dull, then indexed, or turned, to expose a fresh cutting edge. When the entire insert is dull, it is usually discarded. Some inserts can be resharpened.

Vema is a full-range supplier which, when it was founded a good 40 years ago, was already committed to a number of principles that are still valid today. Master toolmaker Werner Veser, managing director and one of the founders, explains: “My founding partner Josef Macho and I were in agreement from the very beginning. Firstly, we offer consulting, tool/mould making and plastic injection moulding from a single source. Secondly, we offer precision at the highest level. That proved to be absolutely right at the time and is still a guarantor of our company's success”.

Before Kern was awarded the contract, Werner Veser and his employee Luca Bornhorst — a prospective master toolmaker — compared many suppliers. But: “No one was able to produce our desired sample workpieces with comparable surface quality as Kern”, says Bornhorst. The Micro HD is also unique in terms of the precision that can be achieved. “After the first 'test shots' on our plastic injection moulding machines, it naturally happens that the results do not fit exactly.” In some places, the plastic is slightly too thin or too thick. Ergo, individual areas of the moulds have to be reworked in order to pass the elaborate tests in the light laboratory. “We are talking about one or two hundredths of a millimetre on the moulded part. So we clamp the mould again and re-mill it. With our core, it's accurate to the µm. In the end, it's always right, one hundred percent,” says the future master craftsman happily.

“After only a few weeks of initial orientation on the new grinder, our experienced CNC operator, Chuck Best, was able to have the grinder running at maximum efficiency, and lights-out operation is now standard operating procedure for four or five nights out of the workweek,” Mini said.

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As insert demand continued to increase, the company purchased a new Leo Peri 4-axis grinding center from Agathon earlier this year. According to Mini, the new machine is ideal for producing the company’s carbide inserts, which do not require K-lands or special features, eliminating the need for a 5-axis grinder. “A gantry loads and unloads inserts, enabling the one-shift facility to run lights-out production,” Mini said.

Any machining process used to part metal or other material or give a workpiece a new configuration. Conventionally applies to machining operations in which a cutting tool mechanically removes material in the form of chips; applies to any process in which metal or material is removed to create new shapes. See metalforming.

Chuck Best, CNC operator and technician at Illinois Carbide Tool, sets parameters for the Leo Peri grinder’s pick-and-place robot. Image courtesy Presage Professional Inc.

“When you have older technology and you’re having problems with a grinder,” he said, “you hate to spend the money for these repairs because you’re throwing good money after bad. You start looking for solutions in the latest grinding technology.”

More production sometimes requires fewer machines. As orders for its carbide brake lathe inserts increased at least 20 percent during the last 18 months, Illinois Carbide Tool Co. Inc. transitioned from six grinding machines with obsolete technology to a newer CNC grinder and a brand-new CNC grinder, said Mike Mini, company owner and manager.

For Kern and MHT, this was reason enough to stick their heads together and work on a solution. Vema boss Werner Veser remembers and is still impressed by the good cooperation: “Both companies are extremely innovative and always open to new technologies. Accordingly, the joint work went well.” Despite some technical challenges — especially with the automated mould change — the technicians from Kern and MHT managed to develop a solution that works perfectly.

The new Agathon grinder has totally replaced the semiautomatic grinders. Improvement in the quality and precision of the insert’s IC grind means rejects are virtually eliminated, according to Mini. Should a problem occur, the machine will automatically cease grinding and go into a standby mode.

The new Agathon Leo Peri grinder has changed the entire production dynamic at Illinois Carbide Tool and its divisions, Mini said. “In addition to carbide indexable insert grinding, we are utilizing the new Agathon to grind our cast alloy woodworking inserts for our Crobalt customers. This is something we could not have done on the older-technology grinders.”

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The decisive factor, he says, is above all the extremely high-quality results in terms of surface quality and accuracy that can be achieved with the Kern Micro HD. An example illustrates why these criteria are so important. Vema produces plastic lenses for leading car manufacturers that are used in headlights or other lighting units in the interior and exterior. On the one hand, expensive plastics with a high transmission value (light transmittance) of 95 percent are needed to ensure that the light falls in and goes out optimally. On the other hand, perfect surfaces are needed — especially in headlight lenses.

Enlarging a hole that already has been drilled or cored. Generally, it is an operation of truing the previously drilled hole with a single-point, lathe-type tool. Boring is essentially internal turning, in that usually a single-point cutting tool forms the internal shape. Some tools are available with two cutting edges to balance cutting forces.

So what began in 1982 as a two-man operation in a garage is now a family business with 75 employees, which repositioned itself in 2012 when the founder's son Christian Veser joined the company.

Simple robot or piece of hard automation that is capable of the simple actions of picking an object from a fixed point and placing the object at another fixed point.

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Together with his father, the industrial engineer implemented the construction of new greenfield halls, introduced digital processes and ensured maximum energy efficiency in his company through various measures. “We have installed photovoltaics on all halls and use the waste heat from our machines to heat water, to name just a few examples,” says Christian Veser, adding: “But we also invest in modern technologies in all other respects.” For example, an ultrasonic cleaning system helps to keep the 600 or so self-managed moulding tools clean and ready for use.

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Since the Kern Micro HD produces all mould inserts as well as the required copper electrodes in one clamping and in reliable quality, automation has also found its way into this area. Previously, due to the lack of basic accuracy and reproducibility of the milling machines, the toolmakers always had to work their way to the correct dimension, with a correspondingly high reject rate. “Autonomous production was therefore out of the question,” Werner Veser confirms: “Today it's different.”

Workholding device that affixes to a mill, lathe or drill-press spindle. It holds a tool or workpiece by one end, allowing it to be rotated. May also be fitted to the machine table to hold a workpiece. Two or more adjustable jaws actually hold the tool or part. May be actuated manually, pneumatically, hydraulically or electrically. See collet.

The internal tool and workpiece changing cabinet with 90 tools and 30 workpieces not only makes it possible to machine complex moulds — some of which have a running time of 60 hours — day and night. The Micro HD also produces many small components in 24/7 operation. Should the 30 workpiece blanks no longer be sufficient in the future, a solution has also been prepared for this. Because the high-end machining centre already has an automatic door to which an external workpiece changer can simply be docked.

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“It was a major initial step in enabling us to get our production up to where it needed to be at a critical time,” Mini said.

To reproduce these surfaces in the plastic is only possible with mould inserts that are highly precise and offer the highest surface quality, especially in the relevant areas. A requirement that until a year ago could only be met by manual polishing.

At Vema, the production of high-precision mould inserts with polished surfaces forms the key foundation for the success of the downstream plastic injection moulding shop. What in 2021 still required several process steps and final manual work, has since 2022 been possible in a single clamping operation without manual rework thanks to the Kern Micro HD high-end machining centre, equipped with an MHT medium distributor.

“We did retain two of the older-technology grinders as emergency backup [machines], and the others are in storage for possible sale, or we may find someone who wants to purchase one for parts,” Mini said.

One of Crobalt’s long-term cutting tool customers primarily runs grinding machines from Agathon Machine Tools Inc., Bethel, Conn. When this customer offered Illinois Carbide Tool a used Agathon Model 250 PA-CNC Ultra grinder in 2014, the company purchased it.

When modern vehicles say “let there be light”, it is not uncommon to find high-end lenses from Vema behind them. This is because the medium-sized family business produces these lenses in a wide variety of forms for leading car manufacturers. In addition, other demanding industries such as sanitary and medical technology are among the large customer base of the company headquartered in Krauchenwies, Germany.

Microprocessor-based controller dedicated to a machine tool that permits the creation or modification of parts. Programmed numerical control activates the machine’s servos and spindle drives and controls the various machining operations. See DNC, direct numerical control; NC, numerical control.

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With another investment, Werner Veser fulfilled a long-cherished dream in 2022, as he recounts with a smile: “I have been looking at Kern machining centres at trade fairs for 20 years, but could not bring myself to buy them because of the not exactly favourable prices. Now I've recalculated together with my son, and we're sure that the investment in our high-end Kern Micro HD five-axis centre is worth it.”