Appeal Appeal Appeal: Vibratory Fi Nishing Machines Bring Value To Parts Deburring

April 2021 | Vol. 73 | Issue 4 ctemag.
com
APPEAL
Vibratory finishing machines
bring value to parts deburring
Also in this issue

Choose the correct
indexable insert
Best practices for machine
maintenance
Lessons from automotive
machining
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Table of Contents
®
April 2021 Volume 73 Issue 4
1 Northfield Plaza, Suite 240

Northfield, IL 60093
COVER STORY 847-498-9100 Fax: 847-559-4444
www.ctemag.com / www.cteguide.com
18 Mass Media Publisher

Deburring parts with vibratory finishing equipment is a cost-
Dennis Spaeth
saving, more consistent alternative to manual deburring. The dspaeth@ctemedia.com
cover image is courtesy of Walther Trowal LLC.
Editorial
30
Greg Bartlett, Managing Editor
gregb@ctemedia.com
Gina Stehl, Creative Director
ginas@ctemedia.com
Alan Richter, Editor-at-Large
alanr@ctemedia.com
Contributors
Cutting Tool Engineering regularly features
writing by numerous industry experts and
practitioners, such as Jeffrey Badger,
Christopher Tate, Brandt Taylor and
Craig Zoberis.
FEATURES Advertising Sales

Scott Beller, East
30 Insert Issues
847-714-0183
scottb@ctemedia.com
A number of factors should Patrick Keefe, Central/West
be considered when
selecting indexable inserts. DEPARTMENTS 847-714-0170
pkeefe@ctemedia.com
38 5
Dave Jones, Central
Long Live the Lead Angle 708-442-5633
dmj_jonesmedia@yahoo.com
Machines
Six practices are presented
that really matter for
6 Metalworking Corporate Staff
Product Review Chief Executive Officer
machine maintenance.
10
Dennis Spaeth
46 Shift Gears
Machine Technology dspaeth@ctemedia.com
CFO/Director of Sales
Lessons from machining
automotive materials 12 Get With the
Kenneth Spaeth
847-714-0173
can be applied to other Program kspaeth@ctemedia.com
industries.
16
Controller
Cobotics Corner Julie Distenfield
julied@ctemedia.com
50 Productive Times Circulation
51
Stamats Data Management
Advertisers Index cte@stamats.com
800-553-8878
52 Look-Ahead
ctemag.com/cteguide.com 3
TOC.indd 3 3/16/21 12:26 PM

CTEPlus Online
What’s new at www.ctemag.com
You can use your smartphone camera to

scan the QR code images below to instantly
access the reports on ctemag.com. Or
access them by entering the listed URLs
into your web browser.
MODULAR DYNAMIC EXTEND

FIXTURING MILLING TOOL LIFE
Bluco Corp.’s modular OSG USA Inc.’s HY-Pro Carb CGTech Inc.’s Vericut Force
fixturing solutions get VGM endmill series features extends cutting tool life
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Tooling Inc. and its customers for raising $6,275 to
benefit the National Robotics League. This is the
company’s fifth annual contribution to the program.
Way to #giveback and support STEM education.
See this and more on CTE social media.
4 APRIL 2021
TOC.indd 4 3/16/21 12:26 PM

Lead Angle
CRAZY, NOT INSANE

A recent New York Times article about
the growing electric car market brought
to mind a heated discussion I got into with
manually. Big difference. Also, they’re still
not commonplace.
All of which brings me to the March 10
one of the dads from my daughter’s Indian article in The New York Times, “Electric Cars
Princess group about a decade ago. Let’s Are Coming. How Long Until They Rule the
call him Jack. Road?” By 2035, the story noted, analysts
On a slow morning during a weekend predict that electric vehicles could make
outing, Jack predicted that self-driving cars up a quarter of new car sales. Even then,
— as in autonomous ones without a steering “only 13% of vehicles on the road would be
wheel — would be commonplace in five to electric.”
10 years. Even when electric vehicles are expected
Being the sort of person who doesn’t to account for 60% of new car sales in 30
have the filter that others do, I told Jack years, the article noted that most cars on the
he was nuts. At that, he informed me that road still would run on gas.
there were already self-driving cars on the While you can think what you want
road, and he proceeded to educate me about these predictions, what strikes me
about the technological progress being is just how many curveballs will be thrown
made. Although I agreed with him about the at the manufacturing process over the
advancements, I only upset him more when next 30 years. Automotive manufacturing
I said there was no way that the general certainly will be full of exciting technological
public would accept self-driving cars as challenges.
quickly as he imagined. Let’s all just hope that the powers that
To Jack, the matter was strictly about be don’t forget to ask machinists for
technology. To me, the issue was about input. That’s something Christopher Tate
self-preservation. As I said then and still say eloquently encourages in his article “Shift
today, I will not get into a car controlled by Gears” on Page 46 of this issue. It’s a great
a computer until all cars on the road are read.
computer-controlled. I just don’t trust other One final thought: Would you fly on an
drivers. airplane with only a computer for a pilot? CTE
Jack told me I was crazy because if I ever
had flown on an airplane, I already had
entrusted my life to a computer. Sure, planes
fly using automatic pilot all the time, but I about the author
reminded him that they still have pilots. Dennis Spaeth is CEO and
Now you might be thinking that there are publisher of CTE. Contact him
many self-driving cars on the road today. at 847-714-0176 or dspaeth@
That’s true, but you still can drive them ctemedia.com.
LeadAngle.indd 5 3/16/21 4:04 PM

Metalworking Product Review
MILLING AND DEEP-HOLE DRILLING. To help moldmakers ERODING AND GRINDING. United Grinding North America
achieve high levels of milling and deep-hole drilling productivity, Inc. further extended its two-in-one machine concept with its new
Unisig offers two new machine models in its USC-M series: the Walter Helitronic Raptor Diamond. Whether for resharpening
USC-2M and USC-3M. The 2M and 3M machines handle the carbide or polycrystalline diamond tools for use with wood or
rigors of milling and gundrilling metals of all types but with a metalcutting applications, this eroding and grinding technology
single, powerful universal spindle. Both models feature rigid, offers the highest level of flexibility.
robust frames for the toughest applications. United Grinding North America Inc.; www.grinding.com
Unisig; www.unisig.com
TWIN-SPINDLE LATHE. The newly designed CSD-300II front- DIAMOND FACEMILLING CUTTER. Mapal Inc. has
facing, twin-spindle lathe from Fuji Machine America Corp. boasts increased the productivity of its FaceMill-Diamond polycrystalline
increased rigidity and is loaded with new and improved features diamond facemilling cutter by positioning the coolant outlets
for faster, easier and stronger operation. The CSD-300II reportedly directly at the cutting edges. In addition, the cutter is now
achieves faster robot traverse and turret indexing speeds than its available in a modular version with a milling head to address
predecessor. customer needs for flexibility.
Fuji Machine America Corp.; www.fujimachine.com Mapal Inc.; www.mapal.com
6 APRIL 2021
MPR.indd 6 3/15/21 4:00 PM

Metalworking Product Review
FAST-TRAC JAW NUTS. Dillon Manufacturing Inc.’s Fast-Trac ADDITIVE ALUMINUM ALLOY. Velo3D Inc. released a
jaw nuts convert standard chucks into quick-change chucks, manufacturing process for additively manufactured parts using
reducing jaw change time by 50% or more, according to the aluminum F357 on the company’s Sapphire metal 3D printing
company. The system allows users to pre-assemble the jaws system. The foundry-grade aluminum alloy, which is suitable for
required for the next operation while the machine runs a the laser powder bed fusion process, enables 3D printing of parts
separate job. This minimizes jaw change time while maximizing that traditionally have been manufactured using casting practices.
productivity and profitability. Velo3D Inc.; www.velo3d.com
Dillon Manufacturing Inc.; www.dillonmfg.com
OFFLINE ROBOT PROGRAMMING. Octopuz Inc. has GRINDING OIL. Transor Filter USA LLC has introduced EVN,
released Octopuz 3.0, a major upgrade to the company’s offline a line of environmentally friendly grinding oil. Unlike most
robot programming software. Octopuz 3.0 introduces the Octopuz grinding oils, which are petroleum-based, EVN is vegetable-
PathPlanner suite of tools, an enhanced programming experience based. EVN is completely biodegradable and not harmful in
for creating, modifying and transforming path and search cases of leakage or spills. The oil improves flushing, which helps
statements, which brings a new level of efficiency to offline robot grinding performance, and increases safety.
programming. Transor Filter USA LLC; www.transorfilter.com
Octopuz Inc.; www.octopuz.com
8 APRIL 2021
MPR.indd 8 3/15/21 4:00 PM

AEROSPACE
TO THE CORE
HARVI™ ULTRA 8X
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is aerospace to the core.
kennametal.com/HARVI-Ultra-8X

staying sharp
Machine Technology
LEAN GRINDING MACHINE

By William Leventon
B illed as an entry-level version of

a feature-rich centerless grinder,
a new machine is designed to pro-
vide slide motion control and other
key ingredients to grinding success
at a lower price point.
Developed by Glebar Co. in
Ramsey, New Jersey, the GT-610 EZ
costs 15% less than the company’s
GT-610 grinder.
“We wanted to incorporate ele-
ments from our more sophisticated
automated machines in a more af-
fordable package for the shop that
just wants to do basic through-feed
grinding,” said Chief Technology
Officer John Bannayan.
The EZ has four axes of motion
compared with at least five offered
by its higher-end counterpart. An- ba
r
Gle
other difference is that the posi-
tion of the EZ’s regulating wheel is
controlled manually, which he said
makes setup easier. With a footprint
measuring just 1,041 mm × 1,270
mm (41"×50"), he said the EZ also
takes up much less floor space than Glebar says the GT-610 EZ provides some of the key capabilities of higher-end centerless
its competitors. grinders but costs significantly less.
Equipped with a 15-hp main spin-
dle motor, which Bannayan said is new machine can reduce rods made dles held by two sets of bearings.
unusual for such a small machine, the of hard materials like steel, carbide, With these twin-grip spindles,
EZ is suitable for grinding compo- diamond, PCD and technical ce- Bannayan said, “you have a much
nents under 25 mm (1") in diameter. ramics to small diameters while stiffer setup, so you can control your
He said people who need to take holding tight tolerances. diameter much better.”
a lot of material off large-diameter Despite being economical, the Another feature is a granite ma-
components must opt for a much EZ features a wide 203 mm (8") chine bed.
larger machine with a 20-hp motor. grinding wheel. “The older version of the GT-610
Although grinding parts with “In applications where you are was built on a cast-iron bed, which
complex geometries requires a GT- grinding carbide,” Bannayan said, flexes and is not stiff enough to han-
610, he said diameter reduction or “the more wheel you have, the dle carbide tool tolerances,” Ban-
producing simple geometries, such fewer passes you have to take.” nayan said. “With a granite base,
as chamfers on drill blanks, are ideal Other features that also are of- you have much better rigidity and
applications for the EZ. He said the fered by the GT-610 include spin- stiffness than you would on cast iron
10 APRIL 2021
MachineTech.indd 10 3/15/21 4:46 PM

and also better vibration-dampen- Analytics now can provide basic “was to get a manual machine
ing characteristics.” overall equipment effectiveness into (the GT-610) family from a
Like the GT-610, the EZ is equipped data, such as machine uptime and control and data acquisition stand-
with glass scales that provide submi- downtime. point and let users leverage OEE
cron slide feedback for better wheel “The objective,” Bannayan said, information.” CTE
positioning. In addition, the EZ al-
lows connection to gauges for auto-
matic size compensation.
“You can take a gauge that’s used
on the (shop) floor and plug it into
a USB port on the machine for au-
tomatic diameter compensation,”
Bannayan said. “So if you are grind-
ing a particular diameter and you
want to compensate by a couple of The Drill for Aluminum
tenths, this takes the operator out of
the equation.” Automotive Components
Developed by Glebar, the EZ’s
control software can be customized Star Solid Carbide Drills
to suit different applications and
processes. Among other things,
Diameter sizes starting
the control system enables remote
at 4mm RESULTS:
monitoring of the machine when vi-
bration and temperature monitors Optimization of: 1.5 – 4x
are placed on the spindles. the tool life!
• Proper point geometries
“We can remotely diagnose
per application
(problems) in all of our machines,”
Bannayan said, “but now we can • Material Grade Selection
also diagnose anything on a manual • Coolant Channels
machine.”
EZ users also have the option of Designed and
connecting to Glebar Advanced Manufactured in
Analytics, a cloud-based system the USA
that collects data from Glebar ma-
Reconditioning
chines, interprets and synthesizes
services available
the data and delivers actionable
real-time analytics to operators and
managers via easy-to-read dash- For more information
boards. He said Glebar Advanced or to request a quote,
give us a call at
248-474-8200 or
about the author visit star-su.com
William Leventon
is a contributing
writer for CTE.
Contact him at 248-474-8200
609-926-6447
or wleventon@ www.star-su.com
gmail.com.
MachineTech.indd 11 3/15/21 4:46 PM

staying sharp
Get With the Program
CAM SOFTWARE ANSWERS THE CALL

By Esprit CAM
E mergency responders require

the best tools available to fulfill
challenging jobs. In critical life-and-
death situations, every second mat-
ters. Countless firefighting, policing
and other first-response organiza-
tions worldwide count on Holmatro
Inc. in Glen Burnie, Maryland, to
equip them with the most reliable,
efficient tools.
To satisfy these demands, Hol-
matro has relied on Esprit CAM in Ca-
marillo, California, for more than two
decades. From the products that Hol-
matro makes to the manufacturing
processes needed to complete them,
efficiency is key, and Esprit CAM soft-
ware allows Holmatro to machine
more features in a single operation.
Since 1999, Holmatro has used
Esprit CAM software to manufac-
ture hydraulic rescue equipment
like cutters and spreaders, as well
as cylinders, plungers, check valves
and more, from aluminum, steel
and exotic alloys. Although Hol-
matro most often is associated with
hydraulic rescue equipment, the
company also makes complex parts
for many demanding industries, in-
cluding rail and energy. Esprit CAM
Despite being a longtime Es- Esprit CAM can keep up with Holmatro’s high demands.
prit CAM user, Holmatro is far from
complacent. After many demos, we concluded USA Inc. and Okuma America Corp.
“We periodically check in with that Esprit was still the best choice Holmatro uses incredibly demand-
our team to ensure Esprit is evolv- for us. We ended up adding mul- ing processes to get the job done.
ing with our needs,” said Manufac- tiple seats of Esprit to our facility in Because a lot of the products save
turing Engineer Chuck Cain. “Esprit the Netherlands.” lives, there’s no room for error.
was very good at multifunction ma- Holmatro’s U.S. headquarters “The parts that we manufacture
chining when we bought it in 1999. houses more than 30 CNC ma- are complex due to the nature of
A few years ago, we reviewed many chines, ranging from nine-axis mill/ manufacturing parts to such close
other CAM packages to evaluate if turn to five-axis simultaneous equip- tolerances,” Cain said. “A typical
we were keeping up with the times. ment, mostly made by DMG Mori product will have tolerances not
12 APRIL 2021
GetwiththeProgram.indd 12 3/15/21 4:14 PM

Gain an edge
with new steel turning grades
Looking for ways to set up a more reliable steel turning process to lower cost per part?
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strategy can make all the difference, that is why selecting the right tools for your operation
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staying sharp
Get With the Program
to exceed 30 µm (0.001"). We also

have many products with 20 µm
(0.0008") tolerances.”
Holmatro regularly uses Esprit
CAM to quickly manufacture fix-
tures and program parts on five-axis
milling machines.
“We were able to save approxi-
mately 30 minutes per part by uti-
lizing a 3+2 machining mentality,”
Cain said. “ProfitMilling also helped
with cycle time reduction.”
In recent years, Holmatro has
been interested in exploring how
automation could improve effi-
ciency and ultimately the bottom
line. Esprit CAM’s diverse cycle
Esprit CAM selection and ability to handle
Holmatro counts on Esprit CAM to manufacture hydraulic equipment. any machine make done-in-one
14 APRIL 2021

manufacturing possible. and software enhancements, we forward to the end of each calendar
“Right now, our main focus is were always generating cost sav- year because we know that Esprit
on enhancing production with un- ings,” Cain said. “This also increases CAM will be releasing some new or
attended machining,” Cain said. capacity and throughput. We
ai161176344327_CTE-APR look improved1version
2021-CGTech-PRINT.pdf of Esprit.”
2/23/2021 8:04:04 AM CTE
“We always look for ways to avoid
handling parts more than once or
twice. We also strive to manufacture
complete parts in one sequence
of events. With Esprit, we are able
to manufacture the fixture compo-
nents in a short time.”
Holmatro seeks to improve prod-
uct offerings while delivering them
to the public faster and at a reason-
able price point thanks to improved
efficiency.
“The future of our company is
about manufacturing new products
and providing our customers with
the quality they expect in as few op-
erations as possible,” Cain said.
Efficiency isn’t a concept limited
to manufacturing processes. C
“This philosophy is especially true M
for our first responders,” Cain said. Y
“We strive to provide solutions that

allow the rescue team to use the
CM
least amount of equipment as pos- MY
sible while still being effective.” CY
He said one of the most interest- CMY
ing innovations on the horizon is K
cordless equipment, which would

enhance the efficiency and mobility
of first responders and help them
more effectively save lives.
“This means no hydraulic lines
that connect a hydraulic pump and
rescue tool,” Cain said.
He said Esprit CAM has helped
Holmatro grow since the 1990s.
“With its new cycles, techniques
about the author

For more information about
Esprit CAM in Camarillo,
California, call 800-627-8479 or
visit www.espritcam.com.

staying sharp
Cobotics Corner
UNDERUTILIZING HUMAN POTENTIAL

By Craig Zoberis
L ean manufacturing concepts

have been around for over 70
years, and machine shop owners
are abundantly aware of the com-
petitive benefits. By increasing
value and reducing the amount of
work required to perform tasks on a
shop floor, many shops have expe-
rienced a transformation that has al-
lowed them to significantly improve
profitability and boost sales. A core
part of lean manufacturing is the re-
moval of waste from the manufac-
turing floor. The Toyota Production
System identified eight wastes that
are understood widely by machine
shop managers.
1. Transportation. Nonvalue-
added movement of parts, ma-
terial and information.
2. Waiting. When people, parts,
systems or facilities stand idle
while waiting for a work cycle
to finish.
3. Overproduction. Producing
parts more quickly or in greater
quantities than a customer
demands.
4. Defects. Producing parts so
flawed that customers would
deem them unacceptable. Fusion model: FC03
5. Inventory. Accumulating left-
over raw materials or finished Robot make: Universal Robots USA Inc.
goods that do not contribute Robot model: UR5e
to value creation. End-of-arm tool: Robotiq dual parallel servogripper
6. Movement. Unnecessary CNC machine make: Haas Automation Inc.
movement of workers, material CNC machine model: VF-2SS
or equipment during a single CNC machine year built: 2018
step or at a single station. Shifts per day: one
7. Extra processing. Performing Shifts per week: five
additional work even though Productivity increase: 32%
it is not required to meet
16 APRIL 2021
CoboticsCorner.indd 16 3/15/21 4:23 PM

customer standards. competitive advantage from in- specting and setting up CNCs for
With the ever-widening skills gap creased output and capacity. Peo- jobs. These shops also have ben-
in the machining industry, shop ple are doing more cerebral work efited from attracting and retaining
owners have been even more chal- like programming, scheduling, in- highly sought-after talent. CTE
lenged by the eighth waste.
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18 APRIL 2021
Deburring.indd 18 3/15/21 4:43 PM

MEDIA Deburring parts with vibratory
finishing equipment is a cost-saving
and more consistent alternative
to manual deburring.
By Alan Richter
V
ibratory, or mass, finishing is frequently viewed
as the “bastard” secondary operation, said Ken
Raby, vice president and general manager of Wal-
ther Trowal LLC in Byron Center, Michigan.
“That’s what we are,” he said. “We are in the booths in
the back, in the corner, in the dark where parts go to get
deburred, but nobody wants to go back and work there.”
Raby said a lot of manufacturers of machined parts
outsource mass finishing — not just for deburring but for
surface finishing and polishing, cleaning, edge radiusing,
descaling and pickling — because companies don’t want
to deal with the wastewater that the process generates
or the labor requirements. Nonetheless, when the appli-
cations are appropriate for deburring machined parts in
a vibratory tub or bowl and the finishing equipment and
consumables are well suited for the types of parts and
volumes produced, mass finishing adds significant value.
“If (shops) are looking at a more consistent process
and bringing value to the finishing operation, those are
the right (shops) to invest in a finishing operation,” said
Bernie Kerschbaum, CEO of Battle Creek, Michigan-
based Rosler Metal Finishing USA LLC. “If they see mass
finishing as a necessary evil because somebody put it in
a print, then they might let a job shop handle it.”
Saving Labor
Even with a record number of people becoming un-
employed because of the pandemic, manufacturers con-
tinue to struggle to attract workers.
“We are constantly trying to find ways to increase
Parts are deburred in a vibratory finishing machine.
Walther Trowal

Mass Media
automation,” said Sales and Market-

ing Manager Cole Mathisen at Mass
Finishing Inc. in Howard Lake, Min-
nesota. “That’s a big thing.”
Part manufacturers also are seek-
ing to retain the workforce already
in place by improving working con-
ditions through stress reduction.
“The main focus for a lot of com-
panies is ergonomics,” Mathisen
said, “making sure workers are not
having to do a lot of lifting and
bending.”
Kerschbaum concurred that Ro-
sler Metal Finishing USA is see-
ing robust demand for automation
equipment for finishing operations.
Automation is suitable for vibratory
bowls and tubs, he noted, but it is
more challenging than automating
drag finishing equipment in which
parts are fixtured.
He said another type of finishing
equipment that’s relatively easy to
automate is high-energy disc ma-
chines. When they are automated,
an operator simply brings a bin of
unfinished parts to a loading station
and removes a full bin of finished, Rosler Metal Finishing USA
dried parts from the machine. A disc machine is displayed operating with plastic media.
Even without automation, vibra-
tory finishing machines reduce the for finishing machines is typically sort of hands-free process where
amount of labor needed to deburr less than a year. those pieces are taken care of by
and otherwise finish parts by hand. In addition to reducing the num- equipment.”
Raby said Walther Trowal has a cus- ber of workers needed to deburr He said a high-energy centrifu-
tomer in Mexico that employed parts, mass finishing significantly re- gal barrel finisher is one equipment
90 workers to manually finish plas- duces the scrap rate. option that offers benefits, such as
tic parts before purchasing several “It’s hard to find the lunch pail quiet operation.
pieces of mass finishing equipment. guys, so to speak, who are willing “There’s no vibration,” Mathisen
“There the payback was huge,” to clock in at 8 and work until 5 and said about high-energy equipment.
he said. “All of our machines are make every part from part one to “It’s all centrifugal force, almost like
more or less sold on a payback.” part 500 look identical,” Mathisen a Ferris wheel.”
Raby said return on investment said. “It’s appealing to have some He said nonvibratory equipment
about the author ctemag.com

Alan Richter is editor- For more information about vibratory mass finishing,
at-large of CTE. view a video presentation by Walther Trowal at www.
Contact him at ctemag.com by scanning the QR code with your smart-
alanr@ctemedia.com. phone or entering this URL on your web browser:
cteplus.delivr.com/2wt6z
20 APRIL 2021

‘We are constantly trying to find ways to increase automation.’
is effective for deburring hardened baked, or mixed, into a piece. require a higher media-to-part ratio
material, sometimes removing burrs “The plastic gives a little better than robust workpieces. Kersch-
in an hour that a vibratory tub was surface finish on nonferrous parts,” baum explained that a 3-1 ratio
unable to remove. he said. of media to parts is a good start-
“It’s extremely high energy,” In addition to deburring with a ing point for delicate parts while
Mathisen said, “and the G-forces low-density media, delicate parts a 1-1 ratio is appropriate for raw
involved are upward of 12 G com-
pared with 1.5 G you see in the vi-
bratory equipment.”
He said centrifugal tumblers also
are able to impart a finer surface fin-
ish than vibratory tumblers.
Media Choices
Decrease machining time, increase precision!
When deburring and otherwise
finishing parts in a vibratory ma-
chine, end users have two basic
media materials to choose from:
cool tools
ceramic and plastic. Kerschbaum
said ceramic is more economical DEMANDING MATERIALS
per running hour and available in
a wider range of shapes and sizes, • Stainless steel
as well as suitable for finishing rel- • Titanium
atively hard metals, such as carbon
steel and stainless steel. • Superalloys (Inconel, Hastelloy)
On the other hand, plastic media, • CrCo-Alloys
which is molded to a specific size
and shape, has a lower density than MAXIMUM PERFORMANCE IN
ceramic media and generally is used SMALL DIMENSIONS
for finishing aluminum and other
nonferrous parts. But Raby said • Ø from 0.0039” to .315”
parts made of a sintered ferrous • Drilling depth up to 50 x d
metal can be somewhat delicate
and should be treated like nonfer- • Drills & mills for many applications
rous parts. • Integrated cooling
According to Walther Trowal,
pressure deburring, or ball burnish-
ing, also can be performed in small
trough vibrators with steel media.
Kerschbaum said chipping is a
concern with ceramic media, so it is
more prone to cause impingement,
especially in part features like blind
holes.
“It’s not a problem for 95% of
parts,” he said. “For those parts
Mikron Corp. Monroe
where there is a concern, a plastic Monroe, CT 06468
media would be the alternative.” mmo@mikron.com
Mathisen said ceramic and plastic www.mikrontool.com
media have abrasive material that is

Mass Media
forgings and other parts that are

not so delicate. For highly delicate
parts, such as brass ones with seat-
ing surfaces, the ratio might need to
be increased to 10-1.
Mathisen said when seeking to
entirely eliminate part-on-part dam-
age, chambers on high-energy cen-
trifugal barrel tumblers, for exam-
ple, can be created for individual
parts.
“They have their own little section
and are not damaging other parts,” Rosler Metal Finishing USA
he said. “You can divide tubs but A selection is shown of the various shapes and sizes for ceramic and plastic finishing media.
not to the extent or ease you can
with our barrel tumblers.” other,” he said, “and they deburr facility is located, but effluent typi-
On the flip side, Mathisen said themselves.” cally can’t be dumped down a drain
some low-value parts, such as fas- or deposited in a septic field.
teners and pins, basically are run Clean Machine “Wastewater disposal is some-
part on part. A compound, or soap, also is thing that I always bring up because
“The equipment is just kind of needed when mass finishing parts. I don’t want to be involved in a law-
vibrating the parts against each Regulations vary based on where a suit if a customer isn’t taking care of
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Mass Media it needs to be disposed properly. Accelerated chemistry, which is
The system can be installed on new essentially a type of acid, is avail-
equipment or retrofitted to exist- able to increase finishing speed.
it correctly,” Raby said. “I’ve gotten ing finishers from Walther Trowal or Mathisen said accelerated chemis-
my butt in trouble trying to recircu- other manufacturers. try softens part surfaces while the
late wastewater from a mass finish- “One cus tomer was going media rubs against them. He noted
ing application in the past before through 330 gallons (1,249 L) of soap that Mass Finishing doesn’t recom-
joining Walther Trowal, and they a month,” Raby said. “We put a mend the chemistry for barrel tum-
didn’t work.” wastewater centrifuge in, and they blers because the process can be so
His company offers a wastewater started going through 30 gallons aggressive that processing speed
recirculation system for vibratory fin- (114 L) of soap per month because isn’t an issue and it’s dangerous to
ishing applications that recirculates they were able to recapture and have the chemistry inside a closed
water for about four months before reuse it.” chamber.
Tommy Mathisen, co-founder and director of technology at Mass Finishing, operates a custom 600-L (159-gal.) centrifugal barrel tumbling
machine, which features four barrels with chambers measuring 1,575 mm long × 305 mm wide (62"×12").
Mass Finishing
24 APRIL 2021

“It’s a process that you have to
dial in, and it takes a lot of test-
ing,” he said. “If you have high-vol-
ume, lower-value parts that you’re
just trying to do quickly, it can be
appealing.”
Kerschbaum agreed that there is
justification for accelerated chem-
istry, such as when a high level of
polish is specified or when finish-
ing hard-to-access gear teeth, but
those applications are the excep-
tion rather than the rule.
“When you have accelerated
chemistry,” he said, “you have a
lot more concerns about waste dis-
posal than with what we call a neu-
tral mass finishing process, espe-
cially if you can run that in a recy-
cling system. If we can do a neutral
process, we will.”
When fine-tuning a mass finish-
ing process, Kerschbaum said up Walther Trowal
Parts are sent on a conveyor into a finishing bowl through a window in the bowl to reduce the
continued on Page 28 height from which they drop into the media and minimize potential part damage.

Circular Vibrators Handle Radiusing of Carbide Inserts
Similar to other part manufacturers, the weights and settings to alter the change the amplitude, enabling one
producers of cutting tools seek to amplitude and rpm, but it’s a time- machine to produce two defined
boost productivity while enhancing consuming, challenging process. amplitudes from 1 to 10 mm (0.039"
part quality. Sometimes, however, this “Just by transferring them from one to 0.394"). The rpm ranges from 950 to
existential principle of profitability is bowl to another,” he said, “you could 3,600, but running at the highest speed
blocked by technology process restraints. potentially damage the carbide inserts.” would damage or destroy the machine
A European toolmaker needed The insert manufacturer worked with even when the amplitude is 1 mm.
to overcome these limits when Haan, Germany-headquartered Walther He said the toolmaker originally
manufacturing carbide inserts. Trowal GmbH & Co. KG to develop purchased one CM 305-S modular
Toolmakers typically reject about 20% a solution. Walther Trowal reported circular vibratory finishing machine
to 30% of each batch of inserts because that the process it developed is based and quickly added more machines
of chipping when edge radiusing them on reversing the machine rotation in after reducing costs through process
using vibratory mass finishing — an conjunction with a frequency converter, a optimization and minimization of
economically unacceptable situation. miniature programmable logic controller nonproductive times. Walther Trowal
Traditionally, two different vibratory and an adjustable imbalance generator. offers six CM models. In addition, the
mass finishing machines are used: Initially, Walther Trowal changed the company increased the volume of inserts
one that runs at a lower amplitude and rpm with the frequency converter and that could be processed at one time
higher rpm and one that runs at a higher PLC but manually adjusted the weights because each new machine has a total
amplitude and lower rpm, said Ken Raby, to ensure that the process functioned working capacity of 0.19 cu. m (6.7 cu.
vice president and general manager effectively, Raby said. Once the process ft.) compared with the previous vibratory
of Walther Trowal LLC. An alternative is was proven, an adjustable imbalance tub’s capacity of 0.014 cu. m (0.5 cu. ft.).
to use only one machine and change generator was added to automatically — Alan Richter
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Direction of angle of
the linear amplitude
Amplitude to be read
in mm
Example:
= 6 mm
Walther Trowal
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‘It’s appealing to have some sort of hands-free
process where those pieces are taken care of by equipment.’
Mass Media “Mass finishing, unless you go all- make money.”

continued from Page 25 out with automation, you’re talking Although the return on invest-
prices from $20,000 to $200,000,” ment for a mass finishing machine
to 15 different parameters exist. He Kerschbaum said. “If you design can be fairly quick, mass finishing
recommends reaching out to finish- that well, you will have an extremely is a long-term investment. With
ing experts to gather additional in- value-added process that helps you a few simple modifications, such
sight for developing the most effi- as changing the media and com-
cient, cost-effective process. pound, he said an end user can con-
One possible way to reduce costs contributors tinue to use the equipment when
is to shift work from a high-value Mass Finishing Inc.
parts change.
CNC machining operation to a 888-260-6277 In addition, regular maintenance,
lower-cost mass finishing operation. www.massfin.com such as replacing bearings, shafts
“Can they run a faster feed on and motors, can keep equipment
their CNC machine because the Rosler Metal Finishing up and running for a long time. Be-
burr still comes off in a half-hour USA LLC sides selling machines and consum-
in the mass finishing equipment?” 269-441-3000 ables, Rosler Metal Finishing USA
https://us.rosler.com
Kerschbaum said. relines and rebuilds equipment.
The cost of a decent CNC ma- Walther Trowal LLC “We recently did a machine that
chine might start at $200,000 with 616-455-8940 was about 50 years old,” Kersch-
no limit in sight. www.walthertrowal.com baum said. “The machines last.” CTE
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A number of factors should
be considered when
selecting indexable inserts.
By William Leventon
H ow should shops choose an in-

dexable insert for a cutting appli-
cation? In many cases, probably not
the way the choice actually is made.
Instead of just going with the fa-
miliar, the right approach is to take
a comprehensive look at the cutting
process at hand and then select an
insert with the right characteristics to
meet the demands and requirements
of that application. Insert suppliers
can be a big help in this regard. Their
experts can steer you toward an in-
sert that not only is suitable for a par-
ticular job but will help optimize pro-
ductivity and tool life.
Before beginning the process of
zeroing in on the right insert, shops
should consider whether a removable
cutting tip is a better choice for a job
than a solid tool. One of the main at-
tractions of inserts is that they nor-
mally have more than one cutting
edge. When worn, a cutting edge can
be changed by turning or flipping the
insert, also known as indexing, to an
unused edge.
On the downside, however, index-
able inserts are not as rigid as solid
tools and thus not as accurate.
“You can’t match the tolerance or
finish of a ground surface with an in-
sert because of deflection,” said Jim
White, national sales manager at Car-
mex Precision Tools LLC in Richfield,
Wisconsin.
Therefore, he said, most indexable
Choosing the right insert for an application can

increase productivity and tool life.
Ceratizit USA
30 APRIL 2021
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Insert Issues tolerances can be held. But this typ- over, he said.
ically requires both a rougher and Then there’s the issue of cost.
finisher. Moreover, the finisher can’t “Most smaller shops always ask
milling cutters are roughers and fin- be indexed often because each in- for an indexable solution because
ishing is done with solid tools like dexing results in a loss of accuracy. they think it is cheaper than a solid
endmills. That’s why many finishing inserts are tool,” White said.
For turning, “everything is in- single-sided as opposed to double- He said although this is true in the-
dexable,” White said, and tight sided inserts that can be flipped ory, in many cases indexable inserts
Helical-flute indexable thread mills (bottom) run faster and more efficiently
than straight-flute indexable thread mills (top) while usually wearing
much less as well.
Tools
cision
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32 APRIL 2021

‘You can’t necessarily select an insert grade that is
performing well in steel and assume that it’s also going
to work well in stainless, superalloys or aluminum.’
break or wear quickly. be the application — in particular, material-specific,” Andersson said.

Carmex Precision Tools sells both the material to be machined. “So you can’t necessarily select an
indexable and solid thread mills. “Modern cut ting tools are insert grade that is performing well
For low-volume jobs, White believes
that a solid is the better choice.
But for high-volume production,
he thinks that an indexable is more
economical over the life of the job.
Besides being more expensive than
an indexable, he noted, a solid must HIGH PERFORMANCE
by
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drops by about 30%. In addition, he Leveraging its American spirit
pointed out that solids must have
their coatings stripped and then be to offer the ALL-NEW Patriot
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never as good as the original. So for
high-volume jobs, he usually recom-
mends an indexable.
Starting the Process

Once the decision is made to go
with an indexable insert, shops face
the task of choosing from many op-
tions. A good way to start the selec-
tion process is to decide what you
want to achieve with the insert, said
Jan Andersson, product manager Incorporating a wide range of drill lengths and diameters,
for indexable inserts at YG-1 Tool ARCH Cutting Tools Patriot High Performance portfolio of
solid carbide drills excels across the broad spectrum of all
(USA) Co. in Vernon Hills, Illinois. ISO class workpiece materials, from general steels, cast
While productivity might be the top irons, HSRA, and many more.
priority at some shops, he said, oth-
With diameters as small as 0.8 mm (0.0314 inches) and up
ers may place a higher value on flex- to 20.0mm (0.7874 inches), single or double margin offering
ibility and prefer an insert that can based on cutting diameter.
be used to machine multiple types Our range covers a comprehensive application base,
of similar components. providing a universal geometry suitable for most
Another early consideration in applications across all industry segments that focus
on hole quality. These include die and mold,
the insert selection process should automotive, medical, and aerospace.
Connect with an
about the author application engineer
William Leventon
is a contributing
writer for CTE.
Contact him at
609-926-6447 archcuttingtools.com Cutting Tools
or wleventon@
gmail.com.

Insert Issues
in steel and assume that it’s also

going to work well in stainless, su-
peralloys or aluminum.”
Tool manufacturers offer a wide
range of insert grades — from more
wear-resistant to tougher — and ge-
ometries to handle a variety of ma-
terials, as well as material conditions
like hardness and whether a mate-
rial is cast or forged.
“If you have a cast or forged com-
ponent, your grade selection will be
different than it would be if you’re
(cutting) a clean or pre-machined ma-
terial,” Andersson said. “In addition,
geometry selection for a cast com-
ponent will be different than it would
be for a pre-machined component.”
Shops also should take into ac-
count the machine or machines in
which an insert will be used.
“Some machines have horse-
power limitations, and some have
spindle rpm limitations,” said Jus-
tin Messerschmidt, technical man-
ager for cutting tools at Ceratizit
USA Inc. in Warren, Michigan. “If
you don’t take those into consider-
ation, you could choose a carbide
grade that needs to run at a higher
rpm to be successful but not be
able to achieve that because of the
machine limitations.” Ceratizit USA
In addition to machine capabili- Insert suppliers can help shops select the best insert from many options.
ties, shops should look at the entire
machining setup and evaluate its ri- you’ve chosen an insert substrate brittle it is,” Messerschmidt said.
gidity and stability. This includes the that is too hard,” Messerschmidt “So running into a difficult portion
stability of the machine itself, as well said, “you have a situation that is of cut could cause catastrophic in-
as the toolholding and workholding. much more prone to insert failure.” sert failure.”
“If you can’t clamp a good por- Similarly, Andersson said, the
tion of the part,” Messerschmidt Hard Versus Tough most wear-resistant grade is proba-
said, “you wouldn’t choose an insert This illustrates an important but bly not the right choice for applica-
with a larger radius because that counterintuitive fact about insert tions with unstable setups.
could (increase) tool pressure, which selection: The hardest, most wear- Instead, “you will probably have
would cause chatter or lift the part resistant insert substrate is not al- to go to a tougher grade to manage
out of the workholding.” ways the best choice for an appli- vibration introduced by the instabili-
He said if the toolholding or work- cation. Consider, for example, a sit- ties,” he said.
holding setup isn’t rigid, there is a uation in which an insert must be Another important factor in grade
good chance that the result will be chosen to cut forged material with selection is the machining speed of
chatter. hard spots in it. an application.
“And if you have chatter and “The harder the insert, the more “You want a grade that matches
34 APRIL 2021

‘Never separate grade from geometry
because you can utilize geometry to reinforce grade.’
up to the speed you intend to run metry because you can utilize ge- “You can measure mechanical
at,” Andersson said. ometry to reinforce grade,” he said. toughness properties, but that
Generally, he said, the idea is to Consider, for instance, the tough- doesn’t really matter much,” Ander-
run as fast as possible for maximum ness of an insert. sson said. “What matters is how the
productivity but not so fast that the
speed significantly reduces tool life.
Messerschmidt said not using
the correct speed and feed with a Comprehensive Solutions for a Complete
particular insert can result in poor Range of Metalworking Applications.
CERATIZIT
surface finish and chip control. He
added that an increased feed rate is
IS IT.
required for inserts with larger nose
radiuses. Ordinarily, he said, the
larger the nose radius, the higher
the feed rate should be.
“If there is chatter, the natural in-
clination is to turn down the feed
rate,” he said. “But that’s actually
the opposite of what you should do
in this case. If you don’t use an in-
creased feed rate with a larger nose
radius, you could get chatter and 14 OVERVIEW OF THE CERATIZIT GROUP BRAND DESIGN GUIDELINES
poor surface finishes.”

14 OVERVIEW OF THE CERATIZIT GROUP BRAND DESIGN GUIDELINES
Common Mistakes
When it comes to mistakes in
the selection of inserts, Andersson To know CERATIZIT is to know quality.
4. Competence and product brands
As a full-range supplier, with over 95 years of history, we are
points to a number of common er-
internationally recognized
A total inandthe
of eight competence cutting
product tool industry.
brands are assigned Our
to the CERATIZIT Groupleading carbide
corporate brand, highlighting the
14 OVERVIEW OF THE CERATIZIT GROUP BRAND DESIGN GUIDELINES
rors. One is concentrating first on 14 OVERVIEW OF THE CERATIZIT GROUP

cutting tools and hard material solutions from brands
BRAND DESIGN GUIDELINES
trusted brands is your assurance
diversity and respective specialisations of the areas within the Group.
4. Competence and product
choosing the best grade for an ap- of success. Contact us to learn more.
A total of eight competence and product brands are assigned to the CERATIZIT Group corporate brand, highlighting the
plication and only afterward consid- diversity and respective specialisations of the areas within the Group.
ering the geometries available for

that grade.
MEET TEAM CUTTING 4. Competence TOOLS and product brands
4. Competence and product brands
“Never separate grade from geo-
contributors
Carmex Precision Tools LLC CERATIZIT KOMET WNT KLENK
855-463-5509 Turning Tools, Grooving Indexable Insert Drilling, Turning, Drilling, Solid Carbide Drilling
Tools, and Milling Tools Reaming/Countersinking, Milling, Thread Forming, for the Aerospace
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from Ultra-Hard Cutting Spindle Tooling, and and More Industry
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YG-1 Tool (USA) Co.

800-765-8665
www.yg1usa.com

CERATIZIT GROUP November 2019
Insert Issues
combination of grade and geom-

etry behaves in the end user’s ma-
chine. And if you pick a very strong
geometry, you will gain toughness
behavior.”
Geometry considerations can
include insert microgeometry, or
edge line condition, as well as what )
SA
he refers to as macrogeometry, l (U
oo
which is the shape or topography of - 1T
YG
the top side of the insert. The latter
typically is called the chipbreaker.
“In any manufacturer’s catalog,
you’ll see that for steel, say, you
have a choice of a number of dif-
ferent grades and chipbreakers,”
Andersson said. “We try to match In many cases, four-edge CNMG inserts can cut as many parts as their six-edge WNMG
up the grade with the chipbreaker counterparts.
to get the best solution for an
application.” which translates to increased wear make sacrifices in cycle time, which
Another common mistake he and shorter tool life. So in many doesn’t make sense for people try-
cited is thinking that an insert with cases, a CNMG would cut as many ing to optimize processes, Messer-
more cutting edges is always the parts over time as a WNMG. schmidt said.
best choice. That would mean, for Andersson also believes it’s a On the other hand, machines at
example, that a WNMG insert with mistake for shops to ask for an in- some shops need to be flexible
six edges is inherently a better op- sert that can cut a number of dissim- enough to deal with numerous ma-
tion than a four-edge CNMG insert. ilar materials. chining scenarios.
“You automatically think that the “The more you use one grade “Job shops may want a general-
cost per edge (of the WNMG) is and one geometry for different ap- purpose insert because they don’t
going to be lower,” Andersson said. plications, the more compromises have the time, resources or inven-
“But that’s not the case.” you introduce,” he said. “So you tory capabilities to put in a specific
The reason, he explained, is that start paying penalties in tool life and insert for every application on their
the way the WNMG is seated in its chip control, and you are setting shelf,” Messerschmidt said.
pocket is a fairly weak arrangement yourself up for failure.”
that allows insert movement during Shops that choose a general-pur- Help From Suppliers
machining. The result is vibration, pose grade and/or chipbreaker also Whatever its objec tives or
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36 APRIL 2021

tecnicrafts
R
situation, a shop can get valuable insert selection as-

sistance from tool suppliers. In the COVID-19 environ-
ment, however, there are limits to what insert manufac-
turers can do for customers.
“We have become very good at giving recommen-
dations off-site,” Andersson said, adding that limita-
tions exist from not being able to see customer set-
ups, spot machine vibrations or hear telltale noises,
which means that advice comes with an increased
safety margin.
In many cases, he would like to provide more help to
customers than they actually request.
“The most common question I get is, ‘I am using
Brand X, and here is the grade and the geometry.
What is your equivalent of that?’” Andersson said. ATTENTION SWISS MACHINE BUILDERS AND USERS...
He refers to this as “cross-referencing” and believes Tecnicrafts collets and guide bushings for Swiss Type CNC
it’s a bad way to start a conversation with an insert sup- Automatic Lathes. All popular brands. Smooth bore, groove bore,
straight nose, tapered nose and other styles of collets available in
plier. The reason, he said, is that about 90% of the time,
various sizes. Adjustable, profile and reinforced shank style guide
people making these requests are using a suboptimal bushings, too.
grade and geometry for applications.
Platinum Tooling is now the exclusive importer
“What you should say is, ‘Here is the application, of Tecnicrafts products in North America.
the material, the hardness and the material condition.
16 E. Piper Lane, Ste.128
What do you recommend?’” Andersson said. “You are Prospect Heights, IL
better off starting fresh with (a recommendation for) 847-749-0633
info@platinumtooling.com
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These six practices really matter for machine maintenance.
By Joe Jancsurak
A uthor Kurt Vonnegut once noted that a “flaw in the human character is
that everybody wants to build and nobody wants to do maintenance.”
The same might be said of some manufacturers. But when preventive main-
‘Some of the
tenance practices are overlooked or ignored, the likely consequences are biggest things
costly repairs, replacements and downtime.
With the economy during COVID-19 affecting equipment purchases and when it comes
staffing decisions, machines of all types are being kept longer and often
with fewer technicians, which presents challenges for manufacturers. The
to preventive
good news is that machine builders and service support firms stand ready maintenance
to assist. Three such companies — Graymills Corp., Mitsubishi Electric Au-
tomation Inc. and Up! LLC, which does business as The Up! Service Net- are the basics.’
work — recently discussed what they consider to be six important to-do’s
38 APRIL 2021
Machine Maintenance.indd 38 3/16/21 12:03 PM

Metalheads are a force to be reckoned with.
When the right workholding could not be found,
Mate machinists did what machinists do—solve the problem.
We’ve built something better, stronger, bolder.
Machining miracles just got easier.
mate.com/metalheads
Made in the USA

Long Live the Machines manual never see it,” Kucklick said. Kucklick agreed.
“Whether it’s your car or industrial “Hydraulic machine oil, for exam-
equipment, manuals contain the ple, doesn’t last forever,” he said.
for maintaining machines. As for the necessary information for maintain- “Manufacturer recommendations
don’ts, there’s just one: Don’t ignore ing equipment. We spend a lot of need to be followed.”
the do’s. time troubleshooting on the phone As for filters, Kucklick said clog-
with customers who don’t refer to ging is good and certainly not a rea-
Do Read and Use the Manual their manuals.” son to go without them.
The No. 1 best practice for main- “When die change filters clog,
taining equipment is to “read the Do Replace Fluids and Filters it’s because they’re doing their
freaking manual,” said Graymills’ For companies that do routinely job,” he said. “Nonetheless, I’ll go
Tom Kucklick with a laugh. review their machine manuals, ad- into facilities that are operating
As technical sales/applications vice from Justin Kueker, senior without filters in the housings be-
specialist at the Broadview, Illi- product manager of service at Mit- cause the filters are clogging up.
nois-based maker of metalworking subishi Electric Automation in Ver- Sure, replacing a $20 disposable
pumps, ink pumps and parts wash- non Hills, Illinois, should come as no paper filter monthly will add $240
ing equipment, he is familiar with surprise. He oversees servicing of to a company’s annual operating
a common scenario at plants of all CNC-equipped mills and lathes for costs. However, that’s a lot less than
sizes. metalcutting. the amount of revenue lost due to
“When the machine is delivered, “Some of the biggest things downtime resulting from not regu-
the supervisor or plant manager when it comes to preventive main- larly replacing filters.”
grabs the manual and puts it in a tenance are the basics,” he said. Kucklick said filters with stain-
file for safekeeping, but the employ- “Regularly change fluids and filters less steel shell cartridges can be
ees who need to read and use the to ensure smooth operation.” cleaned simply by “banging them a
An automatic, agitating immersion
cleaning machine is shown.
Graymills
40 APRIL 2021

couple of times in a garbage can or BLANK PREP. - PINS - PUNCHES -
NONROUNDS
using a parts washer.”
Do Monitor Movement Pinch & Peel Grinding Machine ShapeSmart®NP50

and Speed Amazing grinding range from .0008" to 1"
Kueker said movement as it per- High-efficiency synchronous spindle motors
tains to axes and spindles also Multi-pass grinding
warrants ongoing attention. He
stressed the importance of rou-
tinely taking machines through their
paces to evaluate axis movement
and spindle speed.
“Looking for deviations and out-
of-spec movement is necessary for
about the author

Joe Jancsurak
can be reached
at jjancsurak@
gmail.com.
New York City skyline ground on the ShapeSmart®NP50
www.rollomaticusa.com
Graymills

Up!
The Up! Service Network matches service requesters with service providers nationwide.
Long Live the Machines careful attention to fans. said small ball bearings present a
“If dirty fans are allowed to oper- challenge.
ate continuously, heat won’t dissi- “Care must be taken to not spray
avoiding breakage,” he said. pate, resulting in a harmful situation any liquid into the bearing area of
David Rhodes, general man- for the electronics,” he said. “Fans the fan,” he said. “My recommen-
ager of The Up! Service Network, a must be cleaned and replaced on (a) dation: Just replace the fan accord-
3-year-old industrial service network regular basis or else there will be pre- ing to the user recommendations,
based in Mason, Ohio, that matches mature failure of electronic parts.” generally every two or three years.
service requesters with service pro- Although fan life can be extend- It may cost $50 to $200 to replace
viders nationwide, concurred. ed with proper cleaning, Kueker a fan, but to replace a drive system
“There’s a range of parts that that fails due to an improperly main-
can break depending on the ma- tained fan will set the company back
chine types,” he said. “Perhaps it’s contributors $2,000 to $7,000.”
a toolchanger that isn’t grabbing a To ensure access to critical data,
tool properly or an x- or y-axis that Graymills Corp. Kueker said another component
is out of alignment. Whatever the 866-330-8392 that needs to be replaced system-
scenario, machine shops need to www.graymills.com atically on CNC machines is the
practice preventive maintenance, battery.
whether with in-house technicians, Mitsubishi Electric “While data can be backed up
Automation Inc.
(with) a service agreement through on the cloud,” he said, “it’s best to
847-478-2100
the machine builder or through out- https://us.mitsubishielectric.
replace batteries every one to five
side service providers.” com/fa/en years depending on manufacturer
recommendations.”
Do Protect Electronics Up! LLC Senior Product Manager Rob
Kueker said one of the best ways 614-407-8674 Ruber, who is responsible for
to protect electronics is by paying www.theupapp.com the line of programmable logic
42 APRIL 2021

‘Looking for deviations and out-of-spec
movement is necessary for avoiding breakage.’
controllers at Mitsubishi Electric Au- Do Know Your Options replacement parts, service calls,
tomation, said it is a good idea for Ruber said it’s important to know etc. When evaluating buying a new
a programmer to create custom how to evaluate options when it machine versus retrofitting an old
alarms alerting users when it’s time comes to maintaining or replac- (one), customers need to ask them-
to replace batteries. As for a PLC it- ing equipment. He cited four as- selves where do they see them-
self, he stressed the importance of sessment tools that machine shops selves in five, 10 or 15 years? They
appropriate installation inside an should be familiar with: overall have to weigh business as usual ver-
enclosure that maintains proper en- equipment effectiveness, mainte- sus taking advantage of newer fea-
vironmental ratings. nance cost, benefits of new features available. Some of these fea-
“As one would expect, there tures, and depreciation. tures include Industrial Internet of
shouldn’t be any moisture, dust “OEE, a metric that determines Things connectivity, reduced cab-
or debris in the air, and the PLC the overall efficiency of machines, inet space, energy efficiency, in-
should be mounted to ensure can be used to determine the level tegration into supervisory con-
proper airflow around the device,” of attention a machine requires,” trol and data acquisition or build-
he said. “Depending on where the he said. “Then we need to consider ing management system software,
product is located, an additional how much it costs to maintain older and the ability to add equipment,
device may be needed to cool or equipment. This includes machine such as robotics. Finally, there’s the
heat the cabinet.” downtime, employee overtime, depreciation value, which helps

Mitsubishi Electric Automation
The M8 series control platform is presented.
Long Live the Machines Do Have a Plan strategically use outside tech sup-
The importance of having a plan port for customer service,” he said,
can’t be underestimated, Rhodes “reserving their in-house techs for
determine whether a company said, adding that this often requires more complex tasks.”
should move to retrofit an existing an assessment of not only physical Kueker said another resource not
machine or buy new.” but human resources. He suggested to be overlooked by machine shops
Moreover, Ruber said if manu- that companies adopt hybrid labor is preventive maintenance agree-
facturers know they’re going to models that include W-2 employees ments offered by machine builders
keep machines longer, they need (in-house technicians) and 1099 con- and control providers.
to “stay aware of when component tractors (outside service contractors) Rhodes said one thing is certain.
obsoletions occur to ensure that for strategizing how to handle main- “Just because these are diffi-
they buy enough spare parts to see tenance before problems occur. cult economic times,” he said, “ma-
them though the planned life of the “Even large machine build- chines still need to be serviced and
machine.” ers with in-house technicians will maintained.” CTE
44 APRIL 2021

Lessons from machining automotive materials can be
applied to other industries.
By Christopher Tate pennies. We would spend hours on a proj-

ect to reduce a cycle time by one or two sec-
M oving from a job shop to an auto-

motive manufacturing company pre-
sented several challenges to my machining
onds, and then we would celebrate as if we
had achieved perpetual motion. Automotive
processes are well tuned, so incremental im-
skills. The constant pressure to reduce costs, provements are typically all that are possible.
the almost maddening pace, the volume of Therefore, success required developing
parts and the relentless drive to eliminate a completely different approach to machin-
downtime can overwhelm someone unac- ing, as well as understanding that accom-
customed to the industry. plishments would differ from those at the
At the job shop, we had an “If it isn’t bro- job shop. I learned several important les-
ken, don’t fix it” attitude toward improve- sons that have served me well as I’ve transi-
ments. We would live with inefficiencies if a tioned to other industries.
machining process delivered good parts in a
reasonable amount of time. Shop improve- Machinist Intervention
ments were measured in hours and dollars. Human intervention in the machining
Automotive manufacturing improve- process is the gateway to most quality
ments are measured in seconds and and safety issues. Building robust, capable
46 APRIL 2021
MachiningAuto.indd 46 3/16/21 12:23 PM

by
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CNC Deburring Tool
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Compression and Extension Float
• Deburr parts quickly and consistently on the CNC
machine eliminating the need for tedious hand work.
• The Deburr-Z floats in both compression and

extension allowing the cutting tool to follow the
top edges or underside edges of the work piece,
even when these are not clearly defined like in the
case of castings and cross holes.
• Adjust the force to increase or decrease the pressure

depending on the type of material and desired
edge break.
Top Edges Underside Edges Intersecting
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Automotive manufacturing improvements
are measured in seconds and pennies.
Shift Gears and one-off tools open the door

engineers to an efficiency problem
to unplanned downtime. A special
often is to buy a new tool or insert
so they can cut faster. That some-
tool always will be single-sourced
operations that require little inter- times does not give the desired re-
and have extended lead times be-
vention from machinists is the first sult. In fact, it can have the oppo-
cause the process is the only one
step to becoming efficient. Unfor- site effect. If tool life decreases, a
in the world that uses that tool. I
tunately, there is no silver bullet to machinist may need to interact with
have witnessed production grind
eliminate the things that call for a a process more often, and add- to a halt when a crib failed to reor-
machinist to interact with the pro- der tools or a tool manufacturer’s
ing cutting tools increases inven-
cess. Machinists must change tools, tory costs and the cost of managing
lead times doubled in an expand-
load parts, measure dimensions and tools. Processes must be observeding economy. After the 2011 earth-
make adjustments, but careful ob- and data must be examined to un- quake and tsunami near Japan, cut-
servations and projects that mini- derstand where improvements are ting tool and insert production at
mize these activities pay off in im- needed. Avoid the temptation to some factories ceased for months,
proved efficiency. leaving many machine shops scram-
speed up a process until there is a
clear understanding of the problem.
bling to make tools. Of course, cus-
Too Fast tom tools and special inserts al-
Cutting faster does not always Custom Tools ways will be needed, but finding so-
reduce costs or gain efficiencies. Avoid nonstandard cutting tools lutions that reduce the number of
The first reaction of machinists and when possible as custom inserts specials in a crib will lower risk.
Route to Success
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48 APRIL 2021

Overthinking It from experts. Machinists and other another location that did not have
Look for simple solutions first.
craftspeople are the front-line ex- experience with this type of tool.
When there is a problem with a ro-perts at any shop. Small shops rely We probably would have gotten to
bust machining process that rou- on their expertise to get the job the answer on our own, but it would
tinely delivers acceptable results, a
done, but at larger manufactur- have been a lot faster if we had in-
simple solution often exists. For ex-
ing companies they sometimes are volved the machinist at the begin-
ample, our valve machining processoverlooked and excluded from the ning. Shame on us.
was solid. We rarely had issues with
problem-solving process. This is While these ideas may seem very
those lines, so when we started hav-
unfortunate as they have insight simple, they are important lessons
ing bad parts, it was a big surprise.
into the nuances of machining pro- that can make manufacturing engi-
The problem involved two sets of cesses, which can lead to significant neers and programmers more ef-
holes drilled 90 degrees to each improvements. For instance, a dis- fective at any machine shop. CTE
other using a rotary table. One set
cussion with a machinist about one Filtermist_Ad_CTE_847_Layout 1 12/9/20 2:26 PM Pa
was on-center, and the other was of our drilling processes uncovered
off-center. We chased the problem an issue with reconditioned drills.
by adjusting work coordinates and We had a sporadic problem with OIL MIST & SMOKE
adding lines of code, which only scrap due to oversized holes. We IN YOUR SHOP?
briefly fixed the issue. We found studied the situation for weeks, ad-
that the collet on the fixture peri-
justing cutting parameters, chang-
ing coolants and replacing parts on
odically fractured and required re- www.mistcollectors.com
placement, forcing the fixture to the machine with no success. While Tel: 1-800-645-4174
be removed from the rotary table. standing at the machine scratching
When the collet was replaced, the our heads, someone finally asked Low-Cost, Highly Efficient Mist and Smoke
fixture was not realigned, which the machinist her opinion. She said Collectors Designed Specifically for the
made the part rotate eccentrically.
the difficulty occurred only when Metalworking Industry
A bit more investigation would have

she used the reconditioned drills
saved a few shifts’ worth of parts.
and that it was a fairly recent phe-
Machinist Knowledge
nomenon. A quick investigation re-
vealed that the company that had
Drills, Reamers
Of all the things I learned, the been grinding these drills had been and Endmills!
most important was to seek input sold. Its work had been moved to
about the author

Christopher Tate is engineering manager of advanced CJT Koolcarb and GenHam are
manufacturing engineering and machining at the Savannah, Manufacturers of High
Georgia, facility of Mitsubishi Hitachi Power Systems Ameri- Production Cutting Tools!
Custom and Standards, Solid
cas Inc. in Lake Mary, Florida. Contact him at chris23tate@ Carbide, Carbide Tipped,
gmail.com. Diamond Tipped, Coolant and
Non Coolant fed. Built to your
tool print or designed to meet
your application based on
your part print.
Diamond Tooling Plant,

Colorado www.genham.com
PH. 1-970-249-1300
Carbide Tooling Plant, Illinois
www.cjtkoolcarb.com
PH. 1-800-323-2299
Made in the U.S. visit our website
to request a catalog, or call us for
additonal information or to find
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ISO 9001:2015 CERTIFIED

Productive Times
TAKING CUTTERS INTO THEIR OWN HANDS

I t doesn’t do a parts manufacturer
any good to apply cutting tools
that vary in tolerances when ma-
where you are chasing 2, 3, 4 mi-
crons, and then you are using cut-
ting tools that have a 10-micron
control its grinders.
In addition, he said Anca offers
grinding machines with linear mo-
chining parts that require some of (0.00039") tolerance, you are chas- tors, which enable a high level of
the tightest tolerances. ing your tail,” he said. accuracy. He noted that Miltera Ma-
Miltera Machining Research Corp. The business determined that chining Research has linear motors
is one such manufacturer that strug- it needed to produce endmills in- on its five-axis machines.
gled with tolerances on the endmills house to have the required ex- “A big attraction was just the
it was using to produce compo- treme-tolerance tools, often with ability of the machine to be stable
nents with tolerances as tight as 2 unique geometries, and searched and react in the way we would ex-
to 4 µm (0.00008" to 0.00016"), said for a suitable five-axis CNC tool pect,” Blackburn said. “In compar-
Michael Blackburn, president of the grinding machine. ing some of the other machines, we
The tool grinding
area at Miltera
Machining Research
includes Anca MX7
Linear grinders.
Miltera Machining Research
Cambridge, Ontario, company. “Most companies said, ‘What you weren’t necessarily seeing that we
“Then we even go beyond that are doing is crazy and weird, and get that same response.”
to the submicron level when talking we’re not interested in helping you He said the design of Anca’s grind-
about surface finishes,” he said. with that,’” Blackburn said. ers allows Miltera Machining Research
Formed in 2007, the corporation One machine tool builder that to modify machines, such as inspec-
employs 15 and specializes in pro- was interested was Anca Inc. in tion systems, to suit its requirements.
totyping and short-run production Wixom, Michigan. He said the man- “We integrate directly with the
of complex components made of ufacturer was willing to help pro- Anca machines to do dynamic feed-
difficult-to-machine materials that duce unconventional cutters, and back of the measured features and
typically need five-axis milling, mul- the open architecture of Anca’s con- adjust accordingly,” Blackburn said.
tiaxis turning, grinding or electrical trol enabled Miltera Machining Re- Miltera Machining Research
discharge machining. search to integrate with the control began by purchasing an MX7 Lin-
Frustrated by the varying accu- and have direct access to the core ear grinder and now has three. He
racy of its endmills, Blackburn said functionality of a grinder. said the MX7 enables production of
the company sought a solution. “That really made the difference endmills from 0.397 to about 25.4
“If you are fighting with finishes for us,” Blackburn said, adding that mm (0.0156" to 1") in diameter.
and dealing with issues on a part his company has written software to “You can get dedicated machines
50 APRIL 2021
ProTimes.indd 50 3/16/21 12:23 PM

for small tools,” Blackburn said, END USER SOLUTION PROVIDER
“but we wanted to get up to larger
tools, as well as cover the whole Miltera Machining Anca Inc.
range we need.” Research Corp. 248-926-4466
In addition to its own needs, he said 519-725-2554 www.anca.com
the company determined that some www.miltera.com
of its customers required extreme-
tolerance and application-specific cut- Apply endmills with the same tight tolerances as the
CHALLENGE
ting tools, so it decided to produce components being machined.
tools for clients as well. As a result,
Miltera Machining Research makes Use CNC tool and cutter grinders with an open
SOLUTION
custom cutters that Cambridge- architecture control.
based Zedaro Inc. sells to manufac-
turers serving the motor sports, aero- “We make the exact size of tool tion, the company has postproduc-
space, medical, consumer electronics you need for that geometry,” Black- tion inspection devices, including a
and moldmaking industries. burn said. Zoller »genius« universal measur-
Blackburn said during peak pro- He said Miltera Machining Re- ing machine, a Zoller »pomBasic«
duction, Miltera Machining Re- search’s specials also have unique inspection machine, a Walter Heli-
search manufactures about 12,000 geometries, such as custom forms, check measuring machine and an
cutters monthly, with roughly 10% to circle segments and barrel shapes. Alicona µCMM optical coordinate
20% for in-house applications. Although the cutters can be out- measuring machine, which enables
“We do produce other types of sourced for coating, Blackburn said submicron inspection of the cutting
cutting tools and ground compo- most are not. Instead, they are pro- edge radius and surface finish.
nents,” he said, “but the vast major- cessed internally with specific edge Blackburn cautions, however, that
ity is solid-carbide endmills.” control and polishing. He said tool producing these tools is not for the
Besides offering endmills with coating is an uncontrolled process faint of heart.
extremely tight tolerances, com- that results in varying thicknesses “Designing tools properly is not a
pany tools are balanced and typi- over the substrate. simple process and requires exper-
cally made for specific applications. “It can really mess up a tight-tol- tise in that field,” he said. “We have
One example is an endmill with a erance tool,” he said. done quite a lot of tooling research
particular width for slotting. In addition to in-process inspec- and tested many tools.” CTE
Ad Index
ADVERTISER NAME PAGE # ADVERTISER NAME PAGE # ADVERTISER NAME PAGE #
ARCH Cutting Tools 33 GWS Tool Group 25 OMG North America LLC 45
Beckett Packaging, a div. of MOCAP 14 Haimer USA LLC 28 Platinum Tooling Technologies Inc. 37
Carmex Precision Tools LLC 31 Ingersoll Cutting Tools 7 Rollomatic Inc. 41
Ceratizit USA Inc. 35 Iscar USA 23 Royal Products 49
CGTech 15 J.W. Done Co. 22 Sandvik Coromant Co. 13
CJT Koolcarb Inc. 49 Kennametal Inc. 9 Scientific Cutting Tools 36
GMN USA 43 Mate Precision Tooling 39 Star SU LLC 11
Gradient Lens Corporation 17 Mazak Corporation Cover 3 Tapmatic Corporation 47
Greenleaf Corporation 26-27 MIKRON TOOL 21 Tungaloy America Inc. 2
The Grinding Doc 49 NT USA Corporation 44 Widia North America Cover 4
Guhring Inc. 29 Oerlikon Balzers Coating USA Cover 2 YMW Taps USA 43
The Advertisers Index is provided as a courtesy to advertisers. Every effort is made to avoid errors, but should one occur, CTE is not responsible.
Reviewed by the Engineering Index. Cutting Tool Engineering® (ISSN:0011-4189) is published monthly. Copyright 2021 by CTE Publications
Inc., 1 Northfield Plaza, Suite 240, Northfield, IL 60093-1213. All rights reserved. Periodicals postage paid at Winnetka, IL 60093 and additional
mailing offices. Circulated in the U.S.A. to qualified individuals concerned with the material-cutting function in industry. For others, subscriptions
are $75 per year in the U.S.A.; $125 in Canada. Other foreign subscriptions are $125 per year; overseas delivery via airmail, $195. Editorial Produced in the U.S.A.
and advertising offices: 1 Northfield Plaza, Suite 240, Northfield, IL 60093-1213. Phone (847) 498-9100; Fax (847) 559-4444. This magazine
is protected under U.S. and international copyright laws. Before reproducing anything from this publication, call the Copyright Clearance
Center Inc. at (978) 750-8400. CTE Publications makes every effort to ensure that the processes described in Cutting Tool Engineering
conform to sound machining practices. Neither the authors nor the publisher can be held responsible for injuries sustained while following
procedures described herein. Postmaster: Send address changes to Cutting Tool Engineering, PO Box 1487, Cedar Rapids, IA 52406-1487.
Canada Post: Publications Mail Agreement #40065725. Canada returns to be sent to 2835 Kew Dr., Windsor, ON N8T 3B7.
ProTimes.indd 51 3/16/21 12:23 PM

Look-Ahead
DESIGNING METAL ALLOYS

A dvanced metal alloys are es-
sential to modern life. But cre-
ating them for specific uses, with
“You can think of them as the
glue holding the crystals together,”
Schuh said. “But they are disor-
to embrittlement. Depending on
the intended use of an alloy, engi-
neers try to optimize the combina-
optimized strength, hardness, cor- dered. The atoms are jumbled up. tion of properties.
rosion resistance, conductivity and They don’t match either of the crys- For the study, the team exam-
so on, has been limited by fuzzy un- tals they’re joining.” ined over 200 combinations of a
derstanding of what happens at the He said this means that there are base metal and an alloying metal
boundaries between the tiny crystal- billions of possible atomic arrange- based on combinations that had
line grains that make up most metals. ments compared with just a few in a been described in the literature.
When two metals are mixed, the crystal. Alloy designers usually skip Researchers then simulated some
atoms of the secondary metal might
collect along these grain boundar-
ies or spread out through the lattice
of atoms in the grains. The overall
properties of the material are de-
termined largely by the behavior of
these atoms, but until now there has
been no systematic way to predict
what they would do.
Using a combination of computer
simulations and a machine-learn-
ing process, researchers at Mas-
sachusetts Institute of Technology
have found a method to produce
the kinds of detailed predictions of
MIT researchers
these properties that could guide Researchers have found a way to predict the properties of metal alloys based on reactions
the development of alloys for a at the boundaries between the crystalline grains of the primary metal. In this image,
wide variety of applications. colored dots indicate the likelihood that atoms will collect along these boundaries rather
Christopher Schuh, professor of than penetrating them.
materials science and engineering,
said understanding the atomic-level over the problem or look at the av- of the compounds to study grain
behavior of polycrystalline metals, erage properties of grain boundar- boundary configurations. These
which account for the vast majority of ies as if they’re all the same. were used to generate predictions
metals used, is a daunting challenge. The research team approached using machine learning, which were
Whereas the atoms in a single crystal the issue by examining the actual in turn validated with more focused
are arranged in an orderly pattern so distribution of configurations and simulations. The machine-learning
the relationship between adjacent interactions for a large number of predictions closely matched the de-
atoms is simple and predictable, representative cases and then used tailed measurements.
that’s not the case with the multiple a machine-learning algorithm to ex- As a result, researchers were able
tiny crystals in most metal objects. trapolate from these cases and pro- to show that many alloy combina-
“You have crystals smashed to- vide predicted values for a whole tions that had been ruled out as
gether at what we call grain boundar- range of possible alloy variations. unviable in fact were feasible. The
ies,” he said. “And in a conventional In some cases, the clustering of database compiled from this study,
structural material, there are millions atoms along grain boundaries is a which is available in the public do-
and millions of such boundaries.” desired property that can enhance main, could help anyone working
These boundaries help deter- a metal’s hardness and resistance to on designing alloys. CTE
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Appeal Appeal Appeal: Vibratory Fi Nishing Machines Bring Value To Parts Deburring

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April 2021 | Vol. 73 | Issue 4 ctemag.

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