Product category:
Tool and cutter manufacturing
News Release from: Walter GB | Subject: CNC Helitronic Power tool grinder
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 16 June 2005
CNC tool grinder counteracts skills
shortages
Despondent at a local area's lack of good toolmaking skills, a cutting tool manufacturer decided to replace skills with a five axis CNC tool and cutter grinder.
So despondent was Mick Joyner, proprietor of Coventry, UK-based cutting tool manufacturer J Tools, about the area's lack of good toolmaking skills that he decided to replace 'hands-on' application with technology - a new five-axis CNC Helitronic Power tool grinder from Walter GB of Redditch The result was that not only was the company able to bridge its skills gap, but in the process it has also reduced cycle times from five hours down to just 25 minutes in some cases! "There are no new cutter grinder operators coming through," says Joyner, "and we can not seem to attract anyone who wants to learn cutter grinding"
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 20 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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"I had no choice but to replace skills with technology." Looking around the market for a suitable machine, Joyner narrowed the choice down to two, including the Helitronic Power.
"The main reason we opted for the Walter machine was its large capacity," he says.
"We process tools up to 280 mm diameter and a machine with an equivalent specification from Walter's competitor was way out of our price range." J Tools is a company with a GBP 1.7 million turnover generated from the manufacture of carbide and steel tools such as end mills and corner cleaners for the uPVC window industry, a sector it entered 'almost by accident' after the harsh recessions of the early 1990s.
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Available in diameters from 80mm to 315mm and with a wide range of insert geometries, the new F2252 adjustable side and face milling cutter offers unrivalled levels of flexibility for slot milling.
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It is a fate that is described by Joyner as one of 'great fortune'.
Corner cleaners are basically side and face cutters with forms that match the external shape of the window frames.
Their job is to clean the plastic welds from the corners and present neat edges.
The five-axis Helitronic Power is a sturdy machine weighing in at 4.5 tonnes for unsurpassed rigidity and stability.
Offering 11.5kW of power, rapid traverse rates are 15m/min in all linear axes and 120 deg/s on the rotational axes.
The machine can accommodate tools up to 350mm long (300mm for face grinding) and 320mm diameter.
Since installing the machine (at the end of February 2005), Joyner says the speed and quality of tool manufacture have improved 'by a mile'.
Previously form cutters required the manufacture of a special cam that had to be fitted to the company's existing tool and cutter grinder.
Typically this would lead to a total form tool cutter cycle time of five hours.
Now, using the Helitronic Power, the same cutter can be produced in just 25 minutes.
Already the machine is operating across an extended day shift from 7:30 am to 5:30 pm, every day.
"The machine is a significant investment for a company like ours," he concludes.
"But we are very happy with it and I am already considering a second machine.".
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