Product category:
CNC punching and profiling
News Release from: Wilson Tool International | Subject: Optima coated punch press tooling
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 22 May 2002
Coated tools solve titanium punching
problem
By changing to high performance coated punch press tooling for processing titanium, Hydram Engineering has cured its excessive tool wear problems and increased tool life ten times.
By changing to Wilson Tool International's Optima (trademark) high performance coated punch press tooling for processing titanium, Hydram Engineering of Chilton, Co.Durham has cured its excessive tool wear problems caused through edge breakdown from the hardness of the material and is benefiting from a ten-fold increase in the operational life of its tools As a result, tool changes are no longer required during the running of a batch of parts and lead times are shorter
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 20 Jun 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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The titanium problem arose from an aerospace industry order which requires a punched-out profile with a variety of holes and other features.
Says Commercial Manager Ivan Russell: "We were very surprised by the speed at which the material wore out our standard punch tooling, so we called in our local engineer from Wilson Tool who quickly organised for us to try their Optima coated tools." He describes how delivery from Swindon was very quick.
He says: "As we have found in the past, when Wilson says next-day you know it will arrive." Hydram has used Wilson for punch press tooling ever since they acquired their first thick turret-style machine.
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"These machines are able to make the best use of good quality tooling, and Wilson Series 90TM has proven to be an excellent all-round system.
It's easily set and simple to maintain which means our setter/operators like it.
What we also appreciate is that Wilson Tool is happy to supply either just a part for a tool or a complete tool, which makes it very economical." He then explains how Hydram has recently investigated Wilson's range of press brake tooling which offers a bending capability on thicker material that their usual suppliers cannot match.
"So far we've only purchased a bottom vee die but it provided a bending solution on a 6mm mild steel component that we could never achieve before," he says.
Hydram has been highly successful over the last two years, having made a considerable investment in additional factory space and adding a laser profiling capacity.
The company offers a wide range of sheet metal component and sub-assembly facilities to a broad customer base.
As well as punching and laser profiling, Hydram provides CNC bending, power press work up to 800kN, welded assembly and powder coat finishing.
Manufacturing is supported by an in-house CAD/CAM facility with DNC linking to the machines on the shopfloor, and the quality systems are ISO 9002 certified.
"In essence, we operate as a large job shop," explained operations director, David Greatorex.
"We have scheduled orders but help OEM customers by providing them with an overspill contracting capability.
This can mean batch quantities range from just one to thousands but 95 per cent of our work comprises batches of less than a thousand parts." Materials processed cover the entire range from plastics through to titanium and include aluminium, mild steel and stainless steels.
Hydram's laser capacity accommodates profiling of mild steel up to 20mm thickness, while punching is usually maintained below 4mm thick sheet using a mix of standard sheet and cut blanks.
In all, five punch presses are in use of which two have thin and three have thick turrets.
However, all are fitted with rotary-index stations.
To which Ivan Russell comments: "We have changed to Optima coated tooling for all the tool inserts on our multi-tool units which cover a diverse range of round diameters.
In over two years of use we have never had to regrind a tool, which is ideal and really cost-effective for the way we work." Tolerance requirements on punched profiles vary widely, as Ivan Russell explains: "At one end of the scale we have customers who are happy with tolerances of a couple of millimetres, whereas others expect +/-0.1 mm.
In practice, we always try to set for the nominal dimension and this has proven to be a very successful policy which has helped to create a good reputation for us in the market for a quality product." The customer base spans all sections of industry from electronics and white goods through to off-highway vehicle components and architectural metalwork.
This means, to complement the laser process, Hydram uses the usual range of Wilson 'standard specials' such as louvre tools and cable knock-outs.
"Since we began to use Wilson tooling we've become very aware of the quality of the service that they offer," maintains Ivan Russell.
"The local sales engineer has always been quick to react when we've needed technical assistance.
For instance, he helped us to set up the multi-tool facility on our newest punch press.
But the change to Optima coated tooling has been very productive for us and we now use these tools on all our stainless steel work as well as titanium," he concludes.
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