Page 29 - MetalForming July 2017
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The addition of three vertical machining centers (VMCs) enables Feintool to keep up with increased hardmilling demands. Also, the quality of tooling exiting these VMCs has limited the amount of hand work, according to company officials, reducing the likelihood of human error, decreasing lead times and extending tool life by as much as 40 percent.
tive features, such as small teeth, which require highly repeatable processes within 10 microns of repeatability,” Andres says. “For many years, the only option for us to reach this level of pre- cision in hardened steel was to hand- finish these features using diamond files. It was a long, arduous and exhaus- tive process that was not repeatable.”
Since investing in vertical machin- ing centers (VMCs), V33i models from Makino, the company has been able to reduce handwork by as much as 30 percent, leading to extended tool life, less variability, greater labor efficiency and substantial cost reductions, accord- ing to Andres.
Enhancing Tool Quality with Precision VMCs
Feintool’s first investment in high- speed hardmilling occurred in 2008, fol- lowing a series of collaborative tests developed and conducted alongside the company’s Japanese division. The tests were comprised of 3D models of 64-HRc
Delivering a high level of repeatable precision is no easy feat, though. Due to the intense pressure of the fineblank- ing process, tooling used within the presses typically are composed of 64-HRc hardened steel. And according to Beat
Andres, Feintool’s operations manager of toolroom and production tooling, identifying a “capable machine for this type of hardmilling” is difficult.
“Many of the tools that we manu- facture contain extremely fine, repeti-
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