SHOP SOLUTIONS Continued from P52
“Laser technology produces lots of little details while maintaining a high polish on the areas between the features of the lens tooling,” said Melonio. “That’s not possible using chemical etching because those areas would have to be sandblasted to clean them after the process. So, laser textur- ing is a big deal for the lens manufacturers. It offers them another option besides electrical discharge machining when it comes to creating a lot of features in lens molds while maintaining a high polish between those features.” “One of the biggest issues with conventional texturing is that automotive engineers believe all the tools—for example for interior components—for a single model car, need to be sourced from one supplier. The concern is that tools textured by different suppliers will vary and lack consistency,” said Melonio. As a result, shops that perform texturing have what are known as “harmony rooms” for checking gloss, texture, and other attributes of fi nished components. “But if you generate that pattern on a laser machine any- where in the world, it will be spot-on in terms of texture, gloss
and other characteristics. And as a manufacturer you can then source tools anywhere in the world and be confi dent they will match perfectly,” Melonio said. “A company that is sourcing tools to Asia, Europe and the US, for example, can send the same texture pattern information to all its suppliers. The tex- ture of all the tooling will match no matter where it’s produced. While much of the work on the large laser-texturing system is automotive-related, Custom Etch’s philosophy is to maintain a diverse customer base, which means the machine also processes components for a number of other applica- tions. These include large molds for recreational vehicles, building trades, aerospace and medical components. For more information from GF Machining Solutions, go to
www.gfms.com/us, or phone 847-913-5300. Continued from P45
HBA Inserts are Cost Cutters for Hard Metals
A
s part of its Lean Manufacturing Initiative, Mike Alfonso, president, Grand Traverse Machine (GTM; Traverse
City, MI) established a regular Thursday morning meeting to discuss tooling issues and opportunities. The family-owned shop specializes in high-precision manufacturing applications and has grown from a three-man operation in a 2000 ft2 m2) facility in 1966 to a 29,000 ft2
(185 (2694-m2 ) plant employing
70 people on two shifts seven days a week. “Our customer base is extremely diversifi ed and we run everything from automotive production components to military parts to hydraulic cylinders,” said Alfonso. “Work- ing with so many different materials, including some of the latest alloys, we realized that it was critical to get a handle on our tooling costs and performance. This could only happen through a regular disciplined approach. So we set aside Thursday mornings to discuss our existing and future requirements from a price/value standpoint. As a result, we frequently run formal tests that compare price and capabili- ties from various tooling manufacturers.” Tests conducted by Paul Biegel, GTM lathe department
supervisor, demonstrate the success of that approach. One test involved turning a ball nut 1.5” (38 mm) in length for a leadscrew 3.137-12 UNS-3A thread. The material was 8620 steel hardened throughout to Rc
26–32. Adding to the chal-
lenge, it was also an interrupted cut, as it had a 6-32 cross hole in two places.
118
AdvancedManufacturing.org | February 2015
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