Manufacturing Technology
not only access all part surfaces when machining its engine heads, but it is also able to use what he refers to as a “poor man’s tombstone” technique that pro- duces a finished part with each cycle run. Te technique entails using two vises on the machine’s table to process the 6061 aluminum parts made from solid billets. As opposed to machining all part top
The cylinder head dome for a snowmobile engine is now done on one machine in one setup and in half the time it previously took.
on separate pieces of equipment would involve more cost, more tooling and more time. Plus, the Mazak’s address and solve all our manufacturing issues.” Schoenfelder cites a cylinder head dome for a snowmobile
engine as a perfect example of where the Mazaks solved a manufacturing issue. For this part, the shop previously used two separate machines, which meant multiple setups and the part having to travel from one machine to the next. Te Integrex i-200S not only eliminates the need for multiple ma- chines, it completes the part in one setup and in half the time. On its other i-200S, Black Diamond Xtreme is able to
machine cooling-line fittings for engine head assemblies from solid billets for a 10% cost savings on each. Te parts used to be made from castings and farmed out for machining. Carburetor throttle body butterflies are one of the compo-
nents that require full five-axis machining at Black Diamond Xtreme. Te shop processes this challenging part on one of the i-200S machines. Te butterflies are thin, made from brass and slightly
egg-shaped—approximately 3" (76.2 mm) from top to bot- tom. What makes them a challenge is that they require two opposing angles machined on their edge surfaces, some of which are only 0.062" (1.6-mm) wide. However, these angles are just on the top and bottom part edges, while the right and leſt-side edges remain straight. Adding to this, there are two holes that must be precisely located on the centerlines of these odd shaped parts. With the Variaxis i-600, Schoenfelder said the shop can
70 Motorized Vehicle Manufacturing
sides then all bottom sides, one vise is dedicated for top sides, while the other is used for doing the bottoms. During processing, the machine moves from working at the first vise then goes over to the second one—a complete part comes off the machine each time the cycle runs. In addition to providing ample room for both vises, the machine’s tilt/rotary table allows the shop to easily mill and drill the complex angled features of the parts. For its most recently acquired VCU 500A 5X, the shop has slated it to run a family of parts called helixes. And since it will basically be dedicated, the ma-
chine’s high value/performance ratio proved a key benefit. “We wanted to be as cost-effective as possible with the
machine we would use for the helixes,” said Schoenfelder, “and the VCU gave us the most performance for our money. And while it may be a smaller footprint machine, it still provides us full five-axis capability, large table capacity and the ability to hold tight part tolerances. Plus, the big table size, for us, makes the machine more universal. It will allow us to process other bigger five-axis parts if the need arises.” On the sled side of the business, the Black Diamond
Xtreme produces about 40 different part numbers. Overall, it makes about 100 different parts for different vehicle applica- tions. Lot sizes vary according to demand, and the shop must oſten interrupt scheduled production to run 20 or so emer- gency parts for a customer. “A lot of our production is order driven, and we have a
retail side of our own product line to keep stocked that we design, produce and test in-house. And as our product line continues to expand, we are setting our sights on possibly incorporating some robotics. Tis would allow us to run our Mazaks lights-out and further boost our output. We are always pushing the limits so that our snowmobiling customers can as well, and machining technology such as that from Mazak allows us to fulfill their needs,” said Schoenfelder.
Edited by Yearbook Editor James D. Sawyer from information provided by Mazak Corp.
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