Shop Solutions
to those that will require a week’s worth of machining. Most of these big parts involve machining away huge amounts of material and holding tolerances between 0.0005 to 0.001" (0.013–0.03 mm).
Practically all the shop’s energy industry customers provide their own raw material because of industry quality specifications and traceability requirements. A lot of these materials are modified carbon steels, some of which are quite challenging to machine. One is a 4340 +V. This newer oilfield material incorporates vanadium, making it extremely abrasive on cutting tools. To machine the material, Plant Machine Works employs special tooling that the shop has discovered performs better when run at more aggressive feed rates and taking heavier depths of cut that only the Mazaks can handle. “Most machine tools lack the speed, power and rigid- ity to withstand the punishing parameters for long periods of time,” said Barber. “For instance, our QTN 450 easily handles machining a large long shaft part made from 4340 +V. This
particular part involves a lot of material removal from its 14" [355-mm] OD and along its entire 118" [3-m] length. The chal- lenge is the part’s length, and the machine’s heavy-duty rigid headstock and steadyrest play critical roles in preventing cutter chatter to ensure size and surface finishes are maintained.” On the STN 500, the shop handles another challenging part for the oil and gas industry. The part starts as a solid large-diameter bar of tough 4140 with a trepanned ID hole through its length when loaded into the STN 500. The ma- chine cuts 5" (127-mm) worth of material from the part’s ID to generate two different diameters and an internal cone-shaped taper. Then it machines about 0.500" from the part’s OD, drills some holes and does a threading operation. Total machining time for the part is 24 hours, which is a significantly faster processing time than if the part was done using the shop’s other equipment.
Barber refers to the Mazaks as “difference makers” in that they help the shop differentiate itself from the competi-
42
ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | December 2013
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84