Modern Machine Shop

JAN 2018

Modern Machine Shop is focused on all aspects of metalworking technology - Providing the new product technologies; process solutions; supplier listings; business management; networking; and event information that companies need to be competitive.

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Converting Castings to Hogouts Modern Machine Shop 89 have also been important to its continued success at hogout machining. One has to do with the people and the other has to do with the process. For hogout machining, it has been valuable for this shop to implement both a culture and capa- bilities that, in essence, aim toward a higher and higher metal removal rate. Competitiveness in the Culture R&D; Manco operates in two adjacent plants total- ing 30,000 square feet and employing more than 70 people. Its unusual name is the result of the merger of two shops, Manco and R&D; Specialty. That merger was long ago, but the name remains, perhaps in part because a number of employees on the staff remember that origin. "We employ some extremely experienced machinists," Mr. Bloom says. The experience is significant to the way the shop uses five-axis machining. Continuing to convert castings to hogouts means the shop is routinely crafting new processes to realize the intricate, organic forms of parts that were not originally designed to be made through milling. In the development of a machining process such as this, there almost always comes a point in which engineering intersects with craft and skill. For example, a five-axis milling cycle that is seemingly viable in simulation might be beset with squeals or broken toler- ances in actual practice resulting from the setup being not quite rigid enough to accommodate a particular tool path wending through a par- ticular contour. In these cases, deferring to the judgment of an experienced team member at the machine generally offers the most effective way to find the process refinement that best addresses the problem. Part of the shop's formula for success in hogout machining is a culture in which skilled machinists are encouraged to refine and improve machining processes. Chris Dupre, CNC milling lead, describes the setup stability challenge that initially affected the milling of this hogout part. THE MODEL MATTERS Shift from casting to hogging, and the CAD file becomes critical. The rea- sons why are not entirely obvious. Learn more at gbm.media/hogoutcad

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