W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M

VOLUME1

NUMBER3

FALL’97

Haas Automation,Metalcrafters

and PathfinderExplore Mars

Haas Automation,Metalcrafters

and PathfinderExplore Mars

FeaturesA New Set of ChiselsMachining Complex ModelsThe ABC’s of Probing

New ProductsVR-11Zip Drive Capability

FeaturesA New Set of ChiselsMachining Complex ModelsThe ABC’s of Probing

New ProductsVR-11Zip Drive Capability

1 6

In the last edition of CNCMachining I discussedchanging technology and itseffect on business and thework force. The article

touched on the rising standard of liv-ing resulting from technology, and thehigher skill levels required to makeour new technologies productive.The discussions that ensued from thateditorial centered on the work force,with the number one question being:“Where can I find these ‘higherskilled’ people?” In the search for anadequate response to this question,the words of John F. Kennedy keptcoming to mind. He said, “Ourprogress as a nation can be no swifterthan our pro g ress in educat i o n . ”

I keep feeling that JFK was right,but history has proven him wro n g .Both the level and standard of educa-tion of the average citizen in the U.S.has declined horrendously in the past30 years. All statistics point to a publicschool system that barely teaches mini-mum basic education. This is by U.S.s t a n d a rds, which are among the lowestof all industrialized nations. Yet, wecontinue to advance at an alarm i n grate through technological innovation.How is this happening?

But, I digress. The answer to thenumber one question, “Where do Ifind qualified people?” – You don’tfind them, you grow them.

But, you don’t have time to findbasically good people – with unem-ployment levels at 4.5% there is notmuch to choose from – and train themto handle all the new technology youa re introducing. And if you did, oncetrained, they would just go elsewherefor a few cents an hour more. All thatinvestment would be wasted.

These are the responses I hearf rom everyone I talk to in the machinetool business. So, what are you to do?

Haas has been suffering thro u g hthe same labor problems and they’vebeen exacerbated by our tre m e n d o u s

g rowth. Over the past couple years, I have spent some time working with afew gentlemen in the Los Angeles are aon exactly this problem. Bill Lavoie and

Ron Smetzer (of local community colleges) helped us sign up withC a l i f o rn i a ’s apprenticeship pro g r a msome years ago. We initially entere dsix of our employees in the pro g r a m ,which consisted of full-time work duringthe day and machinist classes at night.The program varies from two to fouryears, depending on the needs of thestudent. Unfort u n a t e l y, the state pro g r a monly supported training on manualmachines – far below the level of train-ing we needed. We were looking forCNC machinists and pro g r a m m e r s ,the state program was far behind thetechnology in aspects of trainingre q u i rements. Haas’ Sean Ti l l e t t(Machine Shop Manager – Tu rn i n g )worked with Lavoie, Smetzer and statere p resentatives to upgrade the pro g r a min an attempt to raise it to the level weneeded. The program has been a fru i t-f u l , albeit long-term, pro j e c t .

At the same time, we haveworked with David Goodre a u( C h a i rman of the Small BusinessAssociation) and Barry E. Stern,

Ph. D., who are proposing re f o rm sfocusing on the last two years of highschool education in California. Theybelieve the Adult Education system iswell positioned to take on the task andshould play an important role in imple-menting these re f o rms. They are curre n t l ycompiling the statistics necessary tof u rther a re f o rm package and hope tomake some headway in the near future.

While this is a local story, therea re groups in every state attemptingsimilar school system re f o rm. I believewe, as employers, must take an activerole in helping these associationsi m p rove the secondary school system,so it generates the basic level of knowl-edge we need to meet our l a b o rdemands today and in the future .

It has long been known thatE u ropean countries hold a sizable leadover the U.S. when it comes to a p p re n-ticeship programs. However,

1

EDITORIALEDITORIAL

THE MASTHEAD:CNC Machining is published by Haas Automation, Inc., 2800 Sturgis Road, Oxnard ,CA 93030 805-278-1800, Fax 805-278-6364. Postmaster: Return invalid addre s s e sto Haas Automation, 2800 Sturgis Road, Oxnard, CA 93030-8933 postage guaran-teed. CNC Machining is distributed f ree of charge by Haas Automation, Inc., and itsauthorized distributors. CNC Machining accepts no advertising or reimbursement for thismagazine. All contents of CNC Machining are Copyright © 1997 and may not bere p roduced without written permission from Haas Automation, Inc. CNC Machining isdistributed through a worldwide network of Haas Automation Distributors, and by indi-vidual subscription request. Contact Haas Automation headquarters via mail or fax to beadded to subscription list. Published quart e r l y. © Haas Automation, Inc. & CNCMachining Magazine names. Designed and Printed in the U.S.A. www. H a a s C N C . c o m

VOLUME1 FA L L1 9 9 7

NUMBER3

IndustryNews

ShopFocus

TechTips

ShopFocus

NewProducts

On the Cover

Haas World To u r, Website Update

Focus on Mold Making . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg 12

The Work force of To m o rro w

A New Set of Chisels

Machining Complex Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg 8

Simplifying Tu rning of StainlessS t e e l . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg 14

G row Your Productivity Wi t ha System for Insert Selection . . . . . . . . . . . .pg 22

The ABC’s of Pro b i n g. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .pg 24

Haas Pushes the Envelope with Larg e rMachines and New Capabilities

EditorialStory1

2

6

8

12

30

The Work Force of To m o rro wBy Denis Dupuis, General Manager, Haas Automation, Inc.

page

In this issue of

Continued on page 32

Mars: an artist's rendering of Mars’landscape, Pathfinder and Sojourner,courtesy NASA/JPL/Caltech.

Metalcrafters, of Simi Valley California,used Haas CNC machines to fabricateparts for the Pathfinder. See page 16 forcomplete story.

Sojourner™, Mars Rover™, and spacecraftdesign and images copyright © 1996-97,California Institute of Technology. All rightsreserved. Further reproductions prohibited.

NEWS

2 3C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7 W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M

In order to increase overseassales and provide better service toi n t e rnational customers, HaasAutomation, Inc., has opened theirfirst-ever overseas office in Beijing,China. This office will be headed upby Haas’ new Regional Manager forN o rth Asia, Owen Chen, a Chinesenational with extensive experience inthe machine-tool industry.

“Our goal is to expand ourworldwide market for Haas machinetools, and provide the same kind ofs e rvice in China that has made Haasthe best-selling machine tool inAmerica,” said Al Nodarse, Dire c t o rof Sales for Haas Automation. “Weplan to establish more distributors tobetter serve the region, and set up aHaas Service Center to provide after-

sales support. We feel Owen Chenhas the experience and reputation tohelp us achieve these objectives,”Nodarse said.

Chen has a BA in Intern a t i o n a lBusiness from Beijing Intern a t i o n a lBusiness and Economics University,and an MBA in International Businessf rom University of San Francisco.C o n c u rrent with his studies at USF,Chen worked at the LeverCorporation (a trading company) inSan Francisco dealing with chemicalsand pharm a c e u t i c a l s .

In 1989, Chen re t u rned toBeijing, where he joined the Germ a nmachine tool manufacturer Maho(now DMG) as their first re p re s e n t a t i v ein China. In this position he wasresponsible for all sales, marketing,

administration and service in China.After building a solid reputation andsuccessful sales re c o rd with Maho,Chen joined the Cosa Lieberm a nG roup to manage the Agie EDMMachine line in China and HongKong. Chen worked for Cosa until1997, when he joined HaasAutomation, Inc., as RegionalManager for North Asia.

Haas Automation, Inc., BeijingR e p resentative Off i c eFriendship Hotel, Room 205383 Baishiqiao Road,Beijing 100873, ChinaP h o n e : 0 1 1 - 8 6 - 1 0 - 6 8 4 9 8 8 8 8Ext. 20538;F a x : 0 1 1 - 8 6 - 1 0 - 6 8 4 9 9 4 9 1

The very popular Haas Lathep romotion, started in September,o ffers a package of high-pro d u c t i v i t yoptions at no charge. This special,

which ends October31, 1997, includes acombo-package ofHaas’ most popularLathe options – a$7,780 value –installed at no cost tothe end-user.

The options includedin this special factoryincentive are: HaasQuikCode™ Pro g r a m m i n gOption, a 3.5” FloppyDisk Drive, a $3,000Tool Presetter and the

v e ry popular Rigid Tapping Option. This promotion is available for all

Haas CNC lathes, except the newHL-5 and HL-6, which, instead, carrya special intro d u c t o ry price.

If a new turning center is in yourf u t u re, be sure to call your Haasdistributor for complete details on thisspecial promotion before it ends.

INDUSTRY NEWSINDUSTRY NEWS

HANNOVER, GERMANY – By the time you read this, Haas Automation willhave participated for the first time in a tiny little trade show in Europe called EMOHannover 97. For those of you who don’t know, EMO is the largest intern a t i o n a ltrade fair for metalworking in the world. In other words, nearly 2,000 exhibitorsf rom 37 countries filled 19 halls and 148,414 square meters of stand space top resent “The Whole World of Metalworking” to more than 160,000 visitors fro m56 countries.

Phew! Now that we’ve gotten that cleared up, what EMO Hannover was toHaas was an opportunity to showcase high-quality, American-made, aff o rd a b l emachine tools to the rest of the world. Haas descended on the show with ani m p ressive line-up of high-tech machines. Key among them was the new VR-11 five-axis profiling VMC with 120” x 40” x 30” travels. This versatile machine hasa l ready captured the attention of the aerospace world with itshigh capabilities and aff o rdable price. Also on display werethe new HL-6 lathe, an HL-2 lathe, VF-2 and VF-4 vert i c a lmachining centers and an HS-1RP horizontal machining center.

Haas exhibited their products in conjunction with theirE u ropean distributor Mikron, which markets Haas CNCp roducts under the Mikron name (as their VCE-series vert i c a l s ,HCE-series horizontals and TCE-series lathes) in continentalE u rope. EMO was an opportunity to see the manufacture rbehind the Mikron machines, and see what makes Haas thebest selling machine tools in America.

EMO Hannover also provided Haas an opportunity toc o u rt the international trade press. Journalists from leadingi n t e rnational publications visited the booth and met with

Trade shows are an import a n tway to build name-brand aware n e s sand demonstrate your pro d-uct to the masses. ForHaas Automation,1997 has been a ban-ner year, with dire c tp a rticipation in 12major shows around theworld, and dealer part i c i-pation in many more. Haaswill participate in even moreshows during 1998, with added

emphasis on the international market.If you haven’t had the opport u n i t yto visit one of these shows, there

a re still a few stops left on theHaas World To u r. In October,Haas will be showcasingp roducts at two APEXshows, one in Dallas( 1 4 -16) and another in

Cleveland (21-23). Haas willalso showcase products at PRI in

Columbus, Ohio December 5-7. Bes u re to mark your calendars!

Over the past six weeks, Haas Automation’s popular web site has beenu n d e rgoing a transformation of sorts. The marketing department has been verybusy designing a new and improved Haas Home Page filled with even moreuseful information.

“ E v e ry area of HaasCNC.com has undergone some level of evolution,” saidPeter Zierhut, Marketing Manager at Haas Automation. “By looking at each are ai n d i v i d u a l l y, and building upon ana l ready successful program, we haveactually doubled the content of ourweb site.

“The backbone of the Haaspage is the machines, and that hasn’tchanged. They are still the stars ofthe show. But everything was open toi m p rovement,” Zierhut explained. Forexample, the machine areas eachg rew considerably, with the additionof new machines to the specificationsdata base, drawings and specifica-tions of overall machine dimensions,and a listing of available options foreach of the three major CNC machine lines.

The Dealer Network area has also been completely redesigned, and is nownavigated via a series of detailed maps and pop-up distributor listings.

In addition, they’ve added the following new areas to the Haas web site: ANew Technology area featuring the latest features, options and CNC technologyf rom Haas Automation; a Quality Assurance area detailing Haas’ systematic testingp ro c e d u res and their 98% Up-Time Guarantee; a Promotions area spotlighting thelatest promotions and factory - d i rect incentives; a News section where visitors canread the latest news releases about Haas and Haas products; an Employment are afeaturing Haas employment opportunities; and a CNC Machining area where re a d-ers get a taste of Haas’ quarterly magazine and can sign up for a subscription.

The new Haas web site should be up and running by the time you read this,so go and surf your way to HaasCNC.com.

Haas Opens First Overseas Office in Beijing,H i res Region Manager for North Asia

Haas management. This should re s u l tin increased coverage in the intern a-tional press, and increased pro d u c trecognition throughout the world.

As Haas continues to grow at ab reak-neck pace, it becomes incre a s-ingly important to expand theiri n t e rnational customer base. EMOHannover – the biggest trade show inthe world – was another step towardbecoming the best selling machinetool in the world.

Haas European Va c a t i o n

GET $7,780 IN FREE OPTIONS

Lathe Pro m o t i o nEnds October 31s t

Haas Web Site Redesigned

Haas World To u r

Project engineer Thomas Velasquez with the VR-11 just prior to shipping to EMO Hannover.

HAAS VMC’s, HMC’s, CNC LATHES AND ROTARY PRODUCTS — PROTECTING YOUR BOTTOM LINE.

Economical to ownOwnership of a feat u r e - p a c k e d , h i g h l y - r e l i a b l e , v a l u e - p r i c e dmachine tool has its own rewards. Fi r s t , Haas CNC machinesh ave the industry ’s most user-friendly control, f e aturing a hostof Haas-only productivity enhancers you’ll find nowhere else.Haas machines are also easy to operat e , maintain and serv i c e .Designing this ease-of-use into our machines from the initial

concept is part of the Haas economic philosophy.A n d , to top things off, Haas machines commandone of the industry ’s highest resale values – just try to find a used Haas for sale.

Economical to buyHaas machines are designed and priced to give you moref e atures and benefits for your dollar than any other machinein their class. We know the challenges of today’s manufac-turing environment demand that you get more than you payfor. At Haas we deliver true value by including standard fea-tures on our machines that other builders believe are options.

Economical to operateHaas machines are designed to deliver reliable operationday-in and day-out. We know your bottom line depends onmaking chips, that’s why Haas is the only machine toolmanufacturer that provides a “98% Up-Time Guarantee.”Your Haas machine will perform, or Haas will pay for yourdown-time.

A t Haas, we build machine tools that deliver onour aggressive policy to protect your bottom

l i n e . I t ’s all part of the package when you buy aHaas CNC machine. We do this by focusing on yourn e e d s , and applying the following three Haas rules ofeconomical ow n e r s h i p :

P R OTECT YO U R

MADE INTHE USA

Haas Automation, Inc.2800 Sturgis RoadOxnard, CA 93030

800-331-6746WWW.HAASCNC.COM

BOTTOM LINE.

One of Beall’s sets of “chisels” isa Haas VF-0 v e rtical machining centerwith 20” x 16” x 20”(xyz) travels. “I believe inusing whatever technologyis available to do whatev-er can be done,” Beallsaid. “The Haas givesme an enormous advan-tage over other wood-workers. I can dothings those otherguys can’t evend ream of doing.”

N o w, wood isnot a material usuallyassociated with aCNC machiningc e n t e r. But, accord-ing to Beall, it’sactually harder towork with woodthan metal.“ T h e re are a lotof difficulties inworking with wood,” he said.“ Wood changes its shape constantlydue to moisture variations. And it’sm o re abrasive, because it sucks all

kinds of abrasives up fro mthe soil into its cells t ru c t u re. It’s full ofgrit, so bits and toolsd o n ’t last as long.Some woods will justd e s t roy a tool immedi-ately; high-speed steelshave a very short life.”

But using tantungbits and the rightspeeds and feeds, Beallexplained, it’s possibleto get incredible re s u l t s .“ You can’t imagine whata beautiful job you get inwood with a flycutter, ifyou run it at the rightspeed and feed it slow.I t ’s a perfect finish right offthe machine,” he said.“ T h e re ’s no sanding; all Ido is buff it.

“I use a flycutter that’s maybe 3or 4 inches in diameter, and run it at5,000 or 6,000 rpm, so there ’s lotsof surface speed. It works really nicely.

Of course, you have to use the

right kind of woods,” he said. “I usee b o n y, and exotics like ro s e w o o d ,boxwood and bubinga.”

Some of the things Beall makeswith his Haas are fancy, multi-faceted,fluted bowls, and geometric carv i n g sout of blocks of wood. Using circ u l a rinterpolation along the z axis, hemakes swooping cuts to create circ u l a rp a t t e rns, and even leaf designs. Hehas even machined an entire chessset out of wood, with each ten-sidedpiece meticulously machined using acutter only 0.030” high. Somepieces, like the Queen, feature spiraltwists created by using a Haas 4th-axis ro t a ry table. “The small cutterand 4th-axis allow me to create re a l -fancy complex shapes,” Beall said.

But all this fancy stuff is just whatBeall does to show off. The rest of thetime he’s busy manufacturing pro d u c t sand inventing things. “From time totime I make something like those bowls

just to showpeople it can bedone. But I’m ani n v e n t o r,” he said.“I have a bunch ofpatents for wood-working tools.”

One of Beall’spatented pro d u c t sis a wood thre a d i n gtool. Now, whenmost people think ofwood threading theyp robably think ofb room handles, butt h a t ’s as far as theygo. But wood threading has beena round for hundreds of years, Beallstates. In fact, he’s written a book onit. “For someone who’s intere s t e d ,and has some cre a t i v i t y, there ’s avariety of projects that use woodenthreads. In fact, I put furniture togetherthat way.”

A c c o rding to Beall, thre a d i n gdevices previously available justw e re n ’t suitable for pro d u c t i o nt h reading. “They used a little fixedbit that you cranked around adowel to cut the thread. But the bitwould get dull quickly, almost imme-diately in fact.” So he decided todesign his own threading tool. “Thetool I make uses a router and a car-bide bit,” he said. “You can thre a dwith it for weeks and months on endwithout it getting dull. You can re a l l ydo production thre a d i n g . ”

One of the key components ofBeall’s wood threader is a plasticinsert that guides the dowel duringthreading. This insert has an internalthread one inch in diameter with a #6thread pitch. (Beall offers kits in 1”-6,3⁄4”-6, 5⁄8”-7, and 1⁄2”-8.) “Each threadsize uses a Delrin insert with verycourse internal threads,” he said.“Tapping this insert would be difficultbecause of its coarseness, andbecause the beginning thread mustbe precisely oriented.” Beall explained.“The thread is much coarser than you

can buy a tap for, so we wouldhave had to get special taps made.”

Rather than invest in customtaps, Beall looked to injection mold-ing to produce the threaded insert s ,but the molds were very expensive –$25,000 to $75,000. “You’d payas much for a set of molds, as youwould for a CNC machine,” hesaid. Despite the cost, however,Beall had a set of molds made andbegan producing the inserts out ofABS. Unfort u n a t e l y, injection moldingc o u l d n ’t hold the tolerance he need-ed for the part, so he sought a bettermethod. Beall found he couldachieve the accuracy he needed bymachining the inserts out of Delrin onhis Haas VF-0 vertical machiningc e n t e r. “Using helical interpolationand a single-point cutter we can dothe internal threading very accurately,and we can use the same cutter forall of our threading kits. The Haasp roduces a lot nicer part, and I’mable to bring the process in-housew h e re I have control of it,” Beallsaid. “The machine has paid foritself, easily, several times over. ”

T h rough the use of a Haas VF-0v e rtical machining center, J.R. Beall isable to maintain the accuracy heneeds to meet the demand for hispatented wood thre a d e r. As anadded benefit, he’s able to cre a t esome impressive works of art andhave a little fun in the pro c e s s .

But, J & J Beall, Inc., of Newark,Ohio, is not your ord i n a ry machineshop, either. It’s not filled with chipsof steel and aluminum, or barrels ofcoolant. Rather, it’s filled with chipsof wood and sawdust, and racks ofl u m b e r. Which is understandable,since J & J Beall, Inc., is a wood-working shop, and J.R. Beall doeshis machining out of wood.

“I’m a craftsman,” Beall said.

“The machine is just a set of chisels tome. I don’t know exactly what I’mgoing to carve with those chisels, butonce I’ve got the machine, I canfamiliarize myself with it and do alls o rts of things. Basically, I’m a wood-w o r k e r, but I’m also a mechanic andd e s i g n e r. I always buy a machinefirst, then figure out what I’m going todo with it later. It’s a diff e re n ta p p roach, but I’m able to make pro d-ucts that nobody else is able to

make,” Beall said.

CreativeApplication sSHOP FOCUSSHOP FOCUS

By Scott Rathburn

Photographs by Judith Beall

JJ.R. Beall is not your ord i n a ry machinist.He doesn’t buy a CNC machine todo a particular job, or produce a spe-cific part. Rather, he buys the machineas a tool, and designs things utilizingthe machine’s capabilities.

A New Set of ChiselsA New Set of Chisels

J.R. Beall: 614-345-5045 76

S u rface modelers create tru emathematical models of the surface ofan object. The object may be re p re-sented graphically as a wire frames t ru c t u re, but in this case, the entire

continuous surface isdefined with mathematics.

Even though it was con-s t ructed of many individual

entities joined or linked togeth-e r, it is now defined as a single

complex shape. Solid modelersalso have the ability to re p resent sim-ple surfaces. However, a solid model-er also saves the information abouthow the various surfaces meet, whichallows for Boolean operations such asaddition or subtraction of volumes. Asolid model is created by using cubes,cylinders, cones, spheres or extru s i o n s

of shapes. It is a fully enclosed modeland has volume. Solids can be a d d e d ,subtracted or intersected with oneanother to create the desired finishedp a rt . E n t i re edges of a part can beeasily rounded with one command.In the same way, intersecting surf a c e scan be filleted. All edges area u t o m a t ically trimmed as the model isc o n s t ru c t e d . Solid modeling, however,is unable to handle complex surf a c e swell, especially filleting.

The technology to machine sur-faces directly from solids is still lackingbecause it takes tens of thousands ➡

These solid modeling systems area ff o rdable now because they are builton modular engines from third - p a rt ysuppliers. Instead of reinventing thewheel, CAD developers today assemblemodules of code upon mathematicalfoundations called engines, or kern e l s .In this country, the most-used solidmodeling kernels are Parasolids fro mEDS Unigraphics and ACIS bySpatial Te c h n o l o g y.

out with the blueprint and straightedge

Once a model has been com-pleted, there still remains the greaterchallenge of machining the parts,molds or dies. Rounded lines ande rgonomic shapes increase marketability,

but the designer needsfeedback from the manu-facturing side to keep

costs down. After the part is importedinto the CAM system, and as the tool-ing is being developed, the customerwill continue to work with the machineshop to refine design. It’s really themodeling capability of the NC soft-ware that cuts time from the design-to-manufacture process, and dollars fromthe resulting product’s “Cost ofGoods” figure.

The Following is an overview ofCAD modeling:

defining geometry

A good way to begin is to under-stand three ways CAD systems define3D geometry :

Wi re frame models are simplestick model re p resentations of a solid.Wi re frame modelers that only savethe stick model do not work with thet rue mathematical surface data, butmay be able to produce shadedimages, though not re l i a b l y. Thesec a n ’t produce accurate 3D tool pathsbecause surface information is nots t o red in the data file.

Machining Complex ModelsBy Larry Diehl, Surfware, USA

PC -based solid modeling CADsystems are in the newst o d a y. When properly imple-

mented, they offer speed and capabilityat a fraction of the price of workstation-based solids. The new breed of solidmodelers is having the greatest impact onsmall- to medium-sized machine shopsbecause they can now aff o rd to own thes o f t w a re necessary to directly import theircustomers’ solid models for machining.

TECH TIPSTECH TIPSP CPC Mo d e ling

8 9C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7 W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M

Creating the model is only the first step in developing a customer’s new part. In order to bring the part toproduction, a versatile CAM system is needed to import the model and convert the surfaces for machining.

A N D T H E P CG E O M E T RY3 D3 D

for machining. In real life however,an NC pro g r a m m e r ’s biggestheadache comes from trying toi m p o rt files into a CAM systemt h a t ’s incompatible with the cus-t o m e r ’s part file. Of course, if thesolid modeler outputs IGES – andmost do – then a CAM system t h a treads IGES accurately can openand machine the model. An excel-lent IGES translator delivers v a l u-able flexibility in reading files fro mmost design systems.

A solid model can be re p re s e n t-ed in IGES as trimmed surf a c e s(IGES 144 entities). For machining, itis unnecessary to stitch together theses u rfaced faces because they havea l ready been trimmed to onea n o t h e r. The volume data which theoriginal solid model contained is lostwhen the data is converted into theIGES surfaces format. This is nocause for alarm, however, becausevolume data is not used in machin-ing. For example, to machine a diecavity that produces an auto fender,only the skin of the fender ism a c h i n e d , not the volume that wouldbe re p resented were it a solid object.

Some CAD vendors interpre tentities in a slightly diff e rent way thanis defined by the IGES standard .Some create entities that are not com-pliant with any of the standard IGESentities. These variations on IGESs t a n d a rds are sometimes called“flavors.” To translate from a widevariety of CAD systems, an IGEStranslator must be user-configurable toaccommodate diff e rent flavors.

In the next issue of CNCMachining, part two of this serieswill discuss various machiningf e a t u res and methods.

About the author: Larry Diehlinitially developed Surfcam in the1980's. He continues to pro g r a mdaily as Surf w a re ’s chief softdeveloper and oversees Surf c a mp roduct development.

of Boolean operations to cre a t etool paths from solid geometry.Since the math that generatestool paths works on surf a c e s ,and not directly on solid models,a CAM system still needs to bebased on strong underlying sur-facing mathematics.

see it now

No matter how modelsa re created, you can visualizethem better if your NC softwarehas a fast, interactive graphicald i s p l a y. Wi re frame re p re s e n t a-tions of surface models can bequickly rotated to see the entiremodel, then stopped at anypoint, and re n d e red in seconds.Display and manipulation of ashaded surface model is nowpossible on a PC with CAMs o f t w a re that has been writtento support Open GL, the 3DGraphics Library defined bySilicon Graphics. This optionworks best with a high-end GLgraphics card.

In this country Parasolidsand ACIS are the most fre q u e n t-l y -licensed kernels for CADsolid modelers. The Parasolidsk e rn e l is from EDS-Unigraphics,the developer of a high-endworkstation-based CAD mod-e l e r. ACIS is from SpatialTechnologies, a company thathopes to pro m o t e its engine asthe standard for 3D dataexchange, a lofty goal with somany pro p r i e t a ry solid ands u rface modelers already inthe marketplace.

A versatile CAM systemcan import files from everyCAD system out there ,w h e t h er a surface or solidm o d e l e r, as well as from digi-tizers and rapid pro t o t y p i n gsystems. A direct translatorcan flawlessly i m p o rt solidmodels into a CAM s y s t e mand convert them to surf a c e s

Wire Frame Model

Finished Prototype

Wi re frame models are simple stickmodels which do not work with thet rue mathematical surface data.

Surface Modelers create true mathe-matical models of an object's surface,defining it as a single complex shape.Solid Modelers create fully enclosedmodels with volume and informationregarding how the objects intersect.

Machining Complex Models (From page 9)

CNC ASSOCIATES, INC.2800 Sturgis RoadOxnard, California 93030Tel. 805-278-0303 • Fax 805-485-0803

▲ A 60-, 72-, or 84-month lease, with 2 payments in advance and a $1.00 buyout

▲ A 60-, 72-, or 84-month lease, with a 10% purchase option

▲ A 60-, 72-, or 84-month lease, with no payments for 30, 60, or 90 days after delivery of the equipment

▲ A 60-, 72-, or 84-month lease, with no advancepayments and no payments for 30, 60, or 90 days

▲ A 60-, 72-, or 84-month lease, with lowpayments for the first 6 – 12 months,

and payments gradually increasing throughoutthe remainder of the lease

▲ First payment of 7.5% of invoice in advance,7.5% interest for the term of the lease,7.5% purchase option

▲ One or two regularly skipped monthly payments each year throughout the term of the lease

▲ A 36-month lease with low payments and fair-market-value purchase option (may befinanced, should you choose to purchase themachine after the 36th month)

These are just some examples of how we work with you to structure a leaseplan that meets your needs.

Interest rates are competitive, so give us a call. We’ll help you purchase thefine HAAS products you need to make your business grow.

At CNC A s s o c i ates we know your industry, but we don’t know your particular business needs.T h at ’s why we don’t limit your choice of lease options, as our competitors do. I n s t e a d , w estructure repayment plans that fit your needs, r ather than the needs of the “ av e r age customer. ”Here are some lease structures we’ve designed for current customers:

H e r e ’s Something You Don’t See... EVER.

Custom BusinessLeasing Designed to Fit Your Needs.

10 C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7

Focus On Mold Making

13C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7 W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M

SHOP FOCUSSHOP FOCUS

Erasing Lead Times Yields Big Success

Focus On Mold Making

12

etting products to market before the competition – and before they become obsolete – can be the diff e re n c e

between success and failure of a major product line. Nowhere is this more important than in the handheld

e l e c t ronics and communications industries. These companies exist solely because of their products. Accord i n g l y,

they have accelerated the time-to-market paradigm. Global Tool & Engineering, Inc., of Carrollton, Texas, is one of the

leading companies helping these industries get products to market quickly. Global manufactures quick turn - a ro u n d

plastic-injection molds, and their innovative approach has decreased lead times by more than 50%. Needless to say, this

has fueled explosive growth for Global.

FROM STARTUP TO $6 MILLION INTWO YEARS

Brad Berkley, Global’s 27-year-old CEO, and Scott Wahl, executivevice-president, recognized that mak -ing injection molds (called tooling inthe mold industry) is one of the mosttime-consuming and critical stage ofg e t t i n g a product to market. To speedup the process, they founded GlobalTool & Engineering in October 1994.“Initially, Scott Wahl and I put ourknow-how and contacts to work,”Berkley said. “We sub-contractedtooling to meet the fast turn-aroundtimes demanded by our customers.We would sell a mold package,have it built, have it sampled, andhave the quality control done. Thenwe’d tie it all together and call itGlobal Tool & Engineering. By theend of the first year our sales hadreached $2.3 million and we hadseven employees. We saved ourmoney from the first year and startedup the factory.” To satisfy the increas-ing demand their innovative

approach created,Global started buyingtheir own equipment andmanufacturing molds in-house. Today, they have70 employees, andhave facilities inCarrollton, Texas, andSt. Paul, Minnesota.

By 1996, Global’ssales had grown to $6million. Fore m o s tamong Global’smachine tools

a re several Haas vert i c a lmachining centers (VMC’s) –two VF-1’s, two VF-2’s and aVF-3 – as well as two AgieCNC EDM’s with16-electro d echangers. The companyutilizes Selective LaserSintering Machines for rapidp rototyping, and has plastic-injection-molding machines top rove tooling and make shortp roduction ru n s .

“The Haas VMC’s are abig part of our success,” Berkleyexplained. “They allow very aggre s s i v emachining rates and provide the tighttolerances and high repeatability weneed for machining molds. Becausethey re q u i re very little training and areeasy to operate, they’ve made it easyfor us to staff-up.” Recognizing the con-tribution Haas machines were makingto their growth, Global purchased fiveHaas VMC’s in a ten-month period.Global uses the latest CAD software todesign tooling, including Pro - E ,P roMold, SDRC Ideas and CADKEY.They select the best program for the

job, and one that is compatible withthe customer’s CAD system. In mostsituations, CNC programs are cre a t e do ffline using Masterc a m .

Global uses the Haas VMC’s torough- and finish-cut mold cavities,c o res, and insert pockets, as well asto machine EDM electrodes. Materialsroutinely machined are aluminum,H13 & S7 tool steel, 420 stainlessand graphite.

THE TROUBLE WITH GRAPHITE

“ T h e re are a number of diff i c u l t i e sassociated with graphite,”explainsJ e rry Bichsel, Global’s tool-room man-a g e r. “Graphite is brittle, so you haveto use high spindle speeds to pre v e n tchipping. With the Haas VMC's,we’ve been able to machine many ofour electrodes at 300 ipm.”

These high-speed cutting capabil -ities, along with liquid-cooled, 15-hpspindles providing 10,000 rpm,allow Global to shorten their mold-

Global Tool & Engineering uses Haas vertical

machining centers to speed up the manufacturing

p rocess for injection molds. From roughing and

finishing molds, to high-speed machining of

graphite electrodes, Haas VMC’s have helped

Global move from startup in 1994 to sales

of $6 million in 1996.

Continued on page 28

Photo: James Mart i n

G

Global's CEO Brad Berkley

A graphite EDM electrode after machining. Photo: James Mart i n

Photo: James Mart i n

Turning Tips For Stainless

14 15C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7 W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M

Turning Tips For StainlessThe good news is that modern

toolholders and specific stainless steeli n s e rts are available to make yourstainless steel work easier. The newgeneration of inserts provides higherpositive rakes, new coatings and bettermatches for heavy roughing, mediumroughing and finishing operations.With the right tooling, you can eff e c-tively apply proven turning principlesand techniques to facilitate stainlesssteel turning and manage the mostd i fficult cuts.

rules of thumb:

H e re are some rules of thumb basedon our own experience in thousandsof stainless steel turning applications:

1. Use state-of-the-art inserts. Thenew ones can i m p rove materialremoval by as much as 30%.

2. Match the insert to the applica-tion. You’ll get better finishes andlonger tool life.

3. L e a rn to visually diagnose andremedy symptoms of pre m a t u reedge failure .

4. E n s u re that your shims are ingood shape.

5. Use some proven techniques forthe more demanding cuts.

Let’s first look at what makesstainless steel a tougher material toturn than conventional steel. Then,we’ll explore each of the five Rules ofThumb separately.

turning stainless steel

Tu rning stainless steels is not nec-essarily difficult, but it can be demand-ing. Their higher alloy content generallyequates to more difficult and costlyt u rning processes. Ingredients addedto improve corrosion resistance andtensile strength, especially nickel andmolybdenum, often work againstm a c h i n a b i l i t y. This is because theyd e f o rm in a plastic manner.

As a result, tools are subjected tom o re friction, higher cutting forc e s

By Mike Castner, Sandvik Coromant

Continued on page 32

To d a y, turning of stainless steel re p re-sents about 24% of all metal turn i n g ,and that pro p o rtion is rising. Va r i o u sstainless steel grades present a challenge to all machining operations.

T h a t ’s because they have characteristics thatyield more friction, heat and chip control pro b-lems than most common steels and cast i ro n s .

Simplifying Tu rning of Stainless Steel

Figure 1and higher temperatures, causing a tendency toward smearing andw o r k -h a rdening of the surface. These characteristics a re typical of allgrades of austenitic stainless steel.

O b v i o u s l y, the hardness of workpiece material affects the life ofcutting tools. Stainless steel is deformation-hardened when it is cold-drawn. The deformation-hardened layer on incoming mill stock is considerably thicker in austenitic stainless steel than in carbon steel.Even bar stock that has been straightened is cold-drawn to someextent, with surface hardness values of HB300 or more. The inside ofthe material may be half as hard as the surface, but it’s on the surfacewhere the cutting takes place.

anticipate the challenges

Anticipate work-hardened surfaces. Make deeper cuts and set feedrates that ensure entry of the cutting edge past the hardened zone.

Another problem is heat. Stainless steel has much lower therm a lc o n d u c t i v i t y, and higher ductility than conventional steel. There f o re, itre q u i res considerable energy to cut a chip, and thus generates moreheat. Since stainless is unable to dissipate heat quickly, the workpiece,especially the cutting area, gets very hot.

The chip forming process implies that a fresh metal interface iscontinually produced and forced, at very high pressure and tempera-ture, along the tool material. Since heat from the cutting zone is notremoved with the chips, the higher cutting temperatures increase thetendency for tool wear and plastic deformation, especially when inter-ruptions are encountered.

Excessively hard cutting action in most stainless steel workpiecesgenerates various types of very hard, continuous chips. To break thesecontinuous chips into smaller, less abrasive and more manageablesizes, select an insert with high positive rake and aggressive chip-breaking designs.

Sandvik has recently added more insert choices to their stainlesssteel “M-line.” These newer inserts were developed specifically forstainless steel, with positive rake angles and strong geometries.

L e t ’s look at some recent insert advances and how they facilitatet u rn i n g of stainless steel workpieces.

state-of-the-art inserts

New developments in state-of-the-art inserts for stainless steel turn-ing are: improved coatings, stronger substrates, higher positive rakesand improved chipbreaking geometries.

It is very important to choose the correct grade/geometry combina-tion, and match it correctly to your application. Fort u n a t e l y, the carbidesubstrates and PVD/CVD coatings are already matched to the geome-tries utilized in the most common applications. New, advanced coatingtechniques provide better chemical barriers to isolate the workpiece sur-face. These new coatings help reduce friction and built-up edge (BUE).

Developments in insert geometry and higher positive rakes takeproductivity one step higher (Fig. 1). The benefits are freer cuttingaction, as well as longer edge life. A positive rake means more

continuous cutting, smoother chip flow, lower cuttingforces, lower temperatures and less deformation-harden-ing of the material. A sharp edge means softer cuttingaction with lower cutting forces. This, in turn, meansless deformation of the workpiece material, decreasingthe likelihood of burr formation. A positive sharp cuttingedge, combined with a correctly balanced open chip-

Figure 1 above: Cross-sectional view of Sandvik Coromant'sinserts for stainless steel turning in finishing (MF) and roughing(MR) shows higher positive rakes and improved geometries.The newer M inserts ensure continuous cutting and smootherchip flow, smaller variations in cutting forces, lower tempera-tures, and less deformation-hardening of the material.

TECH TIPSTECH TIPS

magine this, you’re playing around of 18 in Pasadena,California. It’s the final holeand you check the tee-boxmonument for particulars. It’sa tricky Par 4. Unfortunately,the hole is located in the cen-ter of a green only seven

inches in diameter... more than 1360miles away, in Houston, Texas.

Though this scenario sounds impossible,it is exactly the situation faced by thenavigation team of the Mars Pathfindermission. For their game of interplanetarygolf, Earth was the “tee box,” the“yardage” was 309,081,764 miles andthe “hole” was a 15-mile diameter spotabove the atmosphere of Mars on July 4,1997. The navigation team planned thevoyage as a “Par 4,” with only four tra-jectory corrections between Earth andMars. They did, however, reserve theoption for a fifth stroke within the final 24hours in case of a bad game. The finalstroke was unnecessary, though, as thenavigation team successfully made parand landed the pathfinder in the hole onJuly 4, 1997. ➡

Artist’s Rendering Courtesy of NASA/JPL/Caltech

IIMetalcrafterson Mars

Metalcrafterson Mars

By Scott Rathburn

18 C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7 19

On July 4, 1997, however,MacKenzie proudly became a part ofAmerican history when NASA’s MarsPathfinder module landed on the sur-face of the distant red planet. Youcould say he was partially responsiblefor the success of the mission. For,deep within the intricate confines ofthe Pathfinder module, those sameparts he machined two years ago heldthe electronics for the main guidancesystem that led the Pathfinder success-fully to Mars.

“At the start they were just anotherset of parts,” MacKenzie explained.“But the more we got into it, and start-ed talking to the engineers, we re a l-ized they were going to Mars, and itwas going to take seven months to gett h e re. The culmination was watchingthe landing on television. I’ll be honestwith you, I was a little nervous. I want-ed to make sure the Pathfinder landed.That was a big thrill when I watchedthat. But it started as just another job.”

It may have been just another job,but it was a job that Metalcrafters ofSimi Va l l e y, California, couldn’t have

taken on a few years ago. It took theaddition of CNC machining centersand a skilled machinist – NormMacKenzie – to take them to Mars.

For the past 22 yearsMetalcrafters has made their mark onthe world by manu-facturing close-tol-erance, pre c i s i o nsheetmetal enclo-s u res for a varietyof industries – fro mNASA to Disney.For most of those22 years,Metalcrafters didn’thave much of amachine shop tos u p p o rt their sheet-metal business.“What we had,b a s i c a l l y, was acouple knee millswith controls,” saidScott Stewart, Metalcrafters’ GeneralM a n a g e r. “We machined out of neces-sity – doing only what we had to – andsent out the rest.”

About five years ago,Metalcrafters realized they could cre a t em o re of a seamless operation – goingf rom sheetmetal to machining to welding – by bringing their machiningp rocesses in-house. It would give them

m o re control overlead times and qual-i t y, and allow themto better serve their customers.U n f o rt u n a t e l y, theirold equipment d i d n ’t have thecapability or capac-ity to meet theirg rowing machiningneeds. They pur-chased their first v e rtical machiningcenter to meet thei n c reasing demand.

It quicklybecame appare n t

the VMC could machine parts fasterand more accurately than the old kneemills. “We kept the knee mills,“ Stewartsaid, “but it was kind of like having a

new Cadillac and an old Chevy –nobody wanted to run the oldmachines. They could cut three-times asfast on the VMC.”

The success they found with theVMC got Metalcrafters’ managementthinking. “We realized that, not onlycould we support our sheetmetal oper-ation, but maybe we could makemoney at machining as well,” Stewartsaid. At that time, however, their onlymachinist worked part-time and hadlimited training. If the machine shopwas going to be profitable, they need-ed a full-time, skilled operator to runthe machines. That’s when they hiredNorm MacKenzie.

Originally from Scotland,MacKenzie has been cutting chips form o re than 25 years. Despite 21 yearsin the States, his Scottish brogue is stillquite evident. As far as he’s con-c e rned, though, he’s an Americant h rough and through.

MacKenzie took over the helm ofMetalcrafters’ machine shop four yearsago. Since then, they’ve added a newmachining center almost every year. Thelast two machines added were a VF-2VMC (30” x 16” x 20” travels) and aVF-6 VMC (64” x 32” x 30” travels)

f rom Haas Automation, Inc.“ We’ve bought about a mill per

y e a r, which has been a very re a s o n-able growth rate,” Stewart said.“Whenever we add machines we lookat adding two things – capacity andc a p a b i l i t y. We look at adding capaci-t y, so we can get more work out the

d o o r. We look at adding capability,so we can take on mored i fficult jobs.

“Our goal was never to be amachine shop, but that’s basicallywhat happened. The work was there,and we had the capability and thec a p a c i t y. We’ve gone from machiningout of necessity, to building a moreseamless operation with the sheetmetalshop, to doing 65-70 percent straightmachining jobs.

“If we were just supporting thesheetmetal shop and not taking in allthis outside work, we could pro b a b l ystill get by with one, maybe two,V M C ’s. But some of the same cus-tomers buying sheetmetal are buyingmachined parts also. It’s like one-stop shopping.

“Disney is probably a classicexample,” Stewart said. “If they can’tget their sheetmetal and machining atthe same place (a lot of their stuff getsboth, then gets welded) they’ll go some-place else. When they want to put aride together they are n ’t always willingto wait. They need their parts, and theyneed them now. You’ve got to be ableto deliver the finished package.”

Haas Helps Take Former Sheetmetal Shop to Mars

Norm MacKenzie machined this part for the guidance system of the Mars Pathfinder. MacKenzie’s parts with electronics and sensors installed. *

This intricate part held an array of directional sensors.

Two years ago theyw e re just anotherbatch of parts forthe machine shop.

S u re, the blueprints weref rom NASA’s Jet Pro p u l s i o nL a b o r a t o ry, but NormMacKenzie thought noth-ing of it. He had donen u m e rous jobs for JPL during his 25 years as a machinist.

W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M

A E R O S P A C E U P D A T E A E R O S P A C E U P D A T E A E R O S P A C E U P D A T E

“At the start they were just

another set of part s , ”

MacKenzie explained.

“But the more we got into

it, and started talking to

the engineers, we re a l i z e d

they were going to Mars.

M e t a l c r a f t e r s : 8 0 5 - 5 8 1 - 2 9 7 1 .

MacKenzie agreed. “A lot ofcompanies are doing that now –Lockheed, McDonnell-Douglas,Rockwell – as a way to maintain qual-ity control,” he said.

Increased demand for machinedparts prompted Metalcrafters to investin additional CNC equipment. Theychose a Haas VF-2 vertical machiningcenter to expand their capacity. “Weneeded a machine to get more workout of here,” Stewart said. “We hearda lot of good things about the Haasmachines, so we looked into them.We liked what we saw, and bought

one. It was a reasonably pricedm a c h i n e that was going to help usincrease our capacity.”

With all his machinists busy mak-ing parts on the other machines, thetask of setting up the first job on theHaas fell to Stewart.

“I was surprised how easy thec o n t rol was, it’s very self-explanatory, ”S t e w a rt remarked. “Within half anhour I guessed my way through thec o n t rol and set up the job. You canbasically look at the control and under-stand it, especially if you’ve been onanother machine. I’d say it’s more user-friendly than any other contro l . ”

“The keyboard is so simple, theway it’s designed,” MacKenzie added,“ e v e rything has its own little section.

T h a t ’s what makes the Haas so easy torun. We do a lot of multiple fixturing,and the Haas lets you load multiplef i x t u re offsets and multiple tool off s e t squickly and easily. On our othermachines you’ve got to physically punchthe number in, which increases thechance of mistakes. With the Haas, youjust punch one button to enter the off s e t ,then another to go to the next tool. TheHaas also has better perf o rmance – thetool changer, point-to-point with the tur-ret, spindle orientation – these things areall faster, which saves a lot of time.We’ve been able to reduce cycle times

quite a bit with the Haas. And it’s veryaccurate, I can hold two-tenths all day.”

MacKenzie goes on to say, “Oneof the biggest things about the Haasmachines is their versatility. Wemachine ductile-iron castings, 15-5stainless, P21 stainless, 4130 steel,then we go to the diff e rent aluminumalloys. We run all sorts of materials.With the Haas, I don’t have any pro b-lems running aluminum then changingover to steel. A lot of machines can’tdo that.”

A c c o rding to Stewart ,Metalcrafters is always looking toi n c rease their plant’s capacity andc a p a b i l i t y. The VF-2 allowed them toi n c rease their capacity and pumpm o re parts out the door. But as jobs

rolled in with larger production ru n sand bigger parts, they needed toexpand their capabilities by adding al a rger machine. They chose a HaasVF-6 with 64” x 32” x 30” travels,and their investment soon paid off .

“ We had a job for Disney thatwas too large to cut on our othermachines,” Stewart explained. “It wasa heat-treated casting of ductile iro nthat was 20 inches tall. Every surf a c ehad to be machined, and we had todrill and tap holes, including blindholes at the bottom of the part thatcould only be reached from the top.The VF-6 was the only machine wehad that would cut it, and cut it right.”

Bigger parts, however, are not theonly reason for having a biggermachine. Sure, there are times when abigger machine is the only way to cutthe part. But longer travels can alsohelp you be more efficient, by allowingmultiple set-ups so you can get finishedp a rts off the machine.

“ Travels are very important withmultiple fixturing,” Stewart said.“ T h a t ’s where the VF-6 has been re a l-l y good. Some people look at travelsand think ‘Well, my part is small, itwill fit in a small travel.’ But withsmall travels you’re limited to per-f o rming one machining operation ata time, or cutting one side of a part .M o re travel can help you be moree fficient by allowing multiple fixture sand operations. The set-up may takea little longer, but the customer is get-ting finished parts in a couple daysinstead of weeks. Now, I’m serv i c i n gthe customer. ”

One customer who needed part squickly was NASA’s Jet Pro p u l s i o nL a b o r a t o ry. “We had done a fewsheetmetal jobs for JPL in the past – alittle thing here, a little thing there. Thenall of a sudden a job pops up wherethey need it, and they need it now.They realized we were doing machin-ing and gave us this aluminum panel todo. We didn’t even know what it wasf o r, you couldn’t tell. Then they gave usanother panel, then four more. It w a s n ’t until later that we found oute v e rything was going into the

P a t h f i n d e r,” Stewart said. “They need-ed parts fast, and we made it happen.”

N o rm MacKenzie’s extensiveexperience and the versatile capa-bilities of the Haas machines are thekey ingredients that made the JPLjobs happen.

Ty p i c a l l y, JPL would send a blue-print to Metalcrafters. MacKenziewould look over the blueprint and startmachining the part – usually writing thep rogram right at the control. Sincethese were R&D parts, MacKenziewould often discover things thatw e re n ’t right. So, working hand inhand with the engineers, he wouldmake changes until he had a finishedp a rt. Then he’d ship the part to JPL,w h e re the engineers would test it,make more changes, red-line the blue-prints and send them back. “They’dmake changes and I’d just make anoth-er part for them,” MacKenzie said,“and another, and another, until even-

tually we came up with the final part.” One of the most challenging JPL

jobs, MacKenzie noted, was a smallp a rt designed to hold an array of sixd i rectional sensors for the main guid-ance system of the Mars Pathfindermodule. Starting with a 9” x 9” x 3”block of 7075 aluminum, hemachined an intricate web of pockets,ribs, holes and mounting tabsdesigned to secure the sensors for their309-million-mile journ e y.

“It was a challenge because therew e re so many diff e rent angles andpockets in it,” MacKenzie said. “I’vemade a lot of fancy parts, but this wasa little diff e rent, because of what itwas, where it was going and what itwas doing.”

MacKenzie opted to program thep a rt directly at the Haas control ratherthan use a CAD/CAM pro g r a m .“For me it was faster that way. I didn’thave the luxury of sitting and waiting

for the program,” he said. “A lot of thep a rt was very flimsy, with thin walls, soI had to be real careful and do a littlebit at a time through MDI (manual datainput). I couldn’t aff o rd to get 70% intothe part and lose it.”

MacKenzie used the Haas VF-2with multiple fixtures to make three ofthe parts at a time, just in case hemade a mistake. “There was a lot ofwork involved, and I couldn’t aff o rd tolose the part . ”

The hard work payed off ,though, when the Pathfinder success-fully bounced to a stop on the surf a c eof Mars. His parts had done their joband become a part of history. “ I t ’s athrill to see it up there,” MacKenzieexplained, “a little part of me upt h e re. I don’t know where Mars is, butI know it’s up there, and I’ve got ap a rt up there, albeit that’s just a tinyp a rt, but I’ve got a little part up there . ”

The Mars Pathfinder Sojourner. (NASA/JPL/Caltech) *

The Mars Pathfinder module with the Sojourner. (NASA/JPL/Caltech) *

* Photographs & Renderings Courtesy of NASA/JPL/Caltech ©. Sojourner™, Mars Rover™, and spacecraft design and images copyright © 1996-97, California Institute of Technology. All rights reserved. Further reproductions prohibited.

20C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7

21W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M

Tooling TipsTooling TipsIn fact, just the opposite is tru e .

With today’s understanding of thesophisticated factors and forces atwork in a successful insert application,it is clear that tomorrow’s “magicbullet” will be an extremely pro d u c t i v esolution for a very specific set ofmachining conditions.

Putting such a solution to worksuccessfully will re q u i re an in-depthunderstanding of the complex interac-tions of the seven critical componentsthat unite to produce an optimizedcutting system. This article will pro v i d ean overview of those system elements.

the elements

E v e ry successful cutting tool appli-cation re p resents a combination of: 1)a substrate, 2) one or more coatings inmost, but not all, cases, 3) a chip-b re a k e r, or “top form” geometry, 4) aspecific edge preparation, 5) a specificstyle and nose radius, 6) a toolholderand 7) a cutting fluid. A quick glanceat any manufacture r ’s catalog willclearly demonstrate that the potentialcombinations of these elements run intothe thousands, if not the millions.

Finding a way to make sense outof such a variety of choices is themajor challenge facing both cuttingtool producers and cutting tool con-sumers in the coming years. Material-based color codes, and selection pro-c e d u res built on them, are a step in theright direction, but only a first step.

As insert systems become moreand more application specific, newselection paradigms must be cre a t e dto guide consumer choices. Regard l e s sof the shape these may take, they mustnecessarily be grounded in a thoro u g hunderstanding of the individual role ofeach of the seven elements and theirinteractions in the cut.

the substrate

In a coated insert, the substrate isthe “foundation” for the cutting system,

23

For the last decade or so, the cuttingtool industry has been on a quest for“simplicity” in its turning and milling

i n s e rt offerings, consumed by the searc hfor a mythical “universal” grade or twothat could be matched with a fewc h i p b reakers to handle virtually any jobthat came through the door. What’sbeen learned from that exercise is thatt h e re is no single “magic bullet” that willdeliver optimum productivity in everymachining application.

22 C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7 W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M

but it never actually comes into con-tact with the workpiece. This factp e rmits cutting tool manufacturers totailor substrate pro p e rties over a m u c hb roader range than was possiblewhen the uncoated substrate was thecutting tool.

Nearly all substrates are madef rom tungsten carbide (WC), which isstill the only material available with t h ecombination and hardness and tough-ness re q u i red to handle a bro a drange of cutting applications. Othermaterials, such as ceramics and cer-m e t s , p rovide a useful complement toWC at the high speed end of theapplication range, but these are rare l yused with coatings.

The first substrates were simplytraditional straight WC grades whichw e re coated to improve their perf o r-mance. Some of these combinationsp roved so useful they are still in pro-duction today.

I m p roved processing capabilitiesled to the production of “enriched”substrates in which the cobalt contentof a layer near the surface is signifi-cantly enhanced while the form a t i o nof cubic carbides is prevented. Thisp rovides substantially more edges t rength than a straight-grade substrateand is widely applied in insert sintended for roughing and interru p t e dcutting applications, as well as onsome hard-to-machine materials.

A more recent development isthe family of “fine grain” substratesin which the size of individual WCgrains is controlled. These areprimarily used in insert systemsdesigned for machining very toughmaterials, such as aerospace andh i g h - t e m p e r a t u re alloys.

F i n a l l y, substrate perf o rm a n c ecan be “enhanced” by selectivelyadding other types of carbide to thestraight WC mixture. The most common“alloys” consist of WC plus titaniumcarbide (TiC), tantalum carbide (Ta C ) ,vanadium carbide (VC) and niobiumcarbide (NbC), or some mixture of

them. Each of these additional car-bide materials produces specific pro p-e rties which are useful in a range ofcommon applications.

coatings

T h e re are two factors to be con-s i d e red in evaluating insert coatings:the material or materials used, and thep rocess by which they are applied.Both impact insert system perf o rm a n c e .

The coating itself acts as thei n t e rface between the workpiece andthe cutting tool. Depending on theapplication, coatings can pro v i d ewear resistance, abrasive and craterresistance, built-up-edge re s i s t a n c e ,chemical resistance or a simplereduction in friction, which lowerscutting temperature s .

The most commonly used coat-ing materials and the properties theyprovide are:

• TiC - abrasive, flank, and nosewear re s i s t a n c e

• TiCn - abrasive and some craterwear re s i s t a n c e

• TiN - some crater resistance, frictionreduction and a diffusion barr i e r

• Al203 - crater and wear re s i s t a n c e ,plus abrasive wear resistance at

high cutting temperature s• Al2O3/ZrO2 - best crater re s i s-

tance, but softer than Al203T h e re are four major coating tech-

nologies used in the cutting tool indus-t ry today. These are diff e re n t i a t e dprimarily by the temperature at whichthey operate. This is import a n t ,because the temperature at which thecoating is applied directly impacts thep e rf o rmance of substrate pro p e rt i e s .

The most common coating tech-nology is Chemical Vapor Deposition,or CVD, which operates at a tempera-t u re of roughly 1,000° C. Nearly ascommon is Physical Vapor Deposition,or PVD, which operates at the otherend of the temperature spectrum in the400° C range.

Between these two extremes aretwo other emerging coating pro c e s s e swhich promise to enhance insert systemp e rf o rmance. Plasma Assisted ChemicalVapor Deposition, or PCVD, is wellaccepted in Europe and is beinge x p l o red in North America. PCVDoperates in the 600° C range. Finally,Medium Te m p e r a t u re Chemical Va p o rDeposition, or MTCVD, is an emerg i n gand promising technology that operatesin the 800° C range.

The key factor to bear in mind is,that the pro p e rties of both the coating

How To Grow Your Productivity With A SystemsA p p roach To Insert Selection: P a rt I in a Series

Continued on page 29

A selection of inserts from Valenite

By Karl Katbi, Product Manager, Valenite, Inc.

TECH TIPSTECH TIPS

T he use of touch probes on machine tools is growing as moreand more shops learn how to use them to reduce setup timeand improve pro d u c t i v i t y. Yet, some shops are overlooking

the value of touch probes or are under utilizing this technology.To explore this and other issues relating to touch probing, authorE d w a rd Marchitto has chosen a Q and A format. Marchitto is asystems engineer with Marposs, one of the leading intern a t i o n a lf i rms in the design of high-production/high-speed in-line contactgauging systems.

two kinds of probes

Q . B roadly speaking, what aretouch probes used for?

A . Touch probing systems areused to help provide process contro lon a wide range of CNC machinetools – including CNC lathes, vert i c a land horizontal machining centers and grinders. Probing applicationstypically fall into two broad cate-gories: spindle or turret probing, andtool probing.

Spindle or turret probing systemsconsist of a spindle – or turret –mounted touch probe with stylus, atransmission system and a machine/c o n t rol interface. These systems areused for setting up the machiningcycle; for in-process part inspectionwith feedback for automatic tool com-pensation; and, sometimes, for on-machine final part inspection.

In machining-center setup appli-cations, a spindle-probe system willlocate the part at specified datapoints and provide automatic input ofwork coordinate positions. During partchangeovers, probing makes it possi-b l e to take one fixture and setup offthe machine, put another one on, andget quick validation to start machin-ing. Benefits usually include a substan-tial reduction in set-up time andi n c reases in machine-tool pro d u c t i v i t yor overall throughput.

For in-process applications, thespindle or turret probing system mea-s u res critical machined dimensions tomake sure they conform to originalspecifications. Most often, theinspection is combined with datafeedback for automatic tool compen-sation. This provides process contro lthat is especially cost-effective int u rning operations. Sometimes, mea-s u rement of particular dimensionss e rves to provide final part inspec-tion right on the machine.

To o l - p robing systems consist of

a table-mounted touch probe andstylus, an adjustable probe holderand a machine/control interf a c e .These systems have two primaryfunctions. One function is to checktool diameter and length, which cansave setup time by eliminating theneed for off-machine tool pre s e t t i n g .The second function is to check forb roken tools, which can prevent pos-sible damage to the tool, the partand the machine and consequentb reakdowns in pro d u c t i o n .

A c t u a l l y, broken tool detection isan incidental offshoot of the tool-length measurement. The pro b echecks the tool length against a pro-grammed error margin – say ten thou-sandths. If the error is greater thanthis, the tool registers as broken andis replaced.

fixturing matters

Q . In what way is fixturingi m p o rtant to probing?

A . You often hear – quite to thec o n t r a ry – that with probing, youd o n ’t have to spend money on high-tech fixturing with high pre c i s i o n .Instead, you can use a low-cost hold-ing system, find the part in the fixture ,set your work coordinates automati-cally and be off and running. If youput on a new part that’s not locatedin exactly the same place, you cansimply re-establish the coord i n a t e sand go to work again.

Fixturing is no more or no lessi m p o rtant with probing than it is with-out it. With probing, however, itshould be possible to reduce the costof fixturing. The designer must under-

Could your machining

application benefit

f rom touch probing?

In this article an i n d u s-

t ry expert provides you

with the tools you need

to make an inform e d

d e c i s i o n .

Marposs Mida T-series probe in a turning machine application.

TECH TIPSTECH TIPSThe ABC’s of ProbingThe ABC’s of Probing

Marposs Mida T-series probe used on a horizontal machining center.

25W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M24

C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7

This is a Haas aluminum-bronze worm gear before the teeth are cut – i t’s a key part of our rotary tab l e s . The gear blank is mounted to the spindle before the teeth are cut. T h e n , each unit is hand-trammed

while in-position to a runout of less than .0001 of-an-inch.By mounting the worm gear blank to the spindle before cutting the teeth,

we’re able to maintain superior overall concentricity. Each gear is then handm ated to one of our ultra-precision worms to produce a highly - a c c u r at eworm gear set for dependab l e , precise operat i o n .

Each and every part machined by Haas at our state-of-the-art facility getsthis much at t e n t i o n . I t ’s the only way weknow to ensure that we’ve built a superiorr o t a ry table that will provide you with years of dependable serv i c e .

Contact us for complete detailsabout our full line of rotary tables

and indexers – including dual,triple and quad-head models.

Haas Automation, Inc.2800 Sturgis Road,Oxnard, CA 93030

800-331-6746fax 805-278-2240

B U I LT T O L A S T

C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7

stand that the probe itself can beused to accurately locate the part .His own primary goal is simply tohold the part securely on its pro p e rdatum surfaces. The workholdingdesign must be such that it gives thep robe proper access to the locatingre f e rence points.

To meet this goal, the fixturingmust reflect particular design consid-erations. For example, if an NC pro-gram needs to set up a Z-axis zeropoint in a work-coordinate system,the probe has to be able to touchthat surface with a part in the fixture.

This is not a new idea. Manyf i x t u res are designed with a featurespecifically used for location purposes.Often a sphere, or “tooling ball,” isused. A designer should know, how-e v e r, that spheres are more difficult top robe than cubes. Tooling balls may

have lent themselveswell to indicators, butit is easier to pro g r a mthe probe and re c o rddata when hitting flator cylindrical surfaces.

To sum up, fixtur-ing used in conjunctionwith probing may nothave to be as pre c i s eas before, in terms ofrepeatable locationof the part, but it hasto be care f u l l ydesigned for pro p e raccessibility to a locat-ing re f e rence point.

what you need

Q . A re Haasmachines capable ofincorporating pro b i n gwith the simple addi-tion of some software?

A . Along with thes o f t w a re, you need aP ro-Mac contro loption. The Pro - M a c

option provides advanced pro g r a m-ming capabilities for controlling allthe motions of the probe and cutterpath. It allows you to use variablesand mathematic and trigonometricfunctions, as well as logical and con-ditional statements.

Both the spindle-probe and tool-p robe systems re q u i re suff i c i e n tp rogram memory, or storage. TheMida™ standard package uses100 feet of memory for both spindle-p robe and tool-probe macro s .

G31 is the fundamental CNCcode for probing and is used exten-sively in all probe applications.During motion caused by a G31command, axis targets and a feedrate are programmed, and the pro b esignal is monitored to sense contact.When contact is detected, themachine stops axis motion. The axis

positions are then re c o rded, and thep rogram proceeds to the next blockof code.

don’t forget tra i n i n g

Q . How important is instru c t i o n ,or training, to successful customer useof a probing system?

A. Extremely important. Marpossstrongly encourages probe users toinvest up-front in training – but thetraining need not be exhaustive. Themost important things to learn aboutprobing are the fundamentals of cali-bration, and how to program theprobing cycles supplied with our sys-tem. Marposs, along with Haas dis-tributors, has a program in place totrain its customers in these skills. Theprogram also offers training in pro-gramming the Pro-Mac control option.

With respect to this training, itmay be helpful to clarify some issues.In the first place, the probing cyclesa re themselves macros. They arecomplete and fully documented forthe user. Training for the pro b i n gcycles does not re q u i re prior knowl-edge of macros. However, trainingin macro programming re q u i res as t rong NC background. This isbecause macros are contro l - re s i d e n tp rograms which incorporate a lot ofCNC fundamentals.

It must be re m e m b e red, however,that training is only the first step tosuccessful probing. Other skills willonly be mastered through experience.

what holds shops back

Q . We all know of shops thata re well run and pro g ressive, withbright operators who could undoubt-edly learn to run a probing cycle. Inmany of these shops, there re m a i n sa big resistance to get into pro b i n g .Why do you think this is?

A . A number of concerns holdpeople back, but some are simply

The Marposs Mida touch probe is used to set up a diesel fuel pumpbody for re-machining on a vertical machining center.

Continued on page 28

26

making times considerably. Typically,operators will machine a roughing elec-trode and immediately put it to use in theEDM machine. Then, while the roughingelectrode is burning, they’ll machine thefinishing electrode.

Normally, machining the finishingelectrode would take longer than theEDM roughing operation. However, theHaas VMC’s allow Global to completethe finishing electrode before the rough-ing operation is done – providing “just-in-time” manufacturing, and reducinglead times.

Machining graphite EDM electro d e sposes other problems as well. “Graphitec reates a very fine dust when it’smachined,” Bichsel said, “which gets intoe v e rything. So, we use flood coolant toeliminate the dust problem. We can pro-

gram the coolant nozzle’s position withthe Haas P-Cool™ option, so we don’thave to stop the VMC and manuallyreposition coolant nozzles.”

HANDLING LARGE PROGRAMS ANDGETTING SMOOTH SURFACE FINISHES

Another factor in machining molds isthe necessity of processing large CNCp rograms. These files must be down-loaded to the CNC control fast, andexecuted quickly, to eliminate cutter hesi-tation while the control waits for the nextblock of data. The Haas’ 4 MB ofexpanded memory allows large pro g r a mfiles to be fully loaded into the CNC c o n t rol, and the 1000-block-per- m i n u t ep rocessing speed eliminates cutter hesitat-tion. This keeps dwell marks from spoiling

an otherwise smooth surface finish.“A smooth surface finish off the

machine reduces manual bench work,”Bichsel said. “Because of the spindlespeeds we can maintain, the surface fin-ish from the Haas is very good. Theblends we get on complex surfaces havereduced our bench work by as much as80 perc e n t . ”

“The Haas has handled every t h i n gwe’ve thrown at it, including unattendedoperation,” Bichsel said. “We load theautomatic tool changer with all the toolsfor a particular job, upload a long-ru n n i n gp rogram into memory and push the cycle-s t a rt button. They make money for us withthe lights out. That’s why they’ll pay forthemselves in less than two years.”

Contact Global at 972-241-4300.

29W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M

and the substrate are changed by theapplication process. The same coatingapplied to the same substrate byd i ff e rent processes may provide veryd i ff e rent perf o rmances in the cut.

chipbreakers or top form geometries

With today’s sophisticated insertshapes, the term “chipbreaker” nolonger describes the contribution of thiselement to the insert systems. “Top FormG e o m e t ry” is a more precise term forthe very complex shape seen on thecutting surface of a modern insert .

While chip control is still a major

function, the Top Form Geometry alsos e rves to reduce cutting forces. Lowerf o rces mean less heat, deform a t i o nand friction, which enhances tool lifeand often improves workpiece sizec o n t rol and finish.

P e rhaps the best example of thisis the use of “chipbreakers” on millingi n s e rts. Generally speaking, millingchips tend to break themselves, butthe other benefits of a well-engineere dTop Form Geometry are easily seen inreduced horsepower re q u i rements andbetter parts. Many of today’s high-speed milling applications on re l a t i v e l ylow-horsepower machines would not

be possible without effective Top FormGeometries on the insert s .

edge preparation

In the past, most manufacture r so ff e red only one or two standardedge preparations, or “hones,” forany particular insert size and geome-t ry. To d a y, however, it is re c o g n i z e dthat the “hone” is really determined bythe application for which the insertsystem is intended. An insert systemintended for high-speed finishing ofsteel has very diff e rent edge pre p a r a-tion re q u i rements than one to be used

for roughing, even though both mays h a re the same basic geometry.

Ceramic and cermet materialsalso re q u i re edge preparation in thef o rm of a “T-Land” geometry. Te s t i n gshows that very subtle variation in thewidth and angle of the “T-Land” canhave substantial impact on tool life.

style and nose radius

H e re, at least, conventionalwisdom still prevails. Selecting astyle with the greatest includedangle will provide the stro n g e s tpossible insert for the application.

In general, a large nose radiusp rovides better surface finish. Thesegeometric factors, in conjunctionwith the toolholder, determine thee ffective lead angle. This in turnimpacts cutting force and the re s u l-tant heat and wear which short e ntool life.

toolholder

In turning, the toolholder is theprimary determinant of lead and rakeangle, both of which can influencechip thickness, horsepower require-ments, cutting forces and tool life.In milling, the critical toolholder-relat-ed factors are radial and axial rake,which have the same impacts foundin turning applications.

cutting fluids

This is one of the most over-looked factors in the perf o rmance ofany metalcutting application. Recenttesting has shown that the choice ofcutting fluid can have substantialimpact on both insert life and cuttingsystem perf o rmance, especially onh a rd-to-machine materials like stainlesssteels and high-temperature alloys.

in summary

L a b o r a t o ry testing and field expe-rience have clearly demonstrated thatthe very subtle interaction of the sevenelements of an insert cutting systemcan have extremely large impacts onapplication perf o rmance. The quest fora “universal” insert material and chip-b reaker combination is a dead end.The direction for the future is in match-ing insert cutting systems more andm o re specifically to workpiece materi-als and cutting operations.

In the next installment of thisseries we will examine substrate andpossibly coating materials and theircontribution to insert system perf o rm a n c ein more detail.

How to Grow Your Productivity With a SystemsA p p roach to Insert Selection: Part I in a Series (Continued from page 23)

28 C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7

Continued :not valid. For instance, many potentialusers have a real fear of probe bre a k-age, even though probes are designedto resist damage from crashes andhave software designed to pre v e n tmany mistakes.

Another major concern is mainte-nance – how often must you calibratethe probe? For the right answer to thatquestion the probe user first needs tounderstand the importance of calibration.

Machine tool probes, such as theMarposs Mida™ p robe, are highly re p e a t-able microswitches and will perf o rm flaw-lessly re g a rdless of operator skills.

A probe, however, has no knowl-edge of its own about positioning. Ituses the machine’s positioning capabilityand must there f o re be calibrated to as u rface of known location and size.O ffsets relating stylus centerline to spin-dle centerline and machine position arethen stored and considered each time am e a s u rement cycle is run.

An understanding of the import a n c eof calibration, together with part - t o l e r-

ance re q u i rements, will determine thef requency of calibration. I have seensuccessful applications where calibrationwas perf o rmed once per part, and oth-ers where it was perf o rmed only onceper month. Marposs recommends thatbeginning probe users, however, cali-brate at least once a week. As pro c e s sknowledge and experience with a par-ticular probe and machine tool systemi n c rease, the ultimate frequency of cali-bration can be established.

With a tool probe, a set of ro u t i n e sis needed to calibrate the probe form e a s u rements of tool length and diame-t e r. The probe is there f o re calibrated toa tool of known length and diameter.The frequency of calibration should bed e t e rmined in the same way as with thespindle probe.

summing up

Anyone contemplating the use of ap robe should understand that the basicphilosophy and concepts of on-machine

p robing are not difficult. More o v e r, train-ing in running the probe cycles wills t rengthen operator confidence thro u g hhands-on machine demonstrations anduser application development. Thismeans that the pro b e ’s potential willdepend almost entirely on the compati-bility of your manufacturing process.

All manufacturers can pro f i t a b l yconsider machine probing as a tool forenhancing existing processes, or fori m p roving the design of new pro c e s s e s .In many cases, the use of a probe willsave setup time and costs, eliminateoperations or allow machines to ru nunattended for longer periods. Mosti m p re s s i v e l y, probes used for pro c e s sc o n t rol will often result in dramaticallyi m p roved process capability.

If you wish to purchase a Marpossspindle or toolholding probe from yourHaas distributor, request part numbersWPRO-M for spindle probes, and partnumbers TPRO-M for tool probes.

Marposs 888-627-7677

The ABC’s of Probing (Continued from page 26)

Focus on Mold Making (Continued from page 13)

Five-Axis Profiling VMC from Haas Automation

Haas Automation’s new VR-11 five-axis profiling vertical machining centerp rovides a cost-effective solution for larg e5-axis machining operations. Providing ani m p ressive ±32-degrees of spindle ro t a t i o non the A and B axes, this unique machineis perfect for such industries as aero s p a c e ,and mold & die, where undercuts and con-touring are the norm .

Based on Haas’s h o p - p roven VMC design,the new VR-11 offers al a rge work envelope of120” x 40” x 30” (xyz).A high-torque, 20-hp spin-dle p rovides up to 7,500rpm, and features a vectorspindle drive for theabsolute best perf o rm a n c et h roughout the entire rpmrange. Brushless serv omotors ensure high-speedcontouring capabilities,and yield quick rapids toreduce cycle times.

The 5-axis spindle features a fully-enclosed gimbal design to protect gearsf rom chips and coolant, and a 32-pocket(40-taper) automatic tool changer swingsout of the enclosure for unobstru c t e d

machining. Numerous options are avail-able for the VR-11, including a 10,000rpm spindle for high-speed machining,and linear scales to further enhance accu-r a c y. Optional through-spindle coolanti m p roves tool life, and an automatic chipconveyor reduces idle time by re m o v i n gchips from the enclosure .

Driving the VR-11 is the highly-refinedand user-friendly Haas CNC control.Designed and built in-house, this control

features dual, high-speed32-bit processors, andprogram executionspeeds up to 1000blocks/second. The5-axis software has beenfine-tuned to meet thechallenge of processinglarge, complex files,andmemory is expandable to8 megabytes. The HaasCNC control is bothFanuc™ and Yasnac™compatible, and exclu-sive OneTouch™ featuresboost productivity by

reducing complex tasks to the push of asingle button.

The new VR-11 5-axis profiling VMCf rom Haas Automation – true simultaneous,l a rge-envelope, 5-axis machining at ana ff o rdable price.

31W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M

Haas Introduces Vector SpindleDrives

Haas Automation re c e n t l yannounced the addition of a Ve c t o rSpindle Drive option for all theirV M C ’s, HMC’s and CNC lathes.

The Haas vector drive optionemploys a true, closed-loop vector todeliver peak perf o rmance and pre-cise speed control under any load(up to the limits of the drive). Thevector drive provides the absolutebest perf o rmance throughout the fullrange of standard spindle speeds,as well as increased maximumt o rque and a broader torque range.

The Haas vector drive optionp rovides faster acceleration and

deceleration, faster spindleorientation and a simplified interface directly to the control. See

P roductivity Enhancement Option adjacent foradded benefits. The vector spindle drive option isc u rrently available for all Haas VMC’s, CNC lath-es and HMC’s, except those with 30-hp motors or

high torque options. The vector drive option is stan-d a rd with the Haas 50-taper spindle.

Zip™ Drive Option Available for Haas CNC Machines

The latest, high-capacity memory device for computers is now available as anoption for Haas CNC machining centers and CNC lathes. The new Zip™ driveoption provides unlimited program storage and high-speed data-transfer rates –100 megs at a time. Just plug and play.

The Haas Zip™ drive option includes everything you need to add a Zip™ toyour Haas CNC machine, including control interface, parallel-port Zip™ drive,power supply and connecting cables. Use the Zip™ to transfer entire pro g r a md i rectories, back up important jobs oreven DNC large files. Included softwareallows you to switch the drive betweenyour Haas and your PC. Or, if you pre-f e r, buy a second Zip™ for the PC andjust move disks from drive to drive.

This versatile option is available forall new Haas CNC machines. Pleasecheck with you distributor for inform a-tion re g a rding re t rofit compatibility andfield installation.

Zip™ is a re g i s t e red trademark ofIomega Corporation

Productivity Enhancement Option

• Standard 20-hp* motor• Faster spindle acceleration/decel.• Improved chip-to-chip time• High-speed rigid tapping• Reduced cycle times• Closed-loop system with encoder • Precise rpm contro l• Better tool life and finish• Constant chip load• Increased maximum torque and range• Higher speeds and feeds• Increased feed per re v o l u t i o n• Precise speed contro l• Designed and manufactured by Haas

*20 hp peakA VR-11 is prepared for shipping to Hannover, Germany for the world’s largest trade show.

30 C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7

New Products & FeaturesNew Products & Features

HL - 6

The new Haas HL-5 and HL-6CNC lathes are now rolling off theassembly line, and production is ramp-ing up to full capacity. These larg ecapacity machines have drawn lots ofattention since their debut in Marc h ,and the first production models havea l ready hit the road as part of theHaas World Tour of trade shows.

HL-1&2 BB

B i g - b o re lathes are quickly gain-ing popularity among shops needingcompact machines with larger capaci-ties. Haas has stepped into the fraywith their new HL-1BB and HL-2BBB i g - B o re CNC lathes. These versatilemachines combine the power andcapacity of a larger machine – 30-hpspindle, 10" chuck and 2.5" barf e e dcapacity – with the small footprint ofa compact machine.

Productivity is the name

of the game, and Haas

Automation’s new Automatic

Pallet Changer is an effective

way to give your productivity

a boost. Available as a factory-installed

option on new VF-3 vertical machining

centers, these turnkey systems are simple

to operate and require minimal training.

Seamless operation is provided through

the Haas CNC control, and air and

power are provided by the VMC. The

first VF-3 APC’s rolled off the line in

August and are on their way to customers.

Haas CNC Lathes Haas AutomaticPallet Changer

33W W W.H A A S C N C.C O M32 C N C M A C H I N I N G • FA L L 1 9 9 7

things are not what they used to be on the other side of thepond. During a recent visit to Mikron Machine Tools inE u rope, they took great pride in showing me their appre n-tice shop and introducing me to apprentices. “Investments inour future,” they told me. “It is a wise investment, but we’vehad to cut back because of budget limitations.”

Roger Stevens, Chairman of the Stevens EngineeringG roup, expressed a similar sentiment on my last visit toEngland. He was ruing the fact that the U.K.’s appre n t i c e-ship programs were slowly dissipating. What was once themodel for apprenticeship programs worldwide, is nowdrawing a decreasing investment and less interest from bothemployers and appre n t i c e s .

A p p renticeship programs are all well and good, yous a y, but if I invest in this level of training, I’m just going tolose those I’ve trained to someone else. I have heard this

m o re times than I care to admit, and each time I’m re m i n d-ed of Henry Peter Brougham who said, “Education makespeople easy to lead, but difficult to drive; easy to govern ,but impossible to enslave.” Maybe we need to look at ourmanagement approach if we expect to lose people whoa re trained. Maybe we should learn what our employeesa re looking for, before we lose them. Not all employeesa re looking for “a couple of cents more an hour.” Maybewe should ask them.

While I have asked more questions than I’ve answere din this column, hopefully I’ve provoked some thought. I ams u re there are local training or apprenticeship programs inyour community. You should look into them. If we don’tinvest in tomorro w, today; when tomorrow comes, andt h e re is no one to fill our needs, we have only ourselves toblame. To m o rrow comes every day.

ContinuedThe Work Force of To m o rrow (Continued from page 1)

breaker, is usually the best solution forturning stainless steel.

selection made easier

Tool selection guides, like Sandvik’sC o roKey™, offer users information onwhich grade and geometry combina-tion will work best in every applica-tion – finishing (F), medium machining(M) and roughing (R). Sandvik marksthis information directly on the insert sfor easy identification. The inserts arealso shipped in a box with cuttingdata for that particular insert printedon the label. The cutting data is atbest conservative, and should betaken only as the starting point. Wes t rongly recommend the following:push the inserts to the limit. Think part sper edge, rather than insert cost. Inthat manner, you’ll maximize pro d u c-tivity all the time.

nose radius

Whether you’re doing heavy ro u g h i n g ,medium roughing or finishing on stain-

less steel, select an insert with the cor-rect nose radius. The nose radius is akey factor in insert strength for ro u g h-ing, and surface texture in finishing.A nose radius of 3⁄6 4ths or larger is usu-ally the best choice for stainless steelt u rning. In rough turning, the maximummetal removal rate is obtained with acombination of high feed and moder-ate cutting speed. Machine power issometimes the limiting factor, and insuch cases, the cutting speed shouldbe lowered accord i n g l y. Generally, infinishing, setting the feed no higherthan one-third of the nose radius willprovide good surface texture andaccuracy. Often, this smoother, easierturning means you can get by with alower power machining center.

tool wear doctor

Having covered what’s new ininserts, let’s take a look at tool wear.Some edge-wear patterns are normal,while others are symptomatic ofimproper application, incorrectmachine settings or inappropriate

turning techniques. You’ll be furtheralong if you diagnose and correctthese first signs of trouble, and applysome innovative cutting techniques tominimize them.

R e m e m b e r, tool wear in and ofitself is not a negative process. To o l swill always wear. It’s not a question ofif, but when, how much and whattype of tool wear will occur. When atool cutting edge has perf o rmed aconsiderable amount of metal cuttingwithin a reasonable time, wear is veryacceptable. It becomes negativewhen pre m a t u re breakdown or toolf r a c t u re occurs, causing excessivestoppages for edge changes.

To control excessive stoppages,push the insert to the limit for 15minutes, and at that point index theedge. This practical “15-minute ruleof thumb” will ensure you get moreparts per edge with fewer indexingstoppages. It makes no economicsense to try to push the edge beyondthat time. Productivity should be yourprimary concern, not saving a fewcents on the remaining edge life.

Simplifying Tu rning of Stainless Steel (Continued from page 15)

To achieve tro u b l e - f ree and safe operation you should do the following:Change the oil re g u l a r l y, rotate the tires, flush the cooling system and

change the coolant, replace the air filter and fan belts, oh, and don’t forget theshock absorbers. Rest assured, this is sound advice; and, followed with somedevotion, it will serve you well.

If you want your car to be reliable, you do the little things to maintain itsoverall integrity, right? We all learn this lesson eventually. Some of us havelearned from experience that preventive maintenance pays back big dividends.Some have learned by gentle reminder; others, however, have learned only aftera lesson from the school of hard knocks.

The “prevent, maintain and be sure” school of common sense relates to allmachines, no matter what their design or application. Logic is all that’s requiredto make the leap from your car to your CNC machine. Preventive maintenanceis good for the machine, your investment and your bottom line. Say it any wayyou want – a machine’s reliability, length of usefulness and accuracy are linkeddirectly to the attention and maintenance schedule that’s been bestowed on theparticular equipment.

More and more users of CNC equipment are realizing the pivotal rolepreventive maintenance plays in realizing an efficient production schedule. Restassured, this area is becoming as important as scheduling and quality considera-tions, especially in light of growing requirements for ISO 9001 certification, aswell as other industrial quality standards.

From a practical standpoint, it’s good business to follow a regimented main-tenance schedule. As part of the modern machine shop’s overall strategy foraccuracy, as well as peak productivity, CNC machine maintenance is finallytaking its place near the top of the list of importance.

Daily, weekly, monthly, bi-yearly and annual routine maintenance is simplefor anyone to do, and takes very little time. When compared to costly down-timeand repair bills, it’s as if you’re being paid to do it. Come to think of it, that is ineffect what’s happening.

When you follow the recommended maintenance schedule, you are beingpaid, by yourself, a pretty good wage for the time and effort being invested.Besides the obvious benefits for the long-term usage of the machine, regularmaintenance will quite often expose larger potential problems before they causemajor trauma. By checking coolant levels, oil levels, cleaning chips from waycovers and wiping chips from spindle bores, you are also making some valuableroutine observations.

When you wipe, clean, change, check and polish, you have to look atwhat you’re doing. Often, you will spot something that might not look quite correct – like a slight spot of abnormal wear from a missing fastener – simplybecause you’re poking around the machine to do your maintenance. It’s at thesetimes that daily and weekly routines seem most valuable. Rest assured, they are,

because catching some-thing before it breaks isworth 100-times its value in arepair bill.

Consider for a moment all thethings invariably tied to the unex-pected breakdown. First, yourp roduction schedule goes south.Then, you have to shift priorities andjobs around to meet deadlines.E v e n t u a l l y, you miss deadlines.U n f o rt u n a t e l y, your customers don’tc a re about your breakdown, theyjust want their parts. Later, thoughyou don’t know it, a really gre a t(can you say big profit?) long-ru njob went to your competitor... heseemed more reliable.

So, go find the “MaintenanceSchedule” section in your HaasService Manual – you know, the onethat came with your machine? You’llprobably be surprised how simpleHaas machines are to maintain on aroutine basis. They were designedthat way. The daily service check listfor your Haas should take no morethan a few minutes. The weekly rou-tine, maybe 20 minutes – hardly aburden when you consider the payback. Your shop will be cleaner, theoperators will be more aware of theirequipment, your Haas will perform atpeak output and last even longer.Through preventive maintenance, sur -prise service calls will become theexception, not the rule.

The Back PageEDITORIALEDITORIAL

P reventive Maintenance as an Investment

A Message Fro m

Make ReliabilityA Non-Issue.

Get a Haas.