Technology Tuesday: Featured Films
Pass the popcorn, please! This week’s Technology Tuesday slideshow is all about videos that have supplemented feature articles and case studies in MoldMaking Technology over the past year.
Watch ‘Lighter Stepovers and Deeper Stepdowns’
Dynamic toolpaths deliver a consistent chip size and the most efficient use of tools, time and machines. Every mold shop is looking for a way to cut parts better and faster. Read the related feature from September 2017, “Leveraging CAD/CAM Advances.” Image courtesy of CNC Software Inc/Mastercam.
Watch ‘Deep Trio Drilling 4140’
In the video, the cutting tool quickly and efficiently drills deep into 4140 steel. Read MMT’s related case study called “Deep-Hole Drills Conquer Interrupted Cuts 60 Percent Faster,” in which Commercial Tool and Die reported across-the-board improvements in deep-hole drilling with Ingersoll Deep-Trio deep-hole drills running on three Unisig 38 five-axis gundrill/boring mills with 120-tool toolchangers. Throughput is up 50 percent and the tools plow right through cross holes and other interrupted cuts with no tool damage, making the process secure enough to allow one operator to tend several machines, the shop says. Image courtesy of Commercial Tool and Die.
The Motoman HC10 is the first collaborative robot to be introduced by Yaskawa outside Japan. HC stands for “Human Collaborative”. The prototype, with a range of 1.2 m and handling weight of 10 kg, is planned to be certified according to technical specification ISO TS15066. Cobots can be “fenceless robots,” but only after a business performs a risk assessment. Read MMT’s related feature, “The True Cost of Cobots.” Image courtesy of Yaskawa America, Motoman Robotics Division.
This video shows a machine using parallel mode technology to print the above workpiece in maraging steel. The part on the left was built on a Sodick OPM250L using parallel mode. Parallel mode automatically optimizes the laser path, enabling three locations to sinter simultaneously, even on the same workpiece. Read MMT’s related case study, “Laser Optimization Brings AM to the Next Level for Moldmaking.” Image courtesy of Sodick.
Watch ‘Circle Segment Tools and Toolpaths in Action’
The video shows the finishing pass comparison between the support of a circle segment oval form cutting tool within automated CAM finish toolpaths and a ball end mill on a blade. Manufacturing laboratory testing of tool paths for high-efficiency finishing, as seen in the image above, were designed to provide at least two realistic applications comparing the performance of barrel-shape, oval-form, taper-form and lens-shape circle-segment cutting tools with that of a ball end mill. It took the ball end mill 100 minutes and 34 seconds to machine all 10 surfaces of this part in succession. Circle-segment tools accomplished the same work in 30 minutes and 34 seconds. This represents an aggregate cycle time reduction of 70 percent. In all instances, surface finish was demonstrably better. Read MMT’s related feature, “A Strategy for Better Mold Finishes.” Image courtesy of CNC Software Inc./Mastercam.
See the Kitamura Mycenter-4XiD vertical machining center as it machines a blow-mold insert using a 52 mm cutter at 11,000 rpm, and then watch it plow through 304 stainless with ease. Innovated Machining Solutions invested in one, then another, of these vertical machining centers to take on more, larger work machining mainly aluminum prototype molds for mold-manufacturer customers serving the automotive industry. In the image above, the 4XiD’s plus-size spindle is shown sharpening details on a large lifter for an automotive air duct mold. Read MMT’s related case study, “Larger VMCs Allow Small Shop to Go Bigger.” Images courtesy of Innovated Machining Solutions.
Watch ‘High-Feed Geometry in Action’
The video shows that high-feed geometry favors faster feeds and lighter cuts, which enables tripling the feed rate and faster cornering. Dura Mold switched to Ingersoll’s Hi-Feed Mini roughing cutter, shown in the image above, to speed up cavity hogging, which caused a ripple effect in the shop, freeing up machine time for more machine polishing, which then reduced the need for tedious hand polishing. Read MMT’s case study, “Faster Cornering in Cavity Hogging Boosts Capacity.” Image courtesy of Dura Mold Inc.
Watch ‘Simplifying Mold Open-Close’
The video demonstrates how the Die-Sep mold separator quickly, safely and ergonomically opens and closes molds in the shop. Chris Ulrich, a toolmaker at 3M’s New Ulm, Minnesota, plant, operates one of the company’s two Die-Sep mold separator machines in the image above. The machines were purchased to simplify the process and, more importantly, provide a more ergonomic and safe alternative to opening molds manually. Images courtesy of 3M New Ulm. Read MMT’s related case study, “Toolroom Systems Boost Safety, Productivity.” Image courtesy of 3M New Ulm.
Please pass the popcorn (or should I say candy corn? Happy Halloween, moldmakers!). Sometimes the best way to really get a sense of a technology’s value or power isn’t just to read about it, it’s to see it in action. This week’s Technology Tuesday slideshow highlights several technologies that MMT has covered in print in the past year for which MMT also hosted video footage online. The technologies’ related video clips and feature articles or case studies are linked within the captions. Enjoy!
