Video: Heavier Hogging Through Positive Geometry
A new cutting tool helped this shop significantly speed a simple but tedious operation that it deems crucial to competitiveness.
David Parmelee of Wepco Plastics is the first to admit that the operation depicted in the video above is nothing special or particularly demanding. What's significant—what prompted him to take the video in the first place—is the extent to which this straightforward roughing pass in aluminum shows off the capabilities of the cutting tool and machine. Hence the pan-over at the end of the video to the CNC screen, which shows feed rates climbing to upwards of 900 ipm. Previously, this particular cut maxed out at about 600 ipm.
Parmelee attributes part of the gain to a new, higher-horsepower VMC, a three-axis Hurco VMX42i. However, he also notes that his shop wouldn't be able to take full advantage of that higher horsepower without the cutting tool, an HV10 indexable end mill from Mil-Tec. This case study provides a detailed overview of the application and the factors underlying the new cutter's advantages.
That story isn't our only coverage of Wepco Plastics. Click here to learn about the company's experience with its first Hurco VMCs, and here for Parmelee's thoughts on the advantages and disadvantages of aluminum versus steel tooling.
