Case Study 1

Objective: To reduce the cycle time and overall cost to machine a part from A36 Steel.
Operation: Face Milling in a Horizontal Machining Center

Challenge:
The old process utilized a 2 in, 5-Flute High Positive Style Face Mill. With this process we achieved 12 passes at .100” Depth of Cut. The price for each corner on the insert was $5.43 and the cost of a complete index was $27.15.

Solution:
Our new process required us to replace our existing face mill with a new Kennametal KSOM Octagon style face mill.  We went from a 2 in. diameter to a 3 in.diameter, which increased the number of pockets from 5 to 6. We were able to increase the feed rate and decrease the number of passes, resulting in 11 minutes of processing time saved per part. Our cost per insert index was reduced by $20.83 by utilizing an insert with 8 corners instead of two. We also doubled the tool life by using a more advanced grade of carbide and coating.

Savings:
$1,739.00 on this project over 1 year even after paying for the new Face Mill.

Case Study 2

Objective: Increase Tap Life and reduce smoke.

Challenge:
While tapping our parts we generally had to use a lot of tapping fluid, which was very expensive and caused a lot of smoke. We were also looking for a way to increase the life of our taps.

Solution:
We made a switch from our current tapping fluid to Hangsterfers Super Alltap.  With Super Alltap we are able to apply smaller amounts of product because it sticks to the tap better, has less runoff and it increased our tap life by 100% while tapping Nickel based alloys.  The smoke that was associated with the other tapping fluid has almost been eliminated.

Savings:
We save nearly $2000.00 each year in tapping fluids. With the increase in tap life we estimate we will be able to save $4,000 annually in taps.