Drilling without catastrophe
END USER: Three Sigma Manufacturing Inc., (253) 395-1125, www.threesigma.net. CHALLENGE: Improve cycle times and prevent catastrophic failure when drilling a hole in a complex aerospace part. SOLUTION: A replaceable-tip drill that reduced cycle times and provided progressive failure indicators.
————–
END USER: Three Sigma Manufacturing Inc., (253) 395-1125, www.threesigma.net. CHALLENGE: Improve cycle times and prevent catastrophic failure when drilling a hole in a complex aerospace part. SOLUTION: A replaceable-tip drill that reduced cycle times and provided progressive failure indicators. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Allied Machine & Engineering Corp., (800) 321-5537, www.alliedmachine.com
—————-
Three Sigma Manufacturing Inc. is a Tier 2 supplier that has been in the aerospace supply chain since the 1980s and has 21 employees. Commercial airplane parts is its primary line of work, but the Kent, Wash.-based company also makes parts for the firearms industry and marine industry, including hydraulic actuators and propellers for race boats.
One aerospace part Three Sigma was looking to produce more efficiently was a guide fitting made of 15-5 PH solution annealed-condition stainless steel. Three Sigma has been making the part since 1997. “It is a reasonably complex part that goes in the overhead exit wing door of an airplane,” said Ken Frankel, company president. “It is a guide fitting with deep counterbores.” Three Sigma makes about 2,500 of these parts per year.
Courtesy of Three Sigma Manufacturing
With the GEN3SYS replaceable-tip drill from Allied Machine (seen below), Three Sigma Manufacturing reduced drilling time by about 75 percent and tripled tool life compared to a previously used spade drill. GEN3SYS drills are in the No. 9 position of the Okuma lathe’s upper turret and in the No. 4 position of the lower turret. (Position numbers are visible in the photo above.)
Courtesy of Allied Machine
The part starts as a 15-lb. workpiece and weighs 2 lbs. when finished. The largest diameter on the 9.5″-long part is 2.5″.
One operation requires the part to be drilled and turned at the same time to produce more than one feature. In addition, the part requires four different turning operations, a milling operation and a few manual processes. The turning and drilling is performed on an Okuma LU300 lathe, with 80-psi through-coolant capability.
The part requires a 0.9843″-dia., 5.0″-deep blind-hole. Previously, the company applied a spade drill with a TiAlN-coated HSS bit at 329 rpm and 0.005 ipr, which calculates to 1.645 ipm.
Review the print ads from this magazine to continue
This quick advertiser review unlocks the rest of the article and keeps the full-screen reader focused on the ads instead of the page chrome.
