Drilling more for less

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END USER: Western Forge & Flange Co., (800) 352-6433, www.western-forge.com. CHALLENGE: Reduce tooling costs when drilling forged materials. SOLUTION: TiAlN-coated drills with two square indexable inserts. SOLUTION PROVIDER: Komet of America Inc., (847) 923-8400, www.komet.com

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Western Forge & Flange Co. is an integrated supplier of flanges and forged materials for manufacturers of oil field and nuclear equipment as well as defense and semiconductor components. WFF, Cleveland, Texas, produces various flanges from ½ " to 30 " in diameter, including weld neck, slip-ons, reducers and specials in common materials as well as exotics and superalloys. The company also supplies unmachined forgings on request. 

WFF manufactures the flanges to order, so fulfilling customer demand requires it to maximize efficiency and productivity while minimizing costs. According to CNC Manager Will Lunceford, one effort in that area focused on drilling holes for the bolts that connect the flanges in the field. The through-holes range from 5⁄8 " to 1½ " in diameter. When Lunceford joined WFF, he found the shop was using drills that accepted two indexable trigon inserts. The shop was spending at least $2,000 a month on a large variety of insert grades and sizes, Lunceford noted.

Courtesy of Komet

When Western Forge & Flange replaced drills that accept two trigon inserts with Quatron drills from Komet that employ two identical square inserts, the shop realized tooling cost savings of about 90 percent and a reduction in the size and complexity of its tooling inventory.

Seeking to reduce tooling costs and boost efficiency and productivity, WFF consulted with Danny Kountz, regional sales engineer for Komet of America Inc., Schaumburg, Ill. Kountz recommended KUB Quatron drills, through-coolant tools that accept two identical square inserts with four cutting edges. The drills not only simplify insert ordering and inventory, they also provide a more stable cut than the three-edged trigon inserts, according to Komet. Kountz also worked with WFF to find the best insert grade for the shop’s operations and adjust cutting processes and parameters on the company’s Mori Seiki lathes and machining centers. 

Previously, WFF was pecking to extend drill life, but Kountz and Lunceford found that the KUB Quatron drills could be applied at slightly higher speeds and feeds without pecking, reducing cycle time. 

Tests also determined that Komet’s BK79-grade TiAlN-coated carbide inserts could be productively applied to drill virtually all of the shop’s flange materials. “I run that grade anywhere, from aluminum to nickel alloys,” Lunceford said. “Before this, I’ve never seen a grade I was able to use for all my exotic metals.” 

With the KUB Quatron drills and BK79 inserts, Lunceford said, “I drilled more than 90 1 "-deep, ¾ "- dia. through-holes in alloy 625, which is of one of our hardest materials, without changing an insert. That compares to only half as many similar holes with the prior drills before changing the insert was necessary.”

Kountz pointed out that some twin-insert drills require different inner and outer indexable inserts; the matching inserts of the Quatron drill eliminate that complication. “With our tools, they can buy one box of inserts and go on down the road,” he said.

In addition to simplifying tool ordering and inventory, application of the KUB Quatron drills has dramatically reduced tooling costs. “Now I spend about $200 every month on inserts,” Lunceford said. “I’m getting an extra corner with the square inserts compared to the trigon inserts, and now I’ve got about five different types of inserts that fit 10 drills. I don’t have 15 drills that all have different size inserts. I only need one grade.”