Easier roughing: General Industry Coverage

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END USER: Bolton Aerospace Inc., (860) 649-2727. CHALLENGE: Reduce rough machining time. SOLUTION: A combination of high-performance, solid-carbide endmills. SOLUTION PROVIDERS: JJ Industries of Connecticut Inc., (800) 382-0012, www.jjind.com

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Courtesy of Bolton Aerospace

Bolton Aerospace reduced roughing time on this steel helicopter tail rotor hub by more than 85 percent by applying a combination of solid-carbide endmills from YG-1 Tool.

Bolton Aerospace Inc., Manchester, Conn., is completing the transition from tool and die shop to aerospace manufacturer. Owner Brian Martin bought the operation 2½ years ago, moved it to a new facility last year and added new equipment. A large portion of the shop’s work is for suppliers to Sikorsky Aircraft Corp. That role in the supply chain has unique challenges. “Being a sub tier supplier, we have to perform quickly,” Martin said. “Our backlog and our lead times have to be very short. That’s a way of life.”

One example of Bolton’s ongoing effort to accelerate its performance involves the rough machining of a five-spoke helicopter tail rotor hub about 1 ‘ in diameter and 3 ” thick. The shop machines the part from a 15 “×15 “×3 ” slab of 4140 steel. First, the block is roughed to an oversize condition and then sent out to be heat treated to a hardness of 32 to 35 HRC. When the part returns from heat treatment, it is roughed on a Kia vertical machining center. The operations form the external contours of its central hub and five 2½ “-dia., 3 “-long cylindrical features spaced at 72° intervals around the hub periphery.