Gear maker solves tool puzzles

END USER: Schafer Gear Works, (574) 234-4116, www.schafergear.com.
CHALLENGE: Increase chip control and prolong tool life when producing gears.
SOLUTION: Switching inserts.
SOLUTION PROVIDER: MSC Industrial Supply Co., (800) 645-7270, www.mscdirect.com.

Cutting costs while maintaining or increasing throughput is a near-ubiquitous goal for part manufacturers. This may be most pressing in job shops, where part quantities vary substantially and every incremental boost in productivity means increasing capacity for additional work and maintaining a competitive advantage.

Gear manufacturer Schafer Gear Works, South Bend, Ind., faced two distinct machining challenges when trying to increase productivity. One involved poor chip control when turning a forged steel shaft. “Stringers” wrapped around the part and cutting tool, slowed production and posed a safety hazard. The other was unacceptable insert life in a long-running job—an abrasive cast iron component for a golf cart geartrain—which involved turning 35,000 parts a year.

Seeking potential solutions and informed application expertise, Manufacturing Engineer Mike Lyman asked for help from Schafer Gear Works’ longtime tool provider, MSC Industrial Supply Co., Wood Dale, Ill.

Courtesy of MSC Industrial Supply

Schafer Gear Works turned to MSC Industrial Supply when looking for solutions to manufacturing challenges.

Dean Opdycke, MSC metalworking specialist, checked all of Schafer Gear’s machining parameters on its CNC turning centers to ensure the company was running cutting tools at the optimal level for the materials involved. Opdycke then used his assessment to recommend ways in which Schafer could adjust the use of its existing cutting tools or switch to a new tool to control chips.

The shop was turning cold-drawn forged steel shafts at 600 sfm (183 m/min.) with a feed rate of 5.69 ipm (144.53 mm/min.) at a depth of 0.05 ” (1.27mm) for each of the two 11.25 “-long (285.75mm) passes on the 4.025 “-dia. (102.24mm) parts. In the straight cut on relatively soft (less than 35 HRA) steel, unbroken chips remained an issue. “We were getting quite a bird’s nest of wire in the machine,” Lyman said.

MSC provided several inserts to test, including two Hertel tools. One was a HC125T-grade, DNMG-432 insert coated with TiCN/Al₂O₃. The C5/C6-carbide tool has an L5 chipbreaker, which MSC Senior Sales Account Manager Tom DeLater said is designed for medium cutting applications. The tests also indicated that an increase in feed rate to 6.26 ipm (159.00 mm/min.) would aid chip control.