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END USER: U.S. Alloy Die Corp., (216) 749-9700, www.usalloydie.com. CHALLENGE: Improve productivity when drilling H-13 tool steel extrusion dies. SOLUTION: Carbide drills that eliminated pecking and more than doubled throughput. SOLUTION PROVIDERS: OSG Tap & Die Inc., (630) 790-1400, www.osgtool.com; Shop Supply & Tool Co. Inc., (440) 951-4700, www.shopsupply.net.
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Courtesy of OSG Tap & Die
A blank for an H-13 tool steel extrusion die is set up on a turning machine at U.S. Alloy Die. Below: OSG’s Hy-Pro Carb Drills feature a point design and flute geometry that reduce thrust forces and chip size to enhance chip evacuation.
Most shops that survived the Great Recession and are taking advantage of the recent uptick in manufacturing don’t rely on luck. They constantly look for ways to improve their processes and profit margins, even on long-standing, money-making jobs.
And continuous improvement doesn’t necessarily require large capital equipment investments. By taking the time to reevaluate their machining processes, many shops improved productivity and emerged from the downturn in better shape than before it started. Often, a knowledgeable tool distributor can become a valuable partner in such efforts.
A case in point is U.S. Alloy Die Corp., Cleveland. In business since 1955, the company manufactures carbide and tool steel dies and punches for the fastener, medical, automotive and aircraft industries. Brad Honacki, CNC production manager, said U.S. Alloy Die is essentially two shops: one side grinds carbide tooling and the other side uses CNC lathes and other equipment to produce tool steel dies and tooling components.
One long-standing job involved producing H-13 tool steel extrusion dies via turning, drilling and boring. The high-volume job runs every day on two shifts, sometimes on more than one machine. “I’ve been here 13 years, and we’ve had that job the entire time,” Honacki said. The dies, punches and other components that make up the job are used to produce hot-forged steel valves used in engines at multiple automotive OEMs.
“When I started, we were using HSS drills at 50 sfm to make the holes in the dies,” Honacki recalled. “When we switched to AlTiN-coated HSS drills, we went to 60 sfm at the same feed per revolution and thought that was great.”
When Art Panfil, technical sales representative for industrial distributor Shop Supply & Tool Co. Inc., Eastlake, Ohio, learned U.S. Alloy Die was still applying the coated HSS drills to produce holes in the extrusion dies, he saw an improvement opportunity. The dies required spot drilling and pecking. The drills ran at a spindle speed of 979 rpm and a feed of 0.004 ipr. The result was a 50-second drilling cycle time to produce one 15⁄64"-dia., 1.092"-deep hole.
“My job is to make recommendations that ultimately save my customers time and money,” Panfil said. He convinced U.S. Alloy Die to try Hy-Pro Carb carbide drills from OSG Tap & Die Inc., Glendale Heights, Ill., on the extrusion dies. The tools have a large negative radial rake angle, which provides a stronger cutting edge, coupled with large lip thickness and wide chip pockets, which stabilize cutting and improve chip evacuation.
After reviewing the “dos and don’ts” of using solid-carbide drills with Panfil, U.S. Alloy Die was ready to try the drills in production. In the 30-HRC H-13 material, the carbide drills ran at a spindle speed of 4,000 rpm, a cutting speed of 245 sfm and a feed of 0.007 ipr without spot drilling or pecking. Holemaking cycle time dropped to less than 3 seconds, and production increased from 20 to 48 pieces per hour.
“My jaw almost hit the floor when I saw that thing work,” Honacki said. “The new drill increased our productivity by 240 percent.”
That gain prompted U.S. Alloy Die to try the drills on the punch/coin portion of the valve tooling, which forms the actual head of the valve. Results were similar—holemaking time decreased from more than a minute to 6 seconds. “On top of that, tool life increased more than five times, from 200 to more than 1,100 pieces,” Honacki said.
Related Glossary Terms
- boring
boring
Enlarging a hole that already has been drilled or cored. Generally, it is an operation of truing the previously drilled hole with a single-point, lathe-type tool. Boring is essentially internal turning, in that usually a single-point cutting tool forms the internal shape. Some tools are available with two cutting edges to balance cutting forces.
- computer numerical control ( CNC)
computer numerical control ( CNC)
Microprocessor-based controller dedicated to a machine tool that permits the creation or modification of parts. Programmed numerical control activates the machine’s servos and spindle drives and controls the various machining operations. See DNC, direct numerical control; NC, numerical control.
- cutting speed
cutting speed
Tangential velocity on the surface of the tool or workpiece at the cutting interface. The formula for cutting speed (sfm) is tool diameter 5 0.26 5 spindle speed (rpm). The formula for feed per tooth (fpt) is table feed (ipm)/number of flutes/spindle speed (rpm). The formula for spindle speed (rpm) is cutting speed (sfm) 5 3.82/tool diameter. The formula for table feed (ipm) is feed per tooth (ftp) 5 number of tool flutes 5 spindle speed (rpm).
- extrusion
extrusion
Conversion of an ingot or billet into lengths of uniform cross section by forcing metal to flow plastically through a die orifice.
- feed
feed
Rate of change of position of the tool as a whole, relative to the workpiece while cutting.
- high-speed steels ( HSS)
high-speed steels ( HSS)
Available in two major types: tungsten high-speed steels (designated by letter T having tungsten as the principal alloying element) and molybdenum high-speed steels (designated by letter M having molybdenum as the principal alloying element). The type T high-speed steels containing cobalt have higher wear resistance and greater red (hot) hardness, withstanding cutting temperature up to 1,100º F (590º C). The type T steels are used to fabricate metalcutting tools (milling cutters, drills, reamers and taps), woodworking tools, various types of punches and dies, ball and roller bearings. The type M steels are used for cutting tools and various types of dies.
- radial rake
radial rake
Also known as the tool back rake, the angle between the tooth face and the radial plane through the tool point.
- rake
rake
Angle of inclination between the face of the cutting tool and the workpiece. If the face of the tool lies in a plane through the axis of the workpiece, the tool is said to have a neutral, or zero, rake. If the inclination of the tool face makes the cutting edge more acute than when the rake angle is zero, the rake is positive. If the inclination of the tool face makes the cutting edge less acute or more blunt than when the rake angle is zero, the rake is negative.
- sawing machine ( saw)
sawing machine ( saw)
Machine designed to use a serrated-tooth blade to cut metal or other material. Comes in a wide variety of styles but takes one of four basic forms: hacksaw (a simple, rugged machine that uses a reciprocating motion to part metal or other material); cold or circular saw (powers a circular blade that cuts structural materials); bandsaw (runs an endless band; the two basic types are cutoff and contour band machines, which cut intricate contours and shapes); and abrasive cutoff saw (similar in appearance to the cold saw, but uses an abrasive disc that rotates at high speeds rather than a blade with serrated teeth).
- tap
tap
Cylindrical tool that cuts internal threads and has flutes to remove chips and carry tapping fluid to the point of cut. Normally used on a drill press or tapping machine but also may be operated manually. See tapping.
- turning
turning
Workpiece is held in a chuck, mounted on a face plate or secured between centers and rotated while a cutting tool, normally a single-point tool, is fed into it along its periphery or across its end or face. Takes the form of straight turning (cutting along the periphery of the workpiece); taper turning (creating a taper); step turning (turning different-size diameters on the same work); chamfering (beveling an edge or shoulder); facing (cutting on an end); turning threads (usually external but can be internal); roughing (high-volume metal removal); and finishing (final light cuts). Performed on lathes, turning centers, chucking machines, automatic screw machines and similar machines.
- turning machine
turning machine
Any machine that rotates a workpiece while feeding a cutting tool into it. See lathe.
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