Material difference: Drilling Performance

R&M Manufacturing Inc. provides machining, assembly and custom fabrication services. An ISO 9001:2008-certified company, R&M focuses on continually exceeding customer requirements.

In the course of developing a machining process for a 3¾ “-OD, ¾ “-thick 316-L stainless steel retainer used in food processing equipment, R&M engineered an efficient workholding system and changed the casting method for the workpiece material. As a result, the Milton, Wis., shop was able to reduce scrap and cycle time while fulfilling the customer’s strict surface finish requirements.

The machining process involved two operations on a CNC lathe and one on a vertical machining center. Working from a customer-provided part print, the shop created machining programs in GibbsCAM software for a Warner & Swasey WSC-6 lathe and a Fadal 2216 VMC.

Courtesy of R&M Manufacturing

R&M Manufacturing engineered an efficient workholding setup and later changed the method used to cast workpiece blanks when machining stainless steel retainers used in food processing equipment.

For machining on the lathe, the rough casting was clamped in stepped soft jaws. The first operation involved turning the retainer’s OD for approximately half of its length, machining the contour of the part’s face and drilling a 0.374 “-dia. axial hole in the part’s center with a carbide drill. The hole was then reamed to a diameter of 0.377 “.

For the second operation, the part was flipped in the chuck and the remaining section of the OD was turned. Then, a 0.250 “-wide × 0.158 “-deep O-ring groove was machined on the OD. In the same operation, the end of the part was faced and counterbored.