Canadian Metalworking

Ov IN er TH sp IS ra IS yM S ag UE : az i ne

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> PM 40070230 R10823. Return undeliverable items to: Circulation Department, 7th Floor, 1 Mount Pleasant Road, Toronto ON M4Y 2Y5

MACHINING CENTRES + TURNING TOOLS + LASER CUTTING

February 2010 • www.canadianmetalworking.com

Still Soaring

“Phenomenal” opportunities in aerospace

Very BIG and beautifully engineered

Hurco’s NEW DCX Series.

High Capacity, Dual Column Machining Centers.

Because SIZE is important...

CANADA

www.hurco.ca

VMX Series High Performance Mills

800.992.7314

Travels Spindle Tools

VM Series U Series (5-Axis) SR Series (5-Axis) General Purpose Trunnion Table Swivel Head, Rotary Table Mills Mills Mills

DCX22 - 40T 86.5″ x 66.9″ x 29.5″ 8k, 10k or 15k 40 CAT (BT) 40

DCX Series Dual Column Mills

Z Series Zone Mills

DCX22 - 50T 86.5″ x 66.9″ x 29.5″ 6k 40 CAT (BT) 50

HTX Series Horizontal Mills

Machines shown with options. Information may change without notice.

DCX32 - 50T 126″ x 82.7″ x 36.2″ 6k or 10k 40 CAT (BT) 50

TMX Series High Performance Lathes

TM / TMM Series General Purpose Lathes

“With the old method of production, our cost was $9/grille.

With Finn-Power, our cost is $3/grille.

We make 60,000 of these parts a year. In addition, the C5 Express has allowed us to bring all of the $250,000 outsourcing to job shops back inhouse. That was a plus to the bottom line from the first day the C5 Express was installed. With the C5's automated loader, our company is able to accomplish all of this with no operator labor and no load/unload labor.”

Dean Wilson Executive VP Manufacturing King Electrical Mfg. Company Seattle, WA

PRIMA FINN-POWER has a 25-year history in the development of hydraulic and servoelectric turret punch presses. Our productive and flexible machines have made such terms as auto-index, Multi-Tool, and upforming popular in the sheet metal fabrication industry. Our new generation of servo-operated E series turret punch presses offer versatile punching, nibbling, forming, and bending capacity on a single machine tool.

PRIMA FINN-POWER's material handling solutions add a new dimension to the productivity offered by a versatile turret punch press. Automatic loading/unloading and sorting/stacking allows unmanned operation and efficient handling of full-sized sheets.

“We were surprised by the increased accuracy of the servodriven punch.

With the increased accuracy of the E Compact Express, we were able to redesign the boxes to eliminate welding. We now rivet the boxes together and the holes must match perfectly – and they do. Our cost of manufacturing these boxes has dropped 50%.”

Tim Morroni Electric Equipment & Engineering Co. Denver, CO

1040 Martin Grove Road / Unit 11 Toronto, Ontario / M9W 4W4

Tel. 416 242 4431 • www.finnpower.com • www.prima-na.com

KOMPAKT

Plasma Systems The design of the HACO KOMPAKT is based on a long experience in the field of CNC Plasma Cutting Machines. The large range of tables sizes and Plasma Cutting Sources (conventional as well as high-definition), means that we can offer you the perfect machine for your specific application.

The Haco KOMPAKT is manufactured to the highest standards. The optimum price/quality ratio of the Haco KOMPAKT translates itself into a profitable investment.

HACO PRESS MASTER Press Brakes

• SIMPLE • FAST • ACCURATE • RELIABLE Affordable Bending Solutions • Capacities: 44 to 450 Tons • Bending lengths: 5’ to 20’ • Equipped with: • Synchro type Depth Axis (X1-Y2) • Heavy Duty Two Axis Back Gauge (X-R) (R-Height control) • Manual Adjustable Crowning Table • N.A. Style Top & Bottom Tool Clamping

Optional : • CNC Crowning • ATS 9000 2D Graphic Control • Different Style of Tooling Clamping

CNC PUNCHING MACHINES

HYDRAULIC PLATE BENDING ROLLS

HYDRAULIC SHEARS

CNC PLASMA CUTTING MACHINES

KINGSLAND IRONWORKERS

CORNER NOTCHERS

HYDRAULIC PRESS BRAKES

HYDRAULIC PROFILE BENDING MACHINES

HACO CANADA INC.

www.hacocanada.com

Mississauga Office

2550 Dunwin Drive, Mississauga, Ontario L5L 1J5

Tel: (905) 828 1087 Fax: (905) 828 2062 sales@hacocanada.com

www.canadianmetalworking.com | volume 105 | no. 1 | February

FABRICATING/LASER OPTICS

46 Clear Vision

A product report on innovations in laser optics.

automation

WELDING/CONSUMABLES

49 Welding Essentials New product introductions from consumables suppliers.

fabricating

15

Machine tools

Agricultural equipement

INDUSTRY REPORT/AEROSPACE & DEFENCE

52 Tilling Paint Developments in agricultural coatings: not

15 Still Soaring

Industry experts see “phenomenal” opportunities in aerospace, in spite of the recession.

just tractor paint anymore.

Manual Spray

54 hauling in work A new spray booth and material handling

BUSINESS REPORT/LEAN MANUFACTURING

21 Embracing Lean Business Report

equipmnt help a Manitoba manufacturer slash solvent and paint consumption.

Is Lean the right investment for your manufacturing operation?

MACHINE TOOLS/MACHINING CENTRES

52

24 A Model Employee

Advancements in controls and linear motor technology are pushing machining centres to the next level. tooling

MACHINE TOOLS/DRILL PRESSES

32 The Hole Picture

Better performance and controls in today’s drills, tried but true technology.

CUTTING TOOLS/TURNING

34 Turning Over a New Leaf quality control

Turning inserts save the day—and a big job—for Ontario press brake die maker.

> > > > > > > > > > > > > Departments > > > 6 Upfront

FABRICATING/LASER CUTTING

9 News

40 Energy Efficiency

Reducing energy in laser cutting operations can help cut costs.

12 Shop Talk

9

Welding

Instant access online

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Canadian metalworking 5

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>>>>>>>

Editorial

upfront

A Smarter Future When the first CNC machines emerged on the marketplace, few could have imagined how far the technology would progress. Smart technology— machines with the ability to make real-time decisions about manufacturing processes—were ideas for the distant future. But progress they did and at lightening speed.

Indeed, in 2005-06, “smart machine” was a buzzword in the machine tool world because of news in the US of the implementation of Phase 2 of the Smart Machine Platform Initiative (SMPI) (Phase 1 was initiated in 2004 by the US National Center for Manufacturing Science.). SMPI was a collaborative effort between machine tool builders, government agencies and military maintenance facilities to demonstrate the viability of smart machine applications on machine tools and process equipment. The idea at the time was to expand the scope of the project to a wider group of partners to implement advanced smart machine manufacturing technology.

In Canada we have the Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters SMART program which was stablished in 2008 with a $25 million funding contribution from the Ontario Government. The program is designed to support productivity improvement initiatives of small and medium-sized manufacturers across Ontario, and aims to improve production processes, energy efficiency, and the management of information and communication technologies.

Today many machine tool builders and fabricating equipment manufacturers are investing heavily in software, information technology, intelligence systems and engineering to create sophisticated machinery. Selfdiagnostics, self-measurement and monitoring of machining and fabricating processes and cutting tools, and the ability to correct problems during the machining process are now common features in some machines.

There are those that may question the need for smart machines, particularly because the cost of this new generation of machinery is still relatively high. For some small and medium sized shops the idea of “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” still reigns.

And while there is sense to this reasoning, even what’s not broken may need to be improved, particularly if it can make a manufacturer more competitive.

There is a high upfront cost for such machines, but the long-term benefits— reduced cycle times, extended tool life, reduced downtime, lower maintenance and reduced scrap and rework—far outweigh the initial costs.

There is another reason for the resistance to change: fewer people are needed to run these machines, particularly when you move to a lights-out operation.

Yet if we are to ensure that manufacturing remains in North America, we must embrace new technologies to compete with a competitive global market. And “smart” concepts don’t just apply to machinery and equipment.

We as individuals in the manufacturing industry must become smarter too.

No matter how smart a machine is, it still takes an engineer to create it, a machinist to understand it, maintain and manage it, a programmer to create innovative software to run it and technical machinery experts to support it.

North American industry will never be able to compete effectively with low-labour offshore markets like India and China unless we embrace these new technologies. Future success for manufacturing will depend on it.

Mary Scianna, Editor

6 Canadian metalworking

February 2010

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Industry news

Better times ahead for industry Industry hopeful for 2010 in new manufacturing environment For many in manufacturing, 2009 is the year best forgotten.

The financial crisis early in the year kick-started the recession and led to plummeting demand, layoffs and plant closures.

Canadian Metalworking spoke to some industry members to get their sentiments on what to expect in 2010.

While business is picking up, sales of new machines (chip and metal fabrication) are not expected to improve until later in the year.

“We’ve seen a slight upturn in pre-owned equipment,” says Bob Watson, president of Advanced Fabricating Machinery, Mississauga, ON, which sells pre-owned TRUMPF equipment among its line of fabricating machines.

Watson says that part of the reason for increased sales in pre-owned machinery is because customers are now more educated. They use the Internet to compare prices “and there’s so much good equipment now on the market from all over the world, so why would a manufacturer or job shop buy a high priced piece of equipment when he can get an equally good machine from another supplier that’s less expensive?”

Joe Poulin, sales and operations manager for Hurco Canada, Mississauga, ON, adds that he too expects orders for new machines will be slow in the first half of the year and will likely pick up later in the year.

“For 2010, we won’t see as much in new machine sales because of the downturn last year. A lot of shops closed down and there is a lot of used equipment available on the market, and that equipment competes with new machines.”

One bright spot seems to be cutting tools. Seco has seen a 30 per cent increase in sales for January year-over-year, says Dave Toomey, manager, marketing and technical support for Seco Tools Canada Inc., Milton, ON. “Canada is ahead of the US in improved sales and the improvement, at least what I’m seeing, is across the board.

Western Canada is still struggling somewhat, but Ontario and Quebec are strong.

“More automotive business is being brought back into Canada and part of that reason is because of the quality that we’re recognized for. We’ve just hired one new person and are hiring another person soon.”

He adds that financing is still an issue for some manufacturers, in part because of investors’ uncertainty of the economy’s performance, “but the finance community has to have a more open mind and look at the potential of manufacturers because if these companies are able to access finance, they can build their businesses and help keep manufacturing in Canada.”

On a global scale, robotics manufacturer ABB is estimating a five to ten per cent growth for 2010, says Mikael Packalen, business unit manager for Robot Products & Automation, ABB Inc., Brampton, ON. Locally though, “while we had more inquiries and more interest in robotics and automation it didn’t translate into sales and I don’t expect to see a big boom. I think we’ll start to see some small growth in the second quarter of this year, but access to funding and hesitancy from February 2010

customers may affect recovery. I expect that as manufacturers begin to try to become more competitive, the one way to do that is to incorporate automation into the plant, and we will start to see sales improve.”

Machine shops felt the brunt of the recession, particularly those who supplied the automotive market. Despite the tough year, some job shops managed to survive and even grow.

One such company is Sciens Industries, Peterborough, ON. The company has outgrown its current 2000 sq ft facility. It’s scheduled to move into an 8,400 sq ft site, currently being built, in late spring.

“Business was slow in 2009, but it picked up for us in the latter part of last year and we’ve seen slow, but steady growth,” says Gerry Vandersanden, president and owner who formed the company in 1997. “My gut feeling is that it’s going to continue to be slow and steady for 2010.”

Like most involved in manufacturing, Vandersanden is frustrated with how Canada seems to be letting manufacturing go to offshore markets.

“We need to decide whether we want to let this major part of our economy go. We have the power to say we’re not going to do this anymore. But everyone has this Walmart mentality that we can cut prices and get stuff cheaper. Well it’s cheaper at the cashier but it’s costing us our jobs and is it worth it? I don’t think so.”

Angel Niera, president of Royal Mould Technologies Inc., Scarborough, ON, who established his business 32 years ago, echos Vandersanden’s frustrations.

“The economy was built on the backbone of the manufacturing industry and now there’s not a bright future for manufacturing. China and India’s economies are booming because they have a manufacturing boom. We are giving our manufacturing away and our skilled people are disappearing.”

Niera says that government and the politicians responsible for industry aren’t doing anything about keeping manufacturing in Canada.

“I think it’s a crime what politicians and governments are Canadian metalworking 9

>>>>>>>

Industry news

doing because they’re letting our manufacturing industry go abroad and we’re going to be left with nothing if someone doesn’t do something about it.”

One area where government seems to be getting it right is Ontario’s Green Energy Act, which, among other things, ensures at least 25 per cent of wind projects and 50 per cent of solar projects be produced in Ontario.

One company benefiting from this is Williams Form Hardware & Rockbolt Canada Ltd., London, ON, which manufactures bolts and anchors for wind mills, in addition to other structural products.

“We actually had an average to good year. There seemed to be a lot of smaller jobs coming through. We didn’t have any big wind mill jobs, but there are more coming this year. And it’s getting better for the province because of the government’s request for high percentage domestic made products,” says Martin Hodgson, executive VP, anchoring.

He says there are other structural projects he sees for 2010 because of the government’s (federal and provincial) stimulus programs to get the economy moving again.

“I’m told in the Windsor region there is $8 billion worth of work going in and there’s more work for contractors, consultants and others than they can do. The work is for roads and bridges and stuff like that.”

His one concern is high interest rates and inflation.

“If the banks can make money at one per cent why put it at five per cent? Unless there’s inflation, but that’s a two-edged sword. You put rates up and people invest in Canada and our dollar goes up. But then we can’t export. With interest rates so low in Canada and the US, North America is in a difficult spot. The US would be smart to let its dollar drop 20 to per 30 per cent and then they could sell to the world. Maybe the US dollar could one day be cheaper than China’s.”

Sun, stars…and manufacturing: WESTEC 2010

The land of sun and Hollywood stars, Los Angeles, CA, is once again hosting WESTEC 2010, the largest Western regional show for North America’s manufacturing industry. The event will be held March 23-25 at the LA Convention Centre.

LACC South tower.

WESTEC 2010 holds the honour of being the first manufacturing trade show that will be held in the post-recession economy. Event organizer, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers (SME), is expecting a good turnout, says, Mark Tomlinson, SME’s executive director.

10 Canadian metalworking

“We’re expecting attendance to be similar to 2009 and on par with other years, too.”

More than 450 international exhibitors will be showcasing their products and services. Exhibitors include suppliers from all areas of manufacturing, including machine tools, cutting tools, accessories, and business resources.

One thing that will be a little different this year is the focus on specific manufacturing segments, says Tomlinson.

“Instead of talking about just manufacturing in general, we’re going to be looking at specific industries that offer opportunities for manufacturers. We will have speakers from the aerospace market and the wind energy sector.”

According to SME, WESTEC draws attendees from every level of the supply chain. The latest statistics from SME, based on surveys from WESTEC 2009, indicate that 40 per cent of attendees say they have a budget of up to $20,000 for machine tools and metalworking technologies in the next 12 months, 20 per cent indicate they have budgets of $50,000 to $200,000. And while the equipment budgets reflected the challenging economy, 23 per cent in total reported equipment budgets set at $200,000 or above.

The show will run Tuesday, March 23 and Wednesday, March 24 from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm and on Thursday, March 25, show hours will be 10:00 am to 5:00 pm. For details, visit SME’s WESTEC website at www.westeconline.com

Mazak to host Skills Competition machining events

Mazak Canada, Cambridge, ON, will open its doors for the Skills Canada Competition, CNC Machining, in May. On May 17 through to May 21, Mazak will host the Skills Ontario and the Skills Canada competition.

Ray Buxton, general manager of Mazak Canada, says that Skills Canada approached the company to provide machinery for the competitions.

“Due to power availability and floor loading concerns at the main event location at RIM Park in Waterloo, ON, Mazak also offered our Technology Center as the CNC competitions location.”

He says that the CNC competition alone attracts more than 2,000 people per day “and the size and capabilities of our facility as well as its proximity to RIM Park make this an ideal fit.”

Buxton adds that “Mazak Canada is committed to help attract young people into our industry. The positions in our industry are highly paid and involve working with sophisticated computer controlled equipment. Both competitors and visitors to the competition will be able to view some of the most complex machine tools in the industry operating in our facility and view our world class training facilities.”

He says that delegates will be able to gain a better appreciation of the metalworking industry and help “dispel many popular myths and misconceptions.”

“We are often asked by our customers (with a smile) if we can supply them skilled personnel to go along with the machine they are buying. By providing extensive training programs in Canada coupled with our commitment to help attract students to our field, we are attempting to meet our customers’ request.”

Mazak Canada has committed to host the Skills February 2010

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>>>>>>>

Industry news

Competition machining events in its facility in Cambridge through to 2012.

Mazak also recently hosted its first Art of Milling Sandvik Coromant event, one of eight it plans to hold this year across Canada. (Read about the event and see a gallery of images at www.canadianmetalworking.com) Buxton says that the milling events and other events planned for the year are part of the company’s commitment to support the Canadian manufacturing industry.

“For the first time, we’re planning a Canada-only trip for select customers across Canada in June to Mazak’s Florence, KY, manufacturing facility. We want to let our customers know the strength of Mazak in North America.

We’re as strong as the sum of our total parts which means we’re able to utilize the resources of 650 different people who are specialists in different areas, including application engineers who are ready to help customers.”

Buxton adds that machine tool suppliers have to bring more to the market in today’s environment.

Mazak, for example, ensures that all of its machine tools comply with Ontario’s Regulations for Industrial Establishments for pre-start health and safety. The company’s Kentucky-made machines are CSAapproved and with the next 6-12 months even the Japanese machines will be CSA-approved.

shop talk Are you worried you might lose business due to Buy American policies in the United States?

“We have an American presence through an American office, so it makes it easier. There are still a lot of rules about the Buy American policy, however. The reality is, I’ve seen Canadian municipalities and even provinces put Buy Canadian policies in place. To get rid of the Buy American policy we have to make sure we get rid of our Buy Canadian policies, too. In general, I think markets should be open. I think markets are too closed as it is. The U.S. is our biggest trading partner. Seventy-five percent of our economy is based on it.”

Robert Drake, sales and marketing manager, Proto Manufacturing Limited, Oldcastle, ON

“Buy American rules always apply even if there were headlines in the media [to the contrary]. Generally, Americans want to buy from Americans. Same with Canadians—they want to buy from Canadians. If I was in the US, I would probably be two to three times larger.”

Jason Bannerman, president, Xakt Komponents, Brampton, ON

“We do not worry greatly about this issue. In the past new business has been gained from clients who use a similar philosophy, [namely] Buy Canadian.”

Michael Bayley, senior manufacturing technician, Kesti-Engineering Corporation, Barrie, ON

“Yes. We have lost business—around $8,000 per month. We are a small business and have had to find other streams of revenue.”

Steve Cotton, president, Micro Precision Parts Manufacturing Ltd., Vancouver Island, BC

“We have not been hit with the Buy American regulations yet since all our US customers are private firms. I just came from a building conference in the States and the question was raised and not one company has seen the Buy American provision in their tenders.”

Marco Gagnon, co-owner, Gagnon Ornamental Works, Grand Falls, NB

“Buy American will not significantly affect us.”

David Foscarini, president, Mecon Industries Ltd., Scarborough, ON

“Right now, it is looking like the plunging US dollar will have at least as big an impact as “Buy American” regulations, so as Canadians, we are battling on a couple of fronts. There is one military job we make that competes directly with a US source, and we are having a tough time building our market share, even with superior price, quality and delivery. The thing is, no one sends you a letter that says, ‘You lost this because of “Buy American” policies.’ Anyway, it’s there, and we have to deal with it.”

Rob Muru, president, A-Line Precision Tool Ltd., Toronto, ON

Poll Do you think one North American currency, like what the European Union has done with the Euro, would be good for your business?

12 Canadian metalworking

Yes 33.3%

No 66.7%

February 2010

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INDUSTRY REPORT/AEROSPACE & DEFENCE >> By Nate Hendley

Still Soaring

Industry experts see “phenomenal” opportunities in aerospace, in spite of the recession

February 2010

Claude Lajeunesse, president of the Aerospace Industries Association of Canada (AIAC), believes opportunities are “phenomenal” for companies in the aerospace sector.

Lajeunesse made this observation during an October 14, 2009 speech at the AIAC annual general meeting. He continues to maintain his upbeat attitude, even in the face of economic woes that have seen layoffs and fewer orders for new planes at major aerospace firms.

Lajeunesse’s sunny outlook is based on long-term forecasts of plane orders and the rise of a global middle class that will boost demand for air travel. His prognosis also assumes post-recession business conditions will improve in the near future.

Such optimism is shared by aerospace companies big and small. Chicago-based aerospace giant Boeing, for example, recently issued a rosy report that predicts a worldwide demand for 29,000 planes over the next two decades. Boeing’s Current Market Outlook 2009 – 2028 pegs the value of these new planes at US$3.2 trillion.

“I too believe there is positive direction within the industry,” states Jason Bannerman, president of Xakt Komponents in Brampton, ON, which relies on aerospace projects for half its workload. With roughly a dozen employees, Xakt does “miniature parts machining and complete manufacturing” for bigger firms up the aerospace ladder, says Bannerman.

According to AIAC figures, Canadian aerospace firms generated $23.6 billion in revenue in 2008 (the most recent year for which statistics are available). This represents an impressive gain from 2003 when $21.3 billion in revenue was recorded. Exports accounted for $19.3 billion or 82 per cent of revenue in 2008, up from $16.2 billion in 2004. Employment stood at 83,000 workers in 2008, a big jump from 2003 when the industry employed 75,000 people.

Aerospace revenues in 2008 were divided 23 per cent to 77 per cent between military and civilian contracts. The manufacture of aircraft, aircraft parts and components accounted for the lion’s share (51 per cent) of overall revenues in 2008.

All is not completely rosy, however.

Lajeunesse concedes that revenues and employment figures for 2009 will likely be “flat.” The recession, which officially started in Canada in late 2008, is largely to blame. Other countries, including the US, have also been gripped by the recession, which has negatively impacted new plane orders.

Boeing, for example, reported gross orders of 669 new planes in 2008 and net orders Canadian metalworking 15

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INDUSTRY REPORT/AEROSPACE & DEFENCE

of 632, down considerably from 2007 when the company had gross orders of 1,423 and net orders of 1,387. Net orders consist of gross orders, minus cancellations and conversions. Orders through to December 22, 2009 are even lower: 259 gross orders and 141 net orders.

Airbus (which is headquartered in France and controlled by parent company European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co.) had 900 gross orders for airplanes in 2008, for a value of US$112.2 billion. This is a decline from 2007 when Airbus had 1,458 gross orders, but on par with 2006 when gross orders came to 824. Net orders in 2008 amounted to 777.

Needless to say, this slump will have an impact: companies in Canada that supply for Boeing include Honeywell, MessierDowty, Thales, Magellan and others. Canadian Airbus suppliers, meanwhile, include Honeywell, Goodrich, MessierDowty and Magellan. Countless machine and metal shops in turn, provide parts and services to these larger suppliers.

Quebec, which plays host to more than 60 per cent of Canadian aerospace production, has been particularly hard hit. The province is home to huge companies such as Bombardier Aerospace (the largest firm of its kind in Canada), Pratt & Whitney Canada, which makes aircraft engines, and CAE, which makes flight simulators.

“The Quebec market is really struggling,” notes David Toomey, general manager, Seco Tools Canada Inc., Milton, ON. Aerospace-related work accounts for about 38 per cent of business at Seco, which specializes in solid carbide and indexable tooling.

In April 2009, Bombardier announced it would be cutting 3,000 employees (10 per cent of its global workforce) in its aerospace division. Pratt & Whitney Canada, meanwhile, announced 250 layoffs among their global staff in September 2009. The company also plans to close an aerospace facility in Longueuil, QC, by the end of 2010.

Given that Quebec has a larger proportion of aerospace workers than other provinces, it’s not a surprise that the recession has been felt more sharply in this part of the country, says Lajeunesse. “Quebec, like rest of Canada, will benefit from the return to health of the industry in the future,” he adds.

Quebec is already well-positioned to be at the forefront of any aerospace revival.

In February 2009, for example, Pratt & Whitney announced it had signed a five year contract with Canadian heli-skiing firm Alpine Helicopters of Kelowna, BC. The contract involves the repair and overhaul of 20 PT6T-3B Twin-Pac engines installed on Alpine’s fleet of Bell 212 helicopters.

Arguably, the biggest aerospace news in recent months is Bombardier’s decision to forge ahead with its contentious CSeries family of aircraft. An initiative to build new 100 – 149 seat commercial jets, the much-hyped CSeries was launched to great fanfare, only to be cancelled then re-launched.

In June 2009, Bombardier announced the company was “on track” to deliver the first CSeries planes in 2013. The company also said it had attracted 17 new suppliers for the CSeries, including CAE, which will be building flight simulators for Bombardier.

Bombardier forecasts huge returns for the overall smallersize jet market, with an estimated 12,400 deliveries of 20 to 149-seat commercial aircraft over the next 20 years. These 18 Canadian metalworking

deliveries will be worth an estimated US$589 billion to Bombardier and other firms.

Planes in the CSeries will be more fuel efficient and environmentally friendly than existing commercial jets, promises Bombardier. The company claims that CSeries jets will produce 20 per cent fewer carbon dioxide emissions, 50 per cent fewer nitrogen oxide emissions and be four times quieter than any other in-production aircraft. Nearly half of the CSeries body will consist of composites made from carbonfiber and other materials. Because composites are lighter than traditional metals, the CSeries will burn one fifth less fuel than other aircraft of a similar size, says Bombardier.

The increasing popularity of composites is good news for Canadian firms, says Lajeunesse.

Bombardier CSeries.

Canada has “tremendous expertise in composites ... we’re leaders in the world in terms of composites,” he notes.

Greater use of composites is part of a “go-green” attitude gaining favour in aerospace circles. In Lajeunesse’s opinion, the one thing that might hinder future aerospace growth (besides lingering effects of the recession) is public concern over pollution and noise.

To this end, Lajeunesse speaks glowingly of the recently launched Green Aviation Research and Development Network (GARDN). GARDN is an initiative between federal government and the aerospace industry to manufacture technology to produce aircraft that are quieter and emit fewer pollutants than current planes on the market.

GARDN’s initial budget stands at $23 million over four years (2009 – 2013).

The Strategic Aerospace and Defence Initiative (SADI) also comes in for praise from aerospace leaders. Originally launched in April 2007, SADI is a government program that offers repayable loans to aerospace firms to help fund research and development projects. The program was initially backed to the tune of $900 million. In September 2009, Ottawa announced $200 million in new SADI funding over two years, starting in 2010. Naturally, this move was strongly endorsed by the AIAC. “The SADI program is important. The only thing that keeps our industry competitive is research and development,” says Lajeunesse.

Well-funded R&D and superior service and quality will February 2010

reduce the threat of competition from low-cost locales, say aerospace leaders.

Toomey, for example, claims that offshore firms in Asia can’t compete with Western companies in terms of quality.

“A lot of the aerospace companies are reluctant to go [the low-cost] route ... even in Asia [aerospace firms] will use European or Western tooling on their products, predominantly,” he claims.

Allan Kennedy, quality/sales manager at Express Manufacturing, a tiny aircraft parts maker in Acton, ON, isn’t so sure.

“Now we have China and others appearing in the theatre. I think this will cause concern,” says Kennedy, whose company relies on aerospace for 85 per cent of its work, and makes components for Twin Otter, Dash 8 and Bush Hawk planes.

If the issue of low-cost competition is open for debate, there’s no question that Asia might also offer some of the phenomenal opportunities Lajeunesse alluded to in his speech. Boeing’s Current Market Outlook 2009 – 2028, predicts that the Asia-Pacific region will lead the world in demand for new planes. Boeing estimates that the AsiaPacific region will need 8,960 new airplanes from 2009 through to 2028, at a value of US$1.13 trillion. By comparison, demand in North America is pegged at 7,690 planes for the same period, at a value of US$680 billion.

“China is forecast to be the fastest growing economy in

the world, with GDP growth averaging 7.2 per cent per year over the next 20 years. Within the next decade, China will surpass Japan to become the second largest economy in the world. By 2028, China will account for 42 per cent of Asia Pacific’s total economic activity, a giant leap from 24 per cent in 2008,” notes the Boeing report.

“ Boeing predicts that the Asia-Pacific region will

lead the world in demand for new planes..8,960 new air planes from 2009-2028, at an estimated value of US $1.3 trillion.

”

Such rapid growth, combined with global recovery from the recession, will contribute to the rise of a huge middle class in China, states Lajeunesse. If all goes to plan, India, Latin America and Eastern Europe will also experience a massive expansion of their middle-class populations.

“These people will want to travel,” notes the AIAC president. “I cannot predict with any certainty what will happen this year or next year but I can tell you over the next 20 years that the middle-class around the world will continue to grow and want to fly, so they will need planes.” CM Nate Hendley is a freelance writer and regular contributor.

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BUSINESS REPORT/LEAN MANUFACTURING >> By Jack Kohane

Embracing Lean Is Lean the right investment for your manufacturing operation?

When it’s a matter of upping more sales per employee, consistently nailing on-time delivery and higher inventory turns, Lean companies have it down pat. Lean works to help manufacturers achieve a “Just in Time” system that delivers exactly what products and services are needed when they are needed. It’s this kind of performance that continues to drive companies to adopt Lean initiatives.

According to Ron Koslowsky, vice president of Canadian Manufacturers & Exporters (CME) Manitoba in Winnipeg, Lean is a lesson in surviving tough times. “Anyone worth their future is looking at Lean,” he says. “In Manitoba there are many firms just getting into it. But most smaller manufacturers are not looking at Lean at all.”

Still, an increasing number of small and medium size manufacturers are being driven to Lean because their customers are insisting that everyone in their supply chain adopt Lean. “But Lean is about long-term strategies, the changing of a company’s whole culture,” Koslowsky points out. “It’s a way of living and a slow process to put in place.”

While Lean can help manufacturers, it may not be for everyone. Indeed, some industry experts say that Lean can actually fail if certain prerequisites are not in place.

Manufacturing companies face many problems. Understanding the nature of the problem is critical if you want to use the appropriate improvement methodology says Andrew Milivojevich, president of Toronto-based Knowledge Management Group Inc., a Six Sigma consulting firm.

“While Lean is a valuable tool that improves flow, it may be an inappropriate method when product quality is the problem. Often, problems with product quality are the result of a non-conformance to specification. Such a nonconformance is the result of poor equipment capability.

When the inherent capability of production equipment is poor then a number of technical obstacles must be resolved and require technical effort. It such a case, Lean may not be the appropriate methodology. A more appropriate approach may be a Designed Experiment that tries to uncover complex issues with a goal to optimize the system.”

For example, when product quality is not an issue but equipment availability is poor, then the issue that is driving poor availability must be known, says Milivojevich. For February 2010

example, if minor stoppages due to changeovers is the root cause, then Lean concepts via quick-die changes may be considered. However, if poor availability is inherent to the machine itself, then other approaches should be considered, as Lean may not be the way to go. Other approaches such as Failure Modes and Effects Analysis, Parameter and Tolerance Design or even TRIZ may be more appropriate.

Though manufacturers may want to latch onto Lean, many don’t because they don’t see the value in it for themselves.

“Everybody wants the quick fix, to find the magic bullet. Most mindsets in companies are centered on getting the home run. They’re unaccustomed to transformation in small incremental stages,” adds Koslowsky.

To boost its role as a primary business association for manufacturers and exporters, CME Manitoba launched its new Centre of Excellence (COE) last October to strengthen the productivity/Lean theme with an added focus on small and medium size enterprises (SMEs).

The CME has created educational initiatives such as hands-on workshops and training programs, events and conferences delivered by Lean champions and facilitators, as well as lean-oriented consulting.

“The CME has focused heavily on productivity, largely through Lean, over the past few years in response to the increasing value of the Canadian dollar,” notes Koslowsky.

“That focus will be strengthened and expanded ongoing to include more companies and many SMEs.” Milivojevich, believes that all manufacturing organizations experience some problems that cause shortfalls in production throughput and quality. Shortfalls in production lead to financial instability and excessive “fire fighting,” he stresses. “Not long ago, manufacturers in Canada relied on the low Canadian dollar as an unintentional way of tolerating productivity shortfalls. This behavior was driven by the fact that many manufacturers sell their products in US dollars.

When manufactures sell their products in US dollars, the exchange rate negates the need to reduce waste and improve quality since it is more cost effective to increase labour utilization. Over time, ‘fire-fighting’ becomes a habit and the culture of the organization accepts waste and poor quality.”

Ultimately, these manufacturers are so busy trying to meet current production needs they don’t have residual time to Canadian metalworking 21

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BUSINESS REPORT/LEAN MANUFACTURING

avail employees to participate in continuous improvement activities such as Lean and Six Sigma. “Unfortunately, when an organization tolerates waste and poor quality, the behavioral intentions of customers will change.”

He adds that customers will seek reliable suppliers that can demonstrate on-time delivery, good quality and better price. “Today, manufacturers are seeking ways to increase productivity by reducing production waste and increasing quality. They see training as a strategic imperative with a focus on using Lean and Six Sigma to change old habits and foster a culture of productivity improvement.”

Lean is essentially about transforming a company. “And that’s best done from the top down,” advises Larry Cote, president of Kaizen Institute Lean Advisors. “The principles of Kaizen Lean is a way of thinking about how to run your business. It focuses on the customer and what they feel is ‘value.’

Once this is done and the value and non-value have been identified through the entire system, then the next step is to understand how to remove the nonvalue properly to make your service or production activities flow to the customer.

To do this, business leaders need to make changes to the culture and behaviors of their team, making changes that are closely tied to the organization’s business goals.

“The work on the people side of change is essential to the long-term viability of a Kaizen Lean enterprise,” Cote notes. “Building multi-level buy-in and shared responsibility for implementing a company’s Future State is critical to creating a Kaizen Lean enterprise.”

To build Kaizen Lean Implementation skills for leaders and teams, Cote offers five three-day Implementation Support and Training Sessions, and Future State transformation in five to eight months (four to six weeks between Sessions). Presented in an interactive learning environment, it’s a hands-on practice approach with key tools for building successful teams: creating ownership, responsibility, accountability; creating and sustaining behaviors and culture; dealing with resistance and conflict; mentoring change agents; setting expectations and measuring results.

Are more manufacturers large and small moving to Lean?

Henry Zupanc, a consultant in the field of Lean Manufacturing and Kaizen, and president of Quality Solutions Inc., London, ON, says that for the most part most big manufacturers have embraced the Lean concept, although there are many reasons why others have not. “Typically there are key employees in the organization who resist the change and are not open to the concept,” he points out. “Fear is another reason why companies don’t embrace it—fear of the unknown, fear of failure and the potential impact that it might have on their own jobs.”

February 2010

Management may not understand Lean and see it as another program that requires them to do more work in an already overloaded day, Zupanc continues. “Sometimes success is an impediment to change. ‘If it ain’t broke don’t fix it,’ is a common view for companies for not embracing Lean. Companies are just trying to survive in these uncertain economic times and are finding it difficult to take on the concept of Lean.”

Asked what costs going Lean incurs, Zupanc replies, “Lean requires little expenditure early in the program and the most dramatic results come early. In the first few months of an implementation, expenditures are usually for some preliminary training, a few Kaizen events and changes in procedures.

This results in significant inventory reductions that bring in a lot of cash.”

Productivity improvements require more time and cash flow is less than that from decreased inventory. Costs increase later in the implementation because the activities may include more in-depth training and more investment in equipment and systems. By this time though, productivity improvements are contributing to the positive cash flow. Inventory reductions, while less then they were initially, are likely to continue for several years.

A well-planned and executed Lean implementation is generally selffinancing; the increased positive cash flow pays for the implementation as it goes along, explains Zupanc.

Applying Lean in a time of economic uncertainty requires a major mind shift for many manufacturing companies, says Catherine Swift, president and CEO of the Canadian Federation of Independent Businesses (CFIB), Toronto. “Because the economic downturn and the rollercoaster ride of the Canadian dollar have combined to put a lot of manufacturers out of business, those who survive must rationalize everything they do, including investing in a long-term commitment to Lean.”

Even so, Swift believes there are few options for manufacturers. “Lean can be done in good times and bad.

And if a viable manufacturing sector is to be retained in Canada, then Lean certainly will need to be a part of our business plan moving forward.”

Lean may well be part of the manufacturing industry’s future plan, but Milivojevich advises that those who are considering Lean should first ensure they have the structure in place that will ensure Lean can succeed.

“The problems that manufacturing companies encounter are many. Understanding the nature of the problem will help to determine the best improvement methodology.” CM Jack Kohane is a freelance writer based in Toronto.

Canadian metalworking 23

>>>

MACHINING CENTRES/TECHNOLOGY REVEW >> By Mary Scianna

A Model Employee Advancements in controls and linear motor technology are pushing machining centres to the next level In the 2001 Steven Spielberg movie A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) a robot develops feelings. In the more recent 2009 Bruce Willis film Surrogates, robotic clones replace humans in their daily lives, performing all of their functions while humans control them from a remote place.

DMG’s CTX Gamma machining centre features a turning/milling spindle with NC controlled B axis in the torque motor.

While these scenarios are farfetched, in the not-too-distant future, machining centres—the industrial version of robotic clones in the manufacturing world—may replace humans on the shop floor. That’s because advancements in machine tools are creating a smarter generation of machinery with the ability to communicate with other machines and work in a lights-out environment.

Indeed, with machining centres becoming increasingly sophisticated, they are quickly becoming the “model employees” that manufacturers want: fast, accurate and productive machines that can work around-the-clock.

Canadian Metalworking had the opportunity to glimpse the future in machine tools at EMO Milano in October, the world’s largest metalworking trade show. The big focus was on faster multiple axis machines with higher process integration. The intent behind this new generation 24 Canadian metalworking

of machining centres is to improve productivity, says Vince D’Alessio, executive vice president of ElliottMatsuura Canada, Oakville, ON. The machine tool distributor represents several machine tool builders, including Matsuura.

“The next wave of machines are five axis machines that allow the production of parts with fewer setups and operations, and allow manufacturers to improve the overall efficiency of producing complex components.”

He adds that automation on five axis machines is growing and that more customers are beginning to realize “that this must be their next investment if they want to be successful in the new global economy.”

Jeff Kalyniuk, product manager for vertical machining centres at Haas Automation Inc., Oxnard, CA, attended EMO Milan. Haas’ machines are sold in Canada through distributors including Thomas Skinner & Son in Western Canada and Sirco Machinery Co. Ltd. in Eastern Canada.

“I noticed two things that were so prevalent they could have been considered a theme. EMO, in my opinion, showcased the versatility of multi-axis machines and robotics. I was impressed with the marriage of the technologies in so many of the vendor locations. Pallet systems on five axis machines with robots tending them were commonly seen.”

The buzzword in machining centres is “process integration.” With advancements in software and controls, these new machining centres have the ability to integrate milling, turning, grinding and honing in one machine.

In discussions with machine tool builders and distributors, Canadian Metalworking discovered that the definition of a machining centre differs

PRODUCT REPORT AgieCharmilles

Mikron HPM 800U high performance machining centre offers dynamic, three axis milling suited for the aerospace and automotive industries. Equipped with directly driven circular and swiveling axes, the machine can be used for a range of applications, including complex mould making, heavy roughing and precise finishing.

It features stable construction and a simultaneously operable, circular swiveling table with water cooled direct drives and three axis clamps. The increased accessibility allows users to load and manually secure smaller parts on the table with ease. The machine is also equipped with a dual drive in the Y axis for increased stability, as well as a superior spindle technology from StepTec to deliver high quality 3D surfacing results and exceptional chip removal rates. www.gfac.com/us

DMG

The CTX gamma 2000 TC is DMG’s latest turning/milling centre featuring B axis, a high speed 12 station turret, Siemens 840D solutionline two channel control and the company’s MultiChannel programming system, ShopTurn 3G. The machine’s design allows for four-axis machinining on one spindle or parallel machining on the main and counter-spindle. It also offers a range of additional manufacturing options, according to Harry Junger, managing director.

For example, a turret head steady rest can be used to support shaft parts with diameters up to 5.9 in. Centre points can be fitted into the counter spindle or used directly from the turret.

Equipment such as a pick-up device for storing finished parts and an insertion aid for difficult-to-feed workpieces is possible. Components can remain on the turret and be swivelled when February 2010

required because of the machining centre’s dimensions.

DMG estimates that the flexibility of the new machining centre in the V10 extension range has been increased by up to 70 per cent compared to the B-axis-only version. The twochannel controls and the MultiChannel programming allows graphical 3D shop floor programming directly on the machine, together with process simulation and cycles via the ShopTurn 3G user interface, which is the same for the B axis and the turret. www.dmg.com

Hardinge

The newest members of Hardinge’s GX-Series of vertical machining centres are designed and built for a production environment. The machine can literally overlap one another to better utilize valuable floor space and to promote cell manufacturing. The design provides service and operator interface to only

the front or back of the machines, allowing the machines to be stacked in a line side by side since there is no need to access the sides of the machines. A unique feature is the spindle torque and horsepower compared to other small footprint machines. Features include heavy duty linear roller guideways ensuring a stiff machine design, and high acceleration rates of the spindles and axes for high production. The machines come standard with a swing arm ATC, required for high production.

The machines are designed to support single piece flow and/or automated parts handling. The machines come standard with a Fanuc I Series OiMC control. The ATC offers a magazine capacity of 20 tools. www.hardingeus.com February 2010

Haas

For 2010 Haas redesigned its entire VF product line to incorporate a wide range of enhancements, making Haas VMCs better than ever. Haas engineers reviewed all aspects of the machines – including motion control, coolant containment, chip evacuation, ergonomics, and serviceability – made improvements, and put everything into an all-new package. To ensure smooth, precise motion control, the

2010 Haas VMCs use next-generation digital servomotors and high-resolution encoders on all axes. Combined with significant software and motor-control advancements on the new machines, these yield higher accelerations and better surface-finish performance than ever before, claims the company.

With an eye toward preventing chip and coolant egress during machining, Haas invested effort up front to optimize the enclosures on the new VMCs, paying close attention to panel fit, service access, and internal routing of plumbing and cables. The result is a far better enclosure and a simpler overall design that thoroughly contains chips and coolant.

Haas redesigned the chip pans and reviewed coolant flow in the new VMCs to reduce chip buildup and efficiently flush chips into the auger trough for removal.

For high-volume production applications, the 2010 Haas VF-1 through VF-6 VMCs are available with optional chip removal systems that combine multiple side augers with either a front discharge auger or a belt-type conveyor to move chips out of the machines faster and easier.

Haas machines have always been designed from the operator’s and programmer’s points of view.

For example, the machines’ windows and doors are now stiffer, move more smoothly, and close tightly. The new Haas thin-design control pendant mounts directly to the enclosure, providing a lighter but more stable operator interface than the previous version. And there’s a convenient storage compartment behind the pendant. www.haascnc.com

among companies. For the most part, industry experts define machining centres as a vertical or horizontal machine tool that can mill, drill and tap.

Some, however, would throw “multitasking” machines into the mix.

Indeed, Ray Buxton, general manager for Mazak Corporation Canada, Cambridge, ON, says that the division between machining centres and multi-tasking machines is becoming “blurred.”

Mazak sells its machines direct and through distribution, such as A.W. Miller. He says that “many of the company’s newer models of machining centres also have turning capability.

This is an evolving trend as companies look to embrace “Lean” and reduce cost and inventories and adopt technologies that can produce their part in one machine. This is an ongoing trend and will strongly influence the next generation of machine tools. Our e series Horizontals were seen by some to be a heavy duty milling adder to turning machines, but at Mazak we see our eHorizontals as more of a milling machine with turning. Add to this the newer innovations such as grinding capability and advance probing and the definition that we used to be comfortable with becomes very blurry.”

As an aside, Buxton adds that Mazak is the first machine tool manufacturer to offer more than 90 models equipped to accept 575 v for the Canadian market.

“All major manufactures bring their machines into the country either 480 or 400 v (latter is European). This means that the customer has to buy a large bulky expensive transformer to go between the incoming power and the machine. This extra transformer adds cost in terms of install time and materials but also means power efficiency is compromised as the extra transformer is never 100 per cent efficient. This means the customer pays extra for the life of the machine in hydro costs.”

Machining centres have evolved dramatically over the years, says Jim Endsley, machining centre specialist with Okuma Corp., Charlotte, NC (Okuma is represented in Central Canada—Manitoba and Ontario—and Eastern Canada—Quebec and the Maritimes—by EMEC Machine Tools, Canadian metalworking 25

>>>

MACHINING CENTRES/TECHNOLOGY REVEW

Mississauga, ON, and in Western Canada by Thomas Skinner & Son, Richmond, BC). “They’ve become stronger and faster and builders have taken the human error out of these machine tools,” says Endsley.

New Spindle Designs Lead to Faster Speeds The biggest change in machining tools has been the quantum leap in speed. Where once 2,000 to 4,000 rpm was considered fast, today’s standard speeds are in the 10,000 to 12,000 rpm range with high speed machines equipped with the ability to run at speeds of up to 40,000 rpm.

“When I started working in the machine tool industry, 2,000 rpm was a high speed machine, now 10,000 rpm is the bare minimum and most people are looking at machines with 25,000 rpm,” says Ron Kilgore, machining centre product manager for Doosan Infracore, West Caldwell, NJ. Doosan is represented in Eastern Canada by Ferro Technique, Mississauga, ON, in Western Canada by Paine Machine Tool Inc. (British Columbia), and in Central Canada by Moore Industrial Ltd. (Alberta, Saskatchewan and Manitoba).

While machine tool builders continue to improve on spindle design, Steve Bond, national sales manager for Methods Machine Tools Inc., Sudbury, MA, which supplies Kiwa machine tools and the Fanuc Robodrill, says that “speeds and feeds have been limited either by the machine tool manufacturers or by the cutting tool manufacturers. At some point in time, I believe that with the motion control and processing speeds available on the market…improvements in speed will result from new cutting tool technologies rather than from continued G force motion improvements from machine tool builders.”

Higher spindle speeds present some problems though, adds Okuma’s Jim Endsley.

“When you run high rpms above 14,000 you can’t have gears in the headstock because they rattle and they wear themselves out in a short period of time. The other problem is that the electric motors and bearings generate heat when they turn, creating a thermal growth problem. So we’ve gone to an integral spindle design—which is common today—but we feel we’ve developed a unique way of addressing how to cool the motor.”

Unlike most of its competitors, who use a one-directional cooling approach, Okuma uses a bi-directional cooling method on its spindle for thermal compensation, explains Endsley. “We pump oil in both directions to equalize bearing temperatures to stop run-out. Most of our competitors cool the bottom bearing only. We think the bi-directional approach is an advantage. We have incorporated sensors in the bearings that are connected to the controls for thermal compensation.”

Thermal growth is an issue that Makino has also addressed, says Bill Howard, product line manager for the Mason, OH, machine tool builder. Makino’s machines are sold in Canada through Single Source Technologies-Canada, Mississauga, ON. Makino has several patents on its spindle designs—the company manufactures its own spindles—including one for how it addresses thermal growth.

“We pass a temperature-controlled lubricant through the centre or the drawbar to control the temperature of that drawbar. Most people squirt the lubrication in air or oil from the outside of the bearing. Well, as the spindle starts to rotate, the oil starts to fly off.”

Howard says that Makino approached manufacturers of high rpm equipment and asked them how they lubricate bearings.

26 Canadian metalworking

PRODUCT REPORT Hurco

With the integrated Hurco control powered by WinMax, the VMX60SR has multiple five axis software features designed to simplify production of parts that have complex contours and swept surfaces. The WinMax Swept Surface software feature can reduce programming time by as much as 80 per cent and Transform Part Zero eliminates the redundancy of setting up part zero multiple times. The integrated Hurco control is compatible with more CAM programs than ever before, and includes an intuitive menu system that is user friendly. Superb surface finish and superior accuracy are benefits of the VMX60SR’s larger linear rails, bigger ballscrews, and heavier servo drives, says the company. The VMX60SR has X/Y/Z travels of 60 x 26 x 24 in.; X and Y rapids of 1,181 ipm and Z rapids of 787 ipm; 12,000 rpm spindle; 24-in. C axis table; and main table that is 66 x 26 in. www.hurco.ca

MAGAG Americas

MAG’s MEGA 5 five axis horizontal machining centre is built for power and speed, with two spindle options providing high torque machining of tough materials such as titanium or high speed processing of aluminum, for large part applications. It combines twin ballscrew-driven axes in X, Y and Z, an infinite contouring B axis table, and a compact u-frame, A-axis tilt spindle with 180° sweep for full five axis contouring of highly complex parts. The MEGA 5 delivers five-sided machining capability, eliminating re-fixturing to reach odd angles and surfaces, for improved part accuracy and the lowest cost-perpart manufacturing. The XT spindle configuration is designed for machining hard metals such as compacted titanium, graphite iron, steel and Inconel, and is offered in HSK100A and ANSI 50 versions. A dual speed gearbox with rugged spindle headstock provides speeds up to 6,000 rpm, with constant power availability at 375 rpm for machining a variety of metals.

The machining centre features high dynamic stiffness for hard-metal processing, as well as a high feed rate of 60 m/ min (2,362 ipm) and 0.8G (7.8 m/s2)(310in/s2) acceleration rate for high-speed processing. With 1,425 mm (56.1 in.) of X-axis travel, 1,350 mm (53.1 in.) of Y-axis travel and 1,265 mm (49.8 in.) of Z-axis travel, the MEGA 5 can handle parts up to 1,300 mm (51.2 in.) diameter and 2,000 mm (78.7 in.) high. A robust two-pallet automatic workchanger accommodates loads weighing up to 2,200 kg (4,840 lb), and can swap square 800 mm x 800 mm (31.5 in. x 31.5 in.)

February 2010

or rectangle 800 mm x 1,000 mm (31.5 in. x 39.4 in.) pallets in 14.5 seconds, unclamp-to-clamp. A rotary table with pallet registration system ensures alignment each time a new pallet is shuttled into the machining zone. www.mag-ias.com

Makino

Linear Versus Servo Motors While linear motor technology has been in the market for more than 10 years, it’s still relatively new and many machine tool builders have not fully embraced it.

Indeed, Elliott-Matsuura’s Vince D’Alessio says that the “next advancement in speed will only come with linear motor technology. We’ve reached the limit of ballscrew technology.”

Linear motors are typically used for X, Y and Z axis travels because they have the ability to accelerate and decelerate much quicker than machines equipped with ballscrew and servo motor technology.

Makino’s Bill Howard says while linear motors offer faster “acc and dec” rates, “they’re still fairly expensive and they tend to generate a lot of heat, which brings in the whole ideal of thermal compensation in machine tools. There are other issues too, with horsepower and torque.”

While there are some issues with linear motors, Makino uses them on some of its larger machining centres used in the aerospace industry, adds Howard.

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Makino’s new S56-5XB vertical machining centre blends high performance, hard milling with multi-axis capabilities for a combination of accuracy, speed, flexibility and productivity. Similar to the S56, the S56-5XB is suited for applications requiring high spindle speeds, fine surface finishes and hard milling. The machine’s five-axis functionality delivers accuracy in contoured parts, and enables five-face machining that eliminates setups, reduces lead times, improves quality, and cuts costs.

The S56-5XB is equipped with a 40 x 20 in. (1,000 x 500 mm) worktable, with associated travels of 36 x 20 x 18 in.

(900 x 500 x 450 mm). Its table mounted tilt/trunion provides full, five axis capability while the remaining table surface can be used for three axis work. The machine’s X, Y and Z axis linear motion guides support rapid traverse and cutting feed rates of 1,575 ipm (40,000 mm/min). Its 40 taper, 13,000 rpm spindle provides the ideal combination of speed and rigidity to hard mill high quality surface finishes in demanding applications. The machine is equipped with a standard 20-tool (30-tool optional) magazine and automatic tool changer to reduce setups and further maximize the machine’s flexibility and utilization, through unattended machining capabilities. www.makino.com

“They introduce the oil under the race of the bearing in the inside. It’s like introducing water to the rim of your tire and then allowing the rotation of the tire to swing out any water it doesn’t need. That’s how we lubricate on our core cool and then we introduce the lubrication under the race of the bearing where the heat is generated. Then the bearing rotation of the spindle swings out any unused lubricant so we’re not generating a lot of heat by viscously shearing up all this excessive oil in the spindle.”

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The CUBLEX is a five axis multi-tasking machining centre based around Matsuura’s proven technology. It integrates three functions (milling, turning and optional grinding) into one machine, which have traditionally been executed on different machine types.

The CUBLEX-25 features a maximum work size of D 250 x H 250 mm and maximum loading capacity of 40 kg. It has a maximum work size D 420 x H 350 mm and maximum loading capacity of 200 kg. Both machines have proven themselves globally in various industries. This machine has the capability to machine workpieces of maximum work size of D 630 x H 450 mm with a maximum loading capacity of 350 kg. The one-hit multi-tasking

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MACHINING CENTRES/TECHNOLOGY REVEW

PRODUCT REPORT machine enables milling, turning and grinding (optional) and a significant increase in customer’s process integration. It is configured to allow for easy expansion of the tool magazine and pallet capacity for complete unmanned operation. In addition, the combination of milling and turning processes in onechucking reduces setup errors between processes, resulting in higher-accuracy machining and reducing the down time when transfering large workpieces between machines. It is equipped with a new direct-drive motor for the rotary table axis (C axis). www.elliottmachinery.com

roundness to 5 µm with a feedrate of 22 ipm over the previous machine, says Mazak. www.mazakusa.com

Methods Machine Tools

Method’s JobShop Cell is designed for job shops with small to medium lot sizes. The fully integrated production cell combines drilling, tapping and milling capabilities of a RoboDrill vertical machining centre with a Fanuc six axis robot or automated loading/unloading.

The machine can be configured to handle any part that will fit in its 6 in. vise

Mazak

Mazak’s FJV-35/60 II is a double column, vertical machining centre designed for the high speed, high precision production of large workpieces. Suitable for a wide range of industries, including aerospace, construction, die and mould, and heavy machine, the FJV-35/60 II accommodates up to 5,500 lb (2,494 kg) on a 59.1 in.

(1,500 mm) x 31.5 in. (800 mm) work table. It’s equipped with a 50 taper, 40 hp, 10,000 rpm integrated spindle that generates up to 433 ft-lb of torque for heavy duty cutting of large cast iron, steel and aluminum workpieces. The machining centre is also available with an optional 40 taper, 18,000 rpm highspeed spindle.

The new machining centre is available with a five face machining option, which utilizes a spindle automatically indexable by 90º, a special angle tool capable of automatic tool change (ATC) and an angle tool holder that can be indexed in four positions. Roller guides on all axes offer increased rigidity and high feedrates of 1,574 ipm in the X and Y axes and 1181 ipm in the Z axis. The direct drive ball screw system boosts high accuracy 28 Canadian metalworking

or chuck. It comes complete with inbound and outbound conveyors and guarding.

The standardized work-handling interface accommodates a variety of hydraulic or pneumatic workholding options. An optional fourth axis and workholding fixture further increase the production cell’s utility. The heart of the cell, the automotive-duty-rated FANUC RoboDrill VMC, offers a 14-tool (or optional 21tool) tool changer, torque to 56 ft-lbs, rigid tapping to 5,000 rpm (8,000 rpm optional), accelerations (in X, Y, and Z axes) to 1.5 G, rapid traverses to 2,125 ipm, feed rates to 1,181 ipm (2,362 ipm optional), high-speed reverse tapping, thread milling, 1,000 registerable programs, and 54 work offsets. The highspeed, six axis FANUC LR Mate 200iC robot comes with grippers, a teaching pendant, and several programs that can be easily customized to user needs. www.methodsmachine.com

Nakamura-Tome

Nakamura-Tome Precision Industry Co. Ltd. is launching three new multitasking turning centres, machines capable of producing high added value parts by simultaneous machining with the structure of twin-spindles and upper and lower turrets, claims the company. Super February 2010

A Controlled Approach NTMX features the world’s first structure of twin drum type ATC on left and right sides. With ATC tools on upper side and turret type tools on lower side, high performance of both turning and milling is realized. Super NTMX, which is a 6 in. machine and has 52 mm diameter bar capacity for L/R, is suitable for machining of various parts ranging from flange work to shaft work. The company will also be launching two new models that feature the Y axis on both upper and lower turrets. Super Mill WY-250L has a wider machining

When machine tool controls and software first emerged on the market, few could have imagined the degree of sophistication that exists today.

In fact, as Endsley says, few would have thought that the IT department would have been involved in the day-to-day machining operation.

Today, the so-called “smart machine tools� can thank controls and associated software for their abilities. And it’s not just new controls from manufacturers such as Heidenhain, Fagor, Siemens and GE Fanuc. Machine tool builders such as

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area of 1.2 m and WY-100 is a compact machine with 6 in. chuck. www.elliottmachinery.com

Okuma

The Okuma MB-56V is designed for machining small parts and provides an exceptional return on investment when producing small die/mould or production parts and for manufacturers in the medical, aerospace and firearms industries, claims the company. Thermal stability and zero table overhang allow for tight tolerances and accuracy. The construction is based on solid FEM analysis and a rapid spindle traverse with Hi-G acceleration.

A maximum machining volume of 1050/560/460 and the ability to add four and five axis capabilities makes this machine versatile. With a low table position and an ergonomic front-access

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design the MB-56V requires minimal floor space and no hydraulic fluid. The MB-56V features the operator-friendly THINC-OSP control, a true PC, Windowsbased platform with open architecture, plug and play USB capability and 40GB of memory allowing easy connectivity of complementary and peripheral equipment. www.okuma.com

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Canadian metalworking  29

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MACHINING CENTRES/TECHNOLOGY REVEW

“Who would have dreamed ten years Hurco (WinMax), Makino (Pro 5 control ago that we would have been concerned and SGI.4 software) Okuma (THINC), about security on the NC control? With Mazak (Mazatrol Matrix) and other open access though, there are security machine tool builders have developed issues. Of course the security systems their own control systems and software. in place are industrial grade ones, but “We have an entire group dedicated we’re doing things now that were never to developing software and we have thought about before because we have another group that focuses on the the ability to access the control on the intelligence products such as adaptive machines remotely and fix problems.” controls, tool life monitoring, spare tool Haas’ Jeff Kalyniuk expects to see selection, and automatic measuring and more remote monitoring systems that tie probing,” says Makino’s Bill Howard. into machine tool controls. A relatively While custom controls can provide new system that Haas is incorporating some benefits for machines they’re A unique feature of Hardinge’s new VMCs into its machine tools is something that designed for, Doosan Infracore’s Ron is the spindle torque and horsepower the company’s engineers call MNET. Kilgore says that customized controls compared to other small footprint machines.

“It has the potential of monitoring “pigeonhole customers into buying the machine from anywhere via Ethernet/Internet connection. specific types of machines. We rely heavily on our partner, Users would be able to check the status of the machine, the which is GE Fanuc. The company’s controls are almost a machine text or email as programmed, communicate with tool worldwide standard for controls, which means they can be setters, robots and other manufacturing systems (bar code used on many machine tools.” mechanisms for example).”

Controls and software are undergoing some dramatic Methods Machine Tools’ Steve Bond expects to see changes, says Okuma’s Jim Endsley. higher degrees of automation in machine tools.

“In the future I’ll have the ability to log on to your “We believe automation and the monitoring of control, with your permission—we can do this now—and automated systems both internally and externally will grow look for the problem and fix it online in the background tremendously when the manufacturing segment recovers. while you’re still making parts.”

These systems will have fully automated load and unload He expects to see this happening more in the future, but capabiity, thermal compensation, the ability to monitor he adds that these new advances open up a whole new set tool load and life, preventive maintenance notification and of problems. remote monitoring, if required.”

In fact he adds, Methods has automated many systems by installing vision and remote monitoring capability. “The ability to remote access and correct some machine alarms is now becoming a reality.”

Haas’ Jeff Kalyniuk says he is seeing more machines with communication abilities.

“We are seeing anything with a computer attached to it wanting to communicate with a CNC, from cell phones, robots, PCs, tool setters…and the list is long and wide ranging. Many different systems are trying to give users remote access to machine tools. A lot of what I hear is that users want to be able to have their CNC tell them anything at any time, either by text, email and other reporting methods.”

A good example is Mazak. Ray Buxton says that he’s seeing more customers embracing tooling and communication management tools.

“Cybertool management allows you to set your tools on a The right solution Presetter and via a chip reader and ethernet connection the for every application. tool offset information is automatically sent to the machine tool which calculates and applies the offset required for that tool automatically. Our eTower and Cyber Management allows communication between portable hand-held devices such as Blackberries and the machine allowing maintenance and production personnel to have real time understanding of their machine’s status and productivity anywhere on the planet.” CM www.doosaninfracore.com www.elliottmachinery.com www.haascnc.com SCHUNK Intec Corp. · Tel. +1-905-712-2200 · Fax +1-905-712-2210 www.makino.com info@ca.schunk.com · www.schunk.com www.methodsmachine.com www.okuma.com SU PE RI O R! PR EC I S I O N F RO M T H E LE A D I N G E XP E R T.

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30 Canadian metalworking

February 2010

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MACHINE TOOLS/DRILL PRESSES

The Hole Picture

Better performance, controls in today’s drills, tried but true technology Clausing 600 Group: Variable Speed Drill Press

Heinman Machinery: Kao Ming Radial Drills

The Clausing LOW/HIGH Variable Speed drill press allows users to dial the best rpm for the tool and the material while the job is running. The drill is suitable for production applications with quick change tooling. It is production rated 1-1/8 in. in cast iron and 7/8 in. in steel with optional power feed. All bearing surfaces are precision bored simultaneously for exact alignment. Eight ball bearings support the drive and spindle, and the lower spindle bearing has a double row to absorb both radial and thrust loads. It features 6 1/2 in. (165.1 mm) travel, 2-1/2 in.

(63.5 mm) diameter quill and a micrometer depth stop.

The Kao Ming Precision Radial Drills are distributed in Canada by Heinman Machinery Ltd. The Taiwanese company specializes in the manufacture of radial

A precision ground 22 in. x 19 in. (559 mm x 495 mm) oil trough table, handles large parts and fixtures. Clausing drills are equipped with a Spindle Guard that locks in an upright position, away from spindle nose, for easy tool changes. www.600group.com 32 Canadian metalworking

drills and CNC machining centres. Kao Ming’s high precision models KMR1600DH and 1250DH are equipped with a spindle head that features a hydraulic pressure pre-selection system to change spindle speeds up to 12 stages; a spindle made of SCM4 material to accommodate high torque operations; a multiple disc clutch for starting and stopping the spindle so normal and reverse operations can be executed smoothly; and a feed safety device to protect against overload.

The gears of the hydraulically controlled gear box are made of SCM material and are carburized hardened and precisely ground, increasing the strength of the teeth.

The KMR-1100S model with a distance of 19 7/8 in. (504 mm) to 49 ¼ in. (1,250 mm) from spindle centre to column centre features a nine step spindle speed, precision drilling of predetermined depth, automatically lubricated gear box, double tube column, a feed safety device and automatic feed. The KMR-700DS with a distance of 11 3/8 in. (289 mm) to 31 7/8 in. (809 mm) from spindle centre to column centre features a six step spindle speed, depth set for drilling and automatic feed. www.heinmanmachinery.com

SMTCL CANADA: Z3000 Series SMTCL Canada offers several radial arm drills in its Z3000 series.

The Z3040 features a maximum drilling diameter of 1.57 in. (39 mm) and a distance between the spindle axis and colum of 13.8 in. (350 mm) to 63 in. (1600 mm).

The distance between the spindle nose and base plate is 13.8 in. (350 mm) to 49 in. (1,244 mm). It has a spindle travel of 12.4 in. (315 mm) with a minimum spindle speed of 25 rpm and a maximum spindle speed of 2,000 rpm.

The Z3050 radial arm drill is designed with a maximum drilling diameter of 1.97 in. (50 mm) and has a distance between the spindle axis and column of 13.8 in. (350 mm) to 63 in. (1,600 mm). Like the previous model it offers a minimum spindle speed of 25 rpm up to 2,000 rpm.

The Z3063 has a maximum drilling diameter of 2.48 in. (63 mm) and a distance between the spindle axis and column ranging of 17.7 in. (449 mm) to 78.7 in.

(2,000 mm). It has a minimum spindle speed of 20 rpm up to 1600 rpm. This drill weighs 15,400 lb (6,985 kg) and is equipped with a 7.3 hp main motor.

The largest radial arm drill, weighing 24,200 lb (10,976 kg), in the series is the Z3080, which features a maximum drilling diameter of 3.1 in. (79 mm) and distance between spindle axis and column of 19 in. (483 mm) to 98 in. (2,489 mm). It has a minimum spindle speed of 16 rpm and a maximum spindle speed of 1,250 rpm. www.smtcl.ca February 2010

Knuth Machine Tools: R 60 Radial DrDrill

Massteel America Corp: MRD-20063 RADIAL ARM DRILLS

Knuth Machine’s R 60 high capacity radial drill press with high frequency drive has a drilling capacity (steel/ cast-iron) of 60/72 mm. Features include a digital displace of the spindle speed, infinitely variable speed control for optimum adjustment of cutting speed on tools and materials, and is designed for drilling, reaming and tapping. It is also equipped with an oil-batch lubricated gearbox with hardened, precision ground Cr-Ni steel gears. The press is easily accessible from the front panel arrangement of electrical and mechanical controls. An elevating screw and lift motor allow for arm height adjustability. www.knuth.de

The MRD-20063 radial arm drill from Massteel America Corp. features a maximum drilling capacity on mild steel of 2.5 in. (63.5 mm) and a maximum distance from the column surface to the spindle centre of 64 in.

(1,625.6 mm). The 8,300 lb (3,764 kg) drill measures 100 in. (2,500 mm) x 42 in. (1,066 mm) x 113 in. (2, 870 mm) and includes a horizontal travel of the spindle of 50 in. (1,270 mm), a spindle speed of 30 to 2,400 rpm and a main motor with 6-2/3 hp.

The drill features Siemens control components.

Control features are equipped with a hydraulic-actuated auto-unclamp and clamp system on arm power elevating and a push-button controlled hydraulic-actuated clamping system on drill head and arm swiveling. The spindle speed control features a centralized operating handle for spindle pre-set speed change, direction, stop and neutral control, and an hydrualically preset spindle speed which doesn’t require a stopping spindle. www.masteels.com

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CUTTING TOOLS/TURNING/CASE STUDY

Turning Over a New Leaf Turning inserts save the day—and a big job—for press brake die maker Difficult jobs can be a reminder why it’s good to keep up with the latest cutting tool advances. For Mecon Industries, Scarborough, ON, tooling from Kennametal was the difference between potential failure on a job no one could cut to delivering the part on time as promised.

Mecon, a custom job shop with 100-plus machine tools, manufactures coil handling equipment such as coil reelers, unreelers, and coil straighteners for the metal fabricating industries, and press brake dies. The press brake dies make up about 20 per cent of Mecon’s production volume but represent more than $1.5 million in annual sales. In recent years, Mecon has diversified its customer base and currently manufactures wind mill masts and grain processing equipment.

Back in 2008, Mecon landed a job to manufacture a large press brake die for

Hodgson Custom Rolling. The company required a die measuring 14 ft long and 22 in. wide with an 18-in. die opening for bending two to four-inch-thick plate.

The die would be manufactured on its planing machinery. The die steel specified was so tough that the tooling

Plant manager Bruno Cecchini adjusts the planer equipped with the Kennametal inserts.

Mecon traditionally used on its planing equipment lasted for three strokes before failing.

“We could only obtain the material from Germany and when it arrived it was a little tougher than what was spec’d,” explains Bruno Cecchini, Mecon’s plant manager who has been with the company since it opened its doors in 1962. “We were under the gun and had to deliver the product before Christmas. We didn’t have time to ask for new material because it would take too long to deliver it and it would have been too expensive to send it out for heat treating because they would have charged by the pound.”

Remember that dies are tooling used by customers to make the products their customers require, so when die customers say they need their tools, they’re not fooling around. “We had promised a delivery date, and we had

PRODUCT REPORT BIG Kaiser

BIG Kaiser Precision Tooling has expanded its turning tool line to include HSK-T63 for mill-turn centres.

The modular turning cartridge system includes holders to support any MTC spindle interface.

The HSK-T designation was originally acknowledged as the ICTM standard, an open standard developed by a panel of Japanese manufacturers, and is based on the ISO 121641:2001 standard HSK shank. HSK-T is an accurate and rigid dual contact interface, striving to improve tool accuracy by utilizing high tolerance drive keys, allowing for the highest precision turning applications. HSK-A rotary tools are fully compatible with 34 Canadian metalworking

HSK-T type spindles. BIG Kaiser’s HSK-T63 line offers modular turning tools for mill-turn applications in either a 45° tilt style or a 90° right angle style. www.bigkaiser.com

Iscar

ISCAR’s SUMO-GRIP family was designed to meet the growing demand for a dedicated tool for heavy duty applications. The tooling concept is comprised of a SELF-GRIP clamping insert, with a user friendly mounting mechanism and requires no spare parts. The cutting edge faces no obstructions in terms of chip flow, which dramatically reduces the risk of eroding the tool body. The inserts are durable and feature less generated heat. In addition to the external coolant–the flow of coolant fluids streams directly to the chip-tool contact area, providing better cooling media for chip control and evacuation. The advanced grades IC808 and IC8250 sustain heavy duty groove-turn applications.

The advantage of a dual coolant stream from both the top and bottom

allows for increased machining conditions and thus productivity output.

The cooling effect is due to controlling the temperature at the cutting zone and therefore prolonging tool life. This ensures less idle machine time and higher productivity. www.iscar.ca

Kennametal

The Beyond line of high performance turning products from Kennametal include 11 new grades for improved productivity in steel, stainless steels, and cast-iron applications, which now also includes KCS10, a new grade in MP (Medium Positive) geometry with the capability of improving titanium turning up to 50 per cent while improving surface finish results and extending tool life.

KCS10 features an MP geometry that has shown superior chip control in internal and field tests, says Kennametal, February 2010

The Brand that Began it All And Now PFERD CANADA is Ready to Make its Own Mark

PFERD Abrasives and Advance Brushes have been known for centuries throughout the world and now PFERD Canada brings you the total line of quality products including. . .

• POLIFAN® Family of FLAP DISCS • COMBICLICK® QUICK CHANGE DISCS • TC BURS and MOUNTED POINTS • DIAMOND WHEELS • CERAMIC DISCS, BELTS, FLAP WHEELS • THIN CUT-OFF WHEELS • COMBITWIST® BRUSHES • MAINTENANCE BRUSHES • FILES and RASPS

MORE TO COME

PFERD has many more work-saving product innovations waiting in the wings. Keep checking our website and reading the trade news for these announcements.

FREE CATALOGUE

Contact PFERD CANADA now at 866-245-1555 or go to our website pferdcanada.ca or email us at solutions@pferdcanada.ca.

We’ll send you our free catalogue and put you in touch with your nearest PFERD Canada authorized distributor.

PFERD CANADA INC. 5570 McAdam Road Mississauga, Ontario 866-245-1555 fax 905-501-1554 www.pferdcanada.ca

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CUTTING TOOLS/TURNING/CASE STUDY PRODUCT REPORT

With the new inserts, Mecon can now create large press brake dies like this one for its customers.

a 20,000-lb piece of steel at 35 Rockwell (which translates to 323 Brinell, well above Mecon’s standard range) we couldn’t cut.”

Press brake dies are tooling used for bending metals into predetermined shapes. Bending large or thick metal plate depends on the size of the die opening, the strength of the die, the shape of the punch, and the tonnage of the press brake. “We design, manufacture, and test custom press brake tooling for bending any material thickness and material type, from steel and aluminum to exotics like zircalloy,” he says. “Our planers range in length from 12 to 30 feet long. We also have a 200-ton hydraulic press for tryouts.

With our experience, we can provide a single-hit tool that combines bends and reduces the number of hits to complete a part. We also stock a line of standard tools for off-the-shelf delivery.”

Mecon customers can order the material type, thickness, and hardness of the dies they want to match the tonnage of their press brake equipment and the jobs they want to handle. If not otherwise specified, Mecon makes press brake tooling from pre-hardened die steel at 265 to 280 Brinell.

Normally, Mecon’s planing machines are the workhorses of their die business, cutting at a maximum 200 feet per minute, Cecchini says. Lowering speeds didn’t help, the tooling they traditionally used was failing after three strokes, and the range of tooling suppliers they sought help from “pretty much had the same results,” in Cecchini’s words.

Then Dan Atwell, metalworking sales engineer with Kennametal, Latrobe, PA, came to Mecon’s plant with samples of the company’s Beyond line of inserts. Atwell brought samples of the new grade KCP40. According to Mecon machine operator David Filipovic, the old tooling was failing after three strokes, 36

CANADIAN METALWORKING

with the results being a minimal number of cuts per edge and higher machinetool speeds. Tests have shown cycle-time reductions of 40 per cent, saving up to an hour per part, depending on part configuration. These faster results are

also at an increased number of parts per edge and with excellent surface finishes, says the company MP geometry in KCS10 is available in six styles applicable to a wide variety of standard toolholders. www.kennametal.com

Komet

KOMET’s new KUB Pentron unites key features in one tool, such as attainable precision, the highest performance parameters and impressive drilling depths. It permits up to 20 per cent higher cut and feed rate values than insert drills currently on the market, claims the company. It also provides high performance as seen in its lengthto-diameter ratios of 5 x D. It masters extreme machining conditions that were previously only possible in 3 x D. The new cutting tool is equipped with two square inserts that have four effective cutting edges each. The internal and external inserts have exactly the same shape. From all-round geometry to soft cutting and what is known as chip breaker geometry, inserts with high performance substrates and coatings are available for the widest variety of materials. www.komet.com

rigid tools to improve milling, drilling and tapping capabilities in turning operations. The company stocks a range of standardized live tools for CNC turning centers from Okuma, Mazak, Mori Seiki, Nakamura, Sauter and all other major builders.

The live tool offering includes highspeed tooling, coolant feed thru tools, axial tools, radial tools, dual output radial tools and universal tools. Straight and offset units, modular quick-change

systems and tapping quick-change holders are also available. Many models are lightweight and compact.

The live tools include optimized gears for smooth operation. Other advantages include lifetime lubrication of bearings, high torque transmission, internal coolant up to 70 bar and length adjustment. www.lyndexnikken.com

Sandvik Coromant

Sandvik Coromant has released its latest high-performance sharp-edge grade, GC1115. It is designed to give secure and reliable performance in all applications from aerospace to general engineering.

A balance of toughness and wear resistance makes GC1115 an effective choice for unstable machining conditions, especially where predictable production with fewer stoppages is a high priority.

The new grade can be used for finishing to medium machining in stainless steel and medium to roughing in heat resistant super alloys and titanium. It is available in a wide selection of positive and negative basic-shape inserts and

Lyndex-Nikken

Designed to enhance the performance of a CNC lathe, Lyndex-Nikken offers a variety of live tools, precise and FEBRUARY 2010

Call your local Sandvik Coromant Productivity Engineer at 1-800-268-0703 today or visit us at www.sandvik.coromant.com/ca to locate your local authorized distributor.

>>>

CUTTING TOOLS/TURNING/CASE STUDY

PRODUCT REPORT the full -M, -G and -E tolerance range of different insert edge sharpness. GC1115 will also be available as CoroCut angled inserts for improved access in aerospace applications.

GC1115 is part of the PVD chain within the ‘green-light production’ message from Sandvik Coromant, a group of insert grades with improved

wear resistance, giving closer tolerances and higher security. www.coromant.sandvik.com/ca

Seco

Seco Tools Canada now has custom tooling to complement its standard Jetstream Tooling offering of high performance tools designed to deliver

GUESS WHO? Who has developed the most advanced machining center in the industry?

LEADWELL of course!

The new Leadwell X-700R Parallel Kinematic machining center offers six axis machining with over 300° of spindle rotation.

EVERY LEADWELL MACHINE TOOL OFFERS PROVEN, DEPENDABLE, PRODUCTIVITY

Vertical Machining Centers

Every LEADWELL machine tool is backed by Stan Canada, with a team of factory-trained service technicians and over 54,000 items in stock.

Multi-function CNC Lathes

Stan Canada also represents STANKO big bore manual, CNC and slant-bed lathes; and Jessey flatbed CNC teach-in lathes.

Horizontal Boring Mills

Bridge-type Machining Centers

STANCANADA MACHINERY & EQUIPMENT Ltd.

249 Evans Ave., Toronto, ON M8Z 5V2 t. (416) 252-5767 • f. (416) 252-4770 Montreal, QC – t. (514) 334.7000

w w w. s t a n c a n a d a . c o m

38 Canadian metalworking

coolant directly at the insert cutting edge for productivity gains. The custom ordered tools come in a range of semi-standard modular cartridges and toolholders available for use in certain heavy duty applications. These include ISO CNMG 4, SNMG 4, DNMG 4, VBMT 3, CCMT 3 as well as the versatile MDT, multi directional turning system in 4, 6 and 8 mm right handed cartridges in two reach lengths – 3xB1 and 5xB1.

The cartridges are designed to fit either the Jetstream Modular square shank or C6 Seco–Capto toolholders. Toolholders with a Versatec joint are also available as a custom order.

Jetstream Tooling achieves appreciably better chip control along with increased tool life and cutting speed and feed rates across virtually all coolant pressures (70psi—5000psi) and many material types, specifically titanium alloys, but also nickel-chromium, aluminum and steel alloys, as well as stainless steels, claims Seco. www.secotools.com

and even on Mecon’s standard brake die steel, inserts would last only 15 or 20 minutes per edge before failure.

“We put Kennametal’s new Beyond grade KCP40 on our planer mill and the final parameters we were running after the testing were 0.750-inch depth of cut, 200 surface feet per minute, and .032 feedrate,” he says “We were able to run 16 foot planer strokes for approximately 80 minutes an edge.”

Getting approximately 500 strokes per corner and over five hours tool life per insert on 35 Rockwell tool steel was “unbelievable” in Cecchini’s words.

“The chips were nice and smooth,” confirms Bruno Cecchini. “With five inserts, we were able to remove more than 4,000 pounds of chips on this job.”

Cecchini ordered ten inserts because he was so impressed with the performance.

“The inserts were twice the price of standard inserts but it was worth it from two aspects: the fact that we were able to cut the material and the fact that February 2010

Sumitomo

The Super FF coating (Fine and Flat) on Sumitomo’s new grades AC820P and AC830P is not only more wear resistant than conventional coatings, it also reduces the possibility of chip adhesion due to its smoothness, claims the company. Combined with

newly developed carbide substrates, the AC800P series offers higher speed capabilities and a greater resistance to breakage than conventional carbide grades when machining steels and stainless steels. www.sumicarbide.com

more economical multi-edged insert. www.tungaloyamerica.com

Tungaloy

Tungaloy introduces its new line of Y type inserts. The Y type of turning insert is a 25° included angle turning insert

Widia

designed for taper cutting, under cutting, V-groove and spherical surface machining.

This insert is available in YWMT positive inserts and YNMG negative inserts. The YNMG will fit into a holder designed for a VNMG insert, where the YWMT positive insert requires a standard holder designed for this insert.

In many cases this style of insert will replace the more expensive grooving or turngrooving application with a

we were cutting a lot better than what we had anticipated.”

The indexable inserts Mecon purchased are part of a new line of tooling from Kennametal that the company launched last year. Ujjiwal Baid, Kennametal’s senior product manager says the cutting tools, designed to cut cast iron, steel, stainless steel and high temperature alloys, increase metal removal rates and extend tool life.

“Depending on the application, field tests have shown anywhere from 30 to 300 per cent improvement.”

The inserts are CVD (chemical vapor deposition) coated, and they undergo a proprietary post-coat treatment.

Was Mecon able to deliver on time? “Without the use of these new Beyond tools, we would have lost money on this job,” says Mecon president David Foscarini.

“We invited other tooling suppliers back in to see how these tools cut. The only word for it was they were surprised.”

“Dan brought in two inserts for us to try and we only needed to test one,” adds Bruno Cecchini. “It kept us going.”

And Mecon Industries has kept going. While it has felt the impact of the past recession, Cecchini is hopeful that the worst is behind the company.

“Things are looking up and in the last few months we’ve had more orders. The employees are back working five days a week right now and we hope to continue this.” CM www.kennametal.com www.mecon.com

The WIDIA Victory TN7100 series of turning grades is a new range of coatedcarbide inserts engineered for finishing, medium-duty, and rough machining of all types of alloyed and unalloyed steels.

TN7105, TN7110, and TN7115 grades are new grades for light and medium turning applications in steel with a projected 30 per cent performance increase over competitive products.

Improved edge toughness provides smooth outer surfaces that increase tool life through reduced friction and workpiece sticking. A new alpha aluminum layer supplies

improved coating integrity at higher speeds, making higher productivity possible at high cutting temperatures.

The new Victory TN5105 carbide grade is engineered for medium machining and finishing cast and ductile irons.

TN5105 exhibits excellent edge toughness and wear resistance, reducing work material sticking to the cutting edge. Victory TN5120 grade is engineered for medium to rough machining of all castiron work materials, including wet and dry machining and interrupted cuts. www.widia.com

Cool Breeze Utility series Solid Micro-Grain Carbide End Mills Coated Variable Helix End Mills for Materials up to 55HRC • Coating for improved lubrication and high hardness • Special cutting edge design provides high rigidity • Flute design promotes efficient chip evacuation • Cool Breeze tight tolerances Diameter

L.O.C.

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¼” 5/16” 3/8” ½” 5/8” ¾” 1”

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$9.96 $13.66 $17.28 $29.69 $50.77 $78.07 $141.96

C.N.C. VARIABLE HELIX: 4 Flutes 10% Co, 0.6µm grain size

www.pctcarbide.com Phone: 888-398-9446 2010 PCT Carbide

Canadian metalworking 39

February 2010 PCTV4.indd 1

12/14/09 9:55:04 AM

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FABRICATING/LASER CUTTING >> By Richard Smyslo

Energy Efficiency Makes Cents Reducing energy in laser cutting operations can help cut operating costs Electrical costs represent only 1-3 per cent of total parts costs in CNC laser processing, a range that does not differ greatly from those found in CNC punching.

Still, ways to reduce energy is clearly on the minds of end customers and machine tool and laser engineers alike. Manufacturers recognize the need to find cost reductions and make continuous efforts to improve their machine’s efficiency.

For years machine tool builders have used technologies to, for example, recover acceleration energy from drives, or utilize automated machine shutdown systems, to conserve electricity.

More recently, these manufacturers have developed methods to improve electrical efficiency in the laser resonator itself and in the way we apply TRUMPF’s TruFlow resonator. Laser machines equipped with it resonator designs can cut energy consumption by 40 percent. to cutting methods.

Some of these new developments include optimizing a resonator standby mode, enhancing chiller performance, and utilizing several different techniques to improve cutting speed. All of which reduce the energy needed to cut a single part.

This condition is new to many people in North America. In the past, a new technology’s energy properties were seldom questioned and few needed to provide explanation of the consumption, never mind try to reduce it. However, now, it is common for top mechanical, electrical and, in our world, laser engineers, not only to question key energy specifications but to go many steps further. All current models of laser machines are up for consideration. Engineers are asking what kind of kinetic energy do current lasers posses that can be captured, reduced or modified in our favour, and result in an overall reduction of power required?

The answers that are coming from these questions are now being noticed on some laser cutting machines on the market.

One of the best examples is the RF, fast axial flow, CO2 gas resonator. Most resonators utilize a turbine and impeller system to move the carbon dioxide, nitrogen and helium gases throughout the resonator at a very high rate of speed.

The resonator turbine typically has to spin at nearly 52,000 rpm in operating mode and has to be ready to produce a beam of energy on demand. However, by the nature of the laser cutting machine and efforts to reduce lot sizes, the actual laser beam on time is typically less than 50 per cent of the overall machine on time.

This information, known as the “beam-on” vs. “machine-on” time, has been wellknown for years by nearly anyone that owns a laser machine. For many apparent reasons, a laser beam is not on when you are changing jobs, loading pallets, measuring the orientation of a sheet or simply checking a first part, so a 50 per cent beam-on time is actually very good and only achievable if processing thick, 40 Canadian metalworking

PRODUCT REPORT Bystronic

The new BySprint Pro 3015’s efficient Bylaser 4.4 kilowatt laser source and high machine dynamics makes it the most cost effective and productive high speed laser cutting system in its class, says Bystronic. The laser cutting machine is equipped with the company’s ByLaser 4400 laser source, wear-free solid state power supplies and a magnetic-bearing turbine. The electrical power

consumption is noticeably lower, not only due to the high efficiency of the laser source but also because the excitation is automatically switched off when the protective door is opened as well as when the machine is at standby. The BySprint Pro is equipped for compressed air cutting and in combination with the newly optimized 3.75 in. cutting head, cut times on thin sheet metal can be reduced by between 15 to 40 per cent as compared with its 5 in. counterpart. Although the BySprint Pro has been optimized for thin sheet metal processing, thick plates can also be processed due to the high laser power of the Bylaser 4400. www.bystronicusa.com

Cincinnati

The Cincinnati CL-850 laser cutting centre makes fast work of thick and thin material with a 5,000W GE Fanuc laser resonator, advanced cutting head, innovative optics and third-generation linear motor drive system. Designed for high throughput, all-around material versatility, and cutting precision, the CL-850 delivers 1,000 ipm cutting on 20 ga. steel, and up to 1.125 in. processing range on mild steel. The machine is available in 5 x 10 ft (1.5 February 2010

Sheet metalworking solutions

perfect solutions Flexible and productive manufacturing environments demand an integrated process solution. At LVD Strippit we have THE solution.

We look at the whole process from laser cutting to punching to bending, ensuring that all our machines work together to form an integrated process solution.

What ever your requirements are, we have the perfect solution for you.

To help your shop on the way to perfection call us at 800-828-1527. Perfect.

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FABRICATING/LASER CUTTING

slower cutting materials. A beam on time of 25 per cent is typical for machines that run thinner materials where the cutting is quick and a majority of time is spent positioning.

In any case, the beam must be ready in an instant to begin cutting. Any technique used to recover some of this turbine

TRUMPF’s TruCoax resonator.

energy has to be able to engage very quickly if it is going to reduce overall energy costs without interrupting processing.

An example is TRUMPF’s “Stand-By Mode,” introduced in October 2009, and will soon be standard on all of the company’s new generation TruLaser machines with TruFlow resonators. Now, whenever a machine stops cutting for more than a few seconds certain resonators automatically enter into this mode by reducing the drive power to the turbine by about half and, in turn, the shaft and impeller decrease in rpm. However, within half a second the turbine can again achieve full speed.

This new mode realizes a 40 per cent reduction in power consumption when the resonator is in this mode just by reducing the turbine speed when it is not needed. The full machine electrical consumption rate savings can be around 25 per cent depending on the beam-on time and how often the stand-by mode is entered. That’s substantial.

Important to note is that this feat is achievable due to the use of a magnetic bearing inside the turbine that is completely frictionless. Developed specifically to eliminate the oil or grease used in a conventional bearing for the purpose of reducing resonator maintenance, the magnetic bearing also makes possible the very rapid accelerations and decelerations required to reduce turbine rpm in stand-by mode without increased bearing wear.

Electrical efficiency has also been improved at the heat transfer device known as the chiller. The chiller is needed to remove heat from a laser machine’s resonator, turbine, mirrors and even drives. Without a chiller a laser would overheat in minutes. It is analagous to a car’s radiator.

Recent hardware and software improvements allow cooling power to be adjusted in real time to match cooling requirements. Since laser power varies within jobs as well as from application to application, the chiller unit will only run at more defined times and will have much less residual cooling power in waiting. This capability results in lower electrical load at the chiller under most circumstances. It is 42 Canadian metalworking

PRODUCT REPORT m x 2 m) and 6 x 12 ft. (2 m x 4 m) cutting table models, each featuring dual quick-change pallets. Pallets move simultaneously, so changes take just seconds and cutting is virtually continuous. Full guarding and frame-mounted resonator save shop space over other lasers.

The CL-850’s third-generation linear motor drive system makes fast work of large parts or batch processing of smaller parts, while delivering industry-best dynamic positioning accuracy of ±0.001 in. at high cutting speeds.

A next-generation cutting head system gives superior edge quality and comes standard with latest Autofocus head providing 5 in., 7.5 in. and 10 in. focal length lenses. The lenses allow the focus points to be instantly adjusted–especially between piercing and cutting–for optimal processing of various materials. An improved breakaway feature keeps debris from entering the beam path and allows beam alignment checking without head removal. A new height sensor, insensitive to plasma, enables much higher feedrates on thin metal using N2 or air assist gas. www.e-ci.com

LVD Strippit

Sirius is an automation-ready flying optics laser cutting system designed to provide efficient processing of parts at optimal speeds and accelerations to suit the part geometry, offering reliable cutting performance at an affordable priceperformance ratio, claims the company.

The machine provides quick and precise positioning and consistently accurate laser processing. The combination of a dynamic machine with an excellent laser beam quality allows high speed laser cutting. Quick positioning is achieved with axis speeds up to 120 m/min.

The laser cutting system features 3 m by 1.5 m integrated shuttle tables, which maximize uptime by allowing one table to be loaded while the machine is cutting on the other table. Table change time is a mere 25 seconds. A laser cutting head accommodates a 5 in. or 7.5 in. quick-change lens for fast changeover and minimal setup. These water-cooled quick-change lenses can be exchanged very easily, using a self-centering system. Lens calibration is programmable and quick to achieve.

The Sirius Plus model offers NC Focus for programmable adjustment of the focal position without operator intervention. This model also provides Process Control for piercing and cutting and an automatic shut down feature.

Sirius is equipped with a high-pressure cutting head that produces exceptionally clean cuts. A crash-protection system protects the head from damage after collision with the workpiece. A total power control feature automatically adjusts the laser power in relation to the cutting speed, ensuring an optimal cut at every contour width and minimizing the heat-affected zone. The machine’s edge function feature processes sharp corners cleanly, particularly in thicker materials.

The machine is equipped with the GE Fanuc RF excited fast axial flow CO2 laser and is available with a powerful 2.5 kW or 4 kW CO2 laser. The integrated GE Fanuc PC-based control provides perfect reproduction of February 2010

programmed contours, producing acute angles at high speed. The laser power is matched to the vectorial speeds to achieve a constant cut width and a small heataffected zone. Optional CADMAN-L 3D offline programming software provides a comprehensive laser-cutting CAM package. www.lvdgroup.com

Mazak Optonics

Mazak Optonics Corporation has developed the new SuperTurbo-X Mark III 2D laser cutting system to meet the unique demands of today’s production environments. The new STX Mark III is a flexible, rugged workhorse designed to offer significant technical advantages and standard features for a variety of material types and thicknesses, says the company. It has been built utilizing Mazak’s proven hybrid platform. The Mark III features a proprietary vibration dampening frame and integrated laser resonator that ensures stable, high accuracy cutting. The constant-beam length construction provides uniform cutting performance at any location on the machine table, eliminating the problem of beam divergence, which has been a significant challenge for many other laser cutting system designs.

The STX Mark III utilizes many leading edge features developed for Mazak’s Hyper Series machines. They include intelligent setup functions for automated nozzle spatter removal, a three station nozzle changer and focal point measurement and adjustment capability. These features are components of Mazak’s Opti-Pod which helps to minimize system setup time and improve extended unattended operation while maintaining optimized machining conditions. The Mark III also incorporates a new Servo Focus Torch. This servo driven system significantly reduces piercing time and increases productivity. The STX Mark III offers 4 x 8 ft, 5 x10 ft and 6 x12 ft (1.2 x 2.4 m, 1.5 x 3 m, and 1.8 x 3.6 m) table configurations with 2,500 (.87 in. CRS) or 4,000 (1 in. CRS) watts. It is available with a large range of automated material handling systems including Load/Unload Cells and Flexible Manufacturing Systems. www.mazakoptonics.com

Mitsubishi

The new LVPLUSII combines several new performanceenhancing features with the productivity features that made the original machine such a success.

The machine’s new 40CF-R resonator technology, built from the success of Mitsubishi’s CFX-series resonator, reduces rise time/fall time of square wave pulse. This provides a more consistent beam power during the cutting process and delivering a more brilliant and consistent edge quality.

Additionally, the uniform low current discharge provides low power stability for improved micro machining and etching.

The company’s Brilliantcut technology can produce a cutting surface roughness equivalent to the typical machined finish. It provides optimal processing conditions, reduced taper, and reduced discoloring on the heat-affected zone.

The new Jet Pierce technology decreases part time by allowing material to be pierced faster and more aggressively during small hole processing. Improved height sensor hardware gives the LVPLUSII twice the tracing ability of the original machine. Mitsubishi’s Diamond-Path Technology maintains consistent beam quality by using a constant beam length system. It provides cutting stability at speeds up to 1150 ipm across all processing areas. www.mitsubishi-laser.com February 2010

another two to five per cent reduction to become more proficient in general.

Beyond direct energy savings, consider some of latest cutting techniques of materials for circuitous savings. In addition to cutting a particular material at a given speed with less electricity, higher energy efficiency can also be realized if the same material can be cut at higher speeds with the same electrical power.

We would then have a choice of using less energy or increasing productivity.

Certain laser manufacturers, two or three of the top makers, have been pioneering the expanded use of compressed shop air as an assist gas.

Using shop air as an alternative to oxygen or nitrogen offers significant cost savings not only because shop air is less expensive than bottled or bulk oxygen tanks and much less expensive than nitrogen, but because air cutting achieves higher cutting speeds. The process results in slightly rougher edge conditions but such conditions are acceptable to most and applicable where speed advantages are most compelling.

Consider, for example, a comparison of air cutting 20 gauge carbon steel with 4kW to traditional oxygen cutting with the same laser power. Air cutting typically achieves speeds of 750 ipm, which is more than twice the typical speed of 320 ipm achieved with oxygen cutting. At $0.09 per kWh for electricity, the air compressor adds 12 cents an hour to electricity consumption in exchange for twice the output of the laser machine. The electrical efficiency is nearly doubled on a per foot cut basis.

While it is true that this advantage diminishes as material thickness increases—in 16 gauge carbon steel, for example, the output of the machine is increased by 65 per cent in comparison to the 100 per cent in 20 gauge—most fabricators process significant amounts of gauge material and these savings continue up to 12 gauge steel.

Another big example of getting more for less is the coaxial resonator.

Like fast axial flow resonators, coaxial resonators are gas lasers using nearly the same gases and RF excitation methods as the fast axial flow resonators. However, it differs in design in that it is diffusion cooled and has Canadian metalworking 43

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FABRICATING/LASER CUTTING PRODUCT REPORT

no moving parts. The gases are not circulated by a turbine and its two water-cooled tubes in coaxial arrangement act as RF electrodes, cooling devices, resonator frame, and vacuum chamber at one time. The vacuum chamber and its self-compensating rear mirror generate a CO2 beam with a compelling characteristic: a low Beam Parameter Product or high beam Brightness. This simply means that the coaxial resonator outputs a higher beam quality than that of the fast axial flow resonators. To understand this, consider the following; a 2,000 watt coaxial resonator is found to achieve cutting speeds associated with a 3,000 watt fast axial flow resonator when processing gauge materials. Higher cutting speeds per watt translate into higher wall plug efficiency on a cost per part basis.

Speed and material thickness influence laser efficency.

Larger, more powerful versions are being developed and introduced each year. The substantial increase in power available with this resonator design has widened the applications available and increased the advantages of processing certain materials with coaxial run machines.

On that larger scale, 3.2kW coaxial resonators are able to cut 3/8 in. carbon steel with speeds associated with 4kW machines using fast flow resonators. Now, 3/8 in. carbon steel falls into the material range where electrical efficiency on a cost per part basis can be significantly increased by utilizing a higher brightness beam to cut with.

While scaling the laser power of the coaxial laser to 3.2kW, tube length has to be increased. This change keeps the laser gas of the 2,000 watt laser much cooler and therefore, the laser consumes much less electricity than the original 2,000 watt version. What do manufactures do about this resonator? Do they increase the cutting wattage (about 2,500 watts) or reduce the original size of the power supply to bring the cutting power back down to 2,000 watts? Either way, the resonator is more energy efficient and fabricators benefit.

Overall, it is obvious that manufacturers are becoming more ecologically aware. As with any free market, competition will drive each company to be the best it can for its customers. CM

Prima Finn Power North America

The ZAPHIRO is a new high-range 2D laser that features linear motors and a rigid structure allowing for a combined speed of 240 m/min, drastically reducing production time and cost.

A unique feature is the new Perfect Cut system, providing a zero-defect, zero-waste production, essential in case of intensive, unmanned production.

Perfect Cut is an intelligent system allowing real time detection of the cutting quality and automatic correction of parameters in case the quality differs for the desired standards. The machine stores a sample cutting piece for each material and thickness on the machine’s CNC. This is used by the system and can be set according to the application and to the desired result. The net result is zero defects and zero rejects.

The new F axis, with higher dynamics and longer stroke, allows substantial cycle time reduction and superior cutting quality; the new “cartridge design” lens change system is quick and easy-to-use. Thanks to Beam Size Control (BSC), the laser beam diameter is adjusted to the material and thickness to be cut. Flexibility, productivity, and quality are further improved. www.primafinnpower.com

Prima Finn-Power North America Punch/Laser

The new LPe6 punch/laser combination provides versatile manufacturing capacity based on the availability of both servo electric punching and laser cutting capability in an integrated, flexible manufacturing cell. It features a turret punch press with punching force of 200 or 300 kN (23 or 33 US ton); a 2.5 kW laser beam for maximum sheet size either 3,074 mm x 1,565 mm (120 in. x 60 in.) or 4,300 mm x 1,565 mm (169 in. x 60 in.); and maximum material thickness in punching is 8 mm (.314 in.) and in laser cutting: 6 mm (.236 in.) (mild steel 8 mm (.236 in.)).

The Ecopunch operating principle is a combination of electrical servo technology and mechanical power transmission. The punching and forming stroke are based on horizontal movement, made by a servo motor, which is converted into vertical ram movement and transmitted to a punching or forming tool.

In the punching mode, a servo operated wedge moves over the roll connected to the ram causing it and, consequently, the tool, to move downwards. After the ram has reached its programmed lower position, it returns back to its programmed upper position, actuated by pneumatic

Richard Smyslo is a sales manager with TRUMPF Canada Inc., Mississauga, ON . www.us.trumpf.com 44 Canadian metalworking

February 2010

pressure. In the forming mode, ram movement is programmed to stop when the desired forming stroke position has been reached, after which the return movement of the roll and the ram begins. www.primafinnpower.com

Salvagnini

Salvagnini’s L1Xe is a new kind of laser cutter for metal fabrication that reduces cost per part by 50 per cent. With only one mirror, no gas consumables, no turbine, no glass tubes and no moving parts, the machine is simple and efficient. Salvganini calls the new laser “a model of simplicity and efficiency.” It’s all made possible by the latest in fiber optic technology from IPG Photonics.

The nature of a fiber optic resonator is such that the excessive energy dispersion typical of all Co2 lasers is sharply curtailed, requiring 70 per cent less energy to achieve the same level of performance as a Co2 laser. The L1Xe’s cooling circuit is only about one-third the size of those required by Co2 lasers, further reducing energy consumption.

The end result is operating cost savings that are realized on the first utility bill.

TRUMPF

TRUMPF’s new TruLaser 1030 offers manufacturers the ability to pursue new business opportunities.

“There is no other laser cutting machine like it on the market,” says Stephan Bundschu, the lead engineer of the team that designed the machine. “The TruLaser 1030 features all the benefits of TRUMPF technology at an incredible price.

Manufacturers can now easily add laser cutting to their inhouse services.”

February 2010

The TruLaser 1030 features three axis flying optics for high speed and accuracy: an X axis working range of 120 in. and Y axis of 60 in. with a maximum simultaneous XY speed of 3,340 ipm. The TruLaser 1030 will cut a maximum thickness of 5/8 in. mild steel.

The easy to use HMI features a touch panel located right on the machine and an integrated programming tool.

Even operators with no laser cutting experience are able to program the machine to achieve outstanding results almost instantly, which creates the ideal situation for any shop floor. www.us.trumpf.com

PAINT SOLUTIONS FOR EVERY INDUSTRY

The new laser cutter was built for speed. Fiber optic laser technology harnesses light with a wavelength one-tenth that of a Co2 laser, yielding a high beam density and improved focus on thicknesses below 3mm, resulting in speeds that are 60-100% faster than legacy lasers. The L1Xe is equipped with a lens crack sensor on the focusing head to lower cycle times and reduce instances of unplanned downtime.

It can operate as a stand alone laser cutter, or as an integrated production cell with ASRS, sheet loaders and Salvagnini’s MCL Cartesian sorter. The company’s new generation laser Tradjust software is incorporated into the proprietary Salvagnini SiX controller to consider the requirements of any application in generating the most efficient axis trajectories.

The L1Xe is tailor-made for shops where space is at a premium. With the decreased number component parts required by fiber optic technology, Salvagnini was able to design the L1Xe to a smaller footprint, aided by a more compact resonator and chiller. www.salvagnini.com

It combines a rugged drive system and machine construction with a TRUMPF TruCoax 2 KW diffusion cooled RF laser resonator, to provide a cost effective and productive laser cutting system in a small footprint. The TruLaser 1030 requires half of the floor space of a typical 5 x 10 ft (1.5 x 3 m) machine.

CANADIAN MADE PRODUCTS FOR CANADA’S HARSHEST CONDITIONS

WWW.GLASS-SHIELD.COM Canadian metalworking 45

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FABRICATING/LASER OPTICS/PRODUCT REPORT

Clear Vision A product report on innovations in laser optics II-VI Infrared Even the best of lenses can go bad.

Thermal stress, mechanical stress, and contamination can all cause a lens to fail.

When that happens, your business can suffer from costly downtime or, in the event of catastrophic lens failure, even costlier laser system repairs. Conversely, you don’t want to discard a perfectly useable lens that may only need to be cleaned to return it to peak performance. The question, then, is how can you determine when a lens is truly in need of replacement? The portable Lens Stress Analyzers from II-VI are designed to enable you to see lens stress before catastrophic lens failure occurs. Or see that an underperforming lens need only be cleaned, rather than discarded. Using a cool-running fluorescent light base and cross-polarizers, Lens Stress Analyzers show thermal stress, mechanical stress, and contamination that the eye cannot see alone. The Lens Stress Analyzer can be operated using the included AC adapter, or for genuine portability, six AAA batteries. At less than the cost of an MP-5 lens, the company’s Lens Stress Analyzers are designed to help you keep your laser system running smoothly by showing you when a lens needs only to be cleaned, and when it needs to be replaced. www.iiviinfrared.com

Laser Mechanisms Inc. Laser Mechanisms Inc.’s newly designed FiberCut processing head is engineered for three dimensional robotic cutting of metals, 0.5 mm to 6 mm thick, using fiber-coupled lasers in harsh production environments.

FiberCut is designed as a compact, low moving mass head that minimizes inertia transfer to the robot support arm.

All connections leading to the head enter at a right angle, including the fiber, providing tight access to parts, easy cable routing and stress reduction on the input fiber. At the head itself, all wiring and assist gas lines are internally located to eliminate the chance of downtime due to snags and breaks.

To help extend the life of the internal optics, FiberCut features a protective cover glass that is easily accessible via a cartridge style drawer.

Everything you need for a World Class Pipe Shop.

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The FiberCut system consists of the cutting head, fiber collimator, linear drive with position measuring, and an internal, low-noise height sense system that is insensitive to cutting plasma or piercing debris. The head works with all leading fiber-delivered laser systems up to 4 kW with wavelengths of 1,064/1,080 nm.

“With FiberCut we started with a clean sheet of paper and integrated everything we know about laser processing into its design,” says Mark Taggart, managing director at Laser Mechanisms North America.

“The end result is the best cutting head we’ve ever built, and we’ll stack it up against any of our competitors heads for both its superior performance and outstanding value,” addsTaggart.

Laser Mechanisms Inc. manufactures laser beam delivery components and articulated arm systems for high power CO2, YAG, fiber lasers and other wavelengths. www.lasermech.com

46 Canadian metalworking JES_TPJ+FAB_1-3H ads.indd 1

February 2010 11/14/07 10:08:28 AM

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WELDING/CONSUMABLES/PRODUCT REPORT

Welding Essentials New product introductions from consumables suppliers ESAB ESAB’s offerings in consumables includes the Eco-Coil, the AristoRod non-copper coated solid welding wire and welding wire drums.

According to ESAB, Eco-Coil is ideal for high-production fabrication including wind towers and pipe mills holding 2,200 lbs (1,000 kg) of wire in an ecologically friendly package.

The package is shipped around a cardboard core, shrink wrapped and strapped to the pallet for shipping.

Once received, the Eco-Coil is then removed from the pallet and placed on a “one-way-spider” or “stem” for use. The “one-way-spider” is intended for re-use with future Eco-Coils by the fabricator.

AristoRod 12.50 is a premium quality, non-copper coated solid welding wire for GMAW welding of unalloyed steels and fine-grained, carbon-manganese steels. The wires are a new generation of MIG wires manufactured using Advanced Surface Characteristics Technology (ASC). ASC wire technology provides excellent starting characteristics, consistent trouble-free feeding, superior arc stability at high currents, and very low levels of spatter, says the company.

ASC technology also provides reduced contact tip wear and creates a barrier on the wire surface that is highly resistant to corrosion.

ESAB’s new 1,000 lb (454 kg) drums for welding wire replace the standard 800 lb. (363 kg) drums for welding wire diameters 3/16 in. and smaller. The 1,000 lb drums reduce changeovers by up to 20 per cent allowing the fabricator to spend more time welding. www.esab.com

Hobart Brothers Hobart Brothers has developed a new metal-cored welding wire designed to maximize performance and increase productivity on high volume robotic welding applications, especially those for heavy equipment manufacturing.

According to Hobart Brothers, the new Matrix wire from the company’s Tri-Mark brand is a first of its kind in the industry—a proprietarily manufactured product formulated specifically to provide uncompromised arc starting and wire feeding consistency. The exacting nature of this proprietary manufacturing process ensures that Matrix performs consistenty, regardless of the application.

Matrix’s reliable arc starting and excellent wire feedability are the result of a Hobart Brothers’ exclusive technology.

This special technology has also been shown to extend the February 2010

life of robotic gun liners and to eliminate buildup at the drive rolls. Combined, each of these features reduces downtime for maintenance and post-weld activities, and ensures greater overall welding productivity. Testing also shows Matrix creates a consistent weld bead shape, offers excellent crack resistance and minimizes silicon island formation. Combined, these attributes make it suitable for heavy equipment and similar manufacturing.

Hobart Brothers created Matrix in response to a growing industry demand for a welding wire that could provide better performance and minimize downtime on robotic welding applications. Field tests have shown the wire offers precise arc starts and smooth wire feeding, along with excellent seam tracking and touch sensing.

Matrix metal-cored wire is available on 33 lb plastic spools that are precision layer wound to support consistent wire feeding, and each spool ships in a heat-sealed, VCI (Vapor Corrosion Inhibitor) impregnated bag to protect against contaminants. Hobart Brothers also offers the Matrix wire in its exclusive 750 lb X-Pak drum. www.Hobartbrothers.com

Hypertherm Plasma arc metal cutting technology supplier Hypertherm has launched two types of consumable kits that will help Powermax owners realize the full versatility of their systems.

The All-in-one kit is specifically for handheld cutting. Although contents of the kit vary depending on which Powermax system you own, end users can find up to four different consumable types: • shielded consumables with drag-cutting technology for following a line or template • unshielded consumables with an unshielded nozzle for hard-to-reach areas and bevel cutting • gouging consumables for tough metal removal jobs • FineCut consumables for more precise cuts on thin metal.

The All-in-one kits provide a significant savings over purchasing the kits separately. A free reference guide that provides tips on different cutting techniques and shows how to properly assemble a torch provides even more value.

The FineCut kit is designed for both handheld and mechanized cutting. It includes a guide with cut charts Canadian metalworking 49

>>>

WELDING/CONSUMABLES/PRODUCT REPORT

and a visual that shows proper torch assembly. Reordering individual kit components for both the All-in-one and FineCut is easy thanks to part numbers and part descriptions found directly above the corresponding consumable in the kit.

“Powermax systems are the ideal tool for a variety of applications. These All-in-one and FineCut kits demonstrate the added versatility of the systems for cutting in tight places, bevel cutting, gouging, and precision cutting on thin plate,” said Clayton Gould, product marketing manager for Hypertherm’s torch and consumable team. www.hypertherm.com/consumablekits

Lincoln Electric Lincoln Electric has introduced the new Excalibur 10018-D2 MR low hydrogen stick electrode for all-position welding of a variety of carbon-manganese, chromiummolybdenum and low alloy steels typically found in offshore welding applications.

Excalibur 10018-D2 MR meets NACE requirements for corrosion resistance necessary for offshore and subsea welding of pipe carrying H2S or “sour gas.” It is also an excellent choice for welding chromium-molybdenum steels including AISI 4130, 4140 and 8630, as well as ASTM A182 and A336 Grades F22. The new electrode features premium arc performance with square coating burn-off and improved puddle control and visibility; is easy to strike and re-strike; and are lot controlled and Q2 tested. www.lincolnelectric.com

Tregaskiss Adding to its TOUGH LOCK Contact Tip System, Tregaskiss has upgraded the design of its TOUGH LOCK Retaining Heads. The retaining heads now feature Tregaskiss’ Dual Taper Technology—a second rear taper between the gooseneck and the contact tip. This design further improves electrical conductivity and heat dissipation to provide consistent welding performance and extend the life of consumables, claims the company.

The new retaining head design complements the company’s contact Tips. These tips are machined with tight tolerances and feature a dual-lead thread design that allows the tips to be rotated 180° to create a new wear position and extend tip life. The tips operate at cooler temperatures than many competitive tips, reducing wear and minimizing downtime for changeover.

Useable for both semi-automatic and robotic MIG guns, the TOUGH LOCK System also acts as a common consumable platform to help minimize inventory and reduce consumables cost. Customers can identify the new TOUGH LOCK Retaining Heads by the black O-rings (the preceding single taper design had red or green), the two score marks above the clip and the part number roll-marked along the bottom edge. All retaining heads with the new Dual Taper Technology will have new part numbers, which can be found, for ordering purposes, at: www.tregaskiss.com/dualtaper 50 Canadian metalworking

February 2010

FEBRUARY 2010

Tilling Paint Developments in Agricultural Coatings

FORMERLY

Manual Spray Guns & Material Handling at Winnipeg manufacturer, Midland Manufacturing PAGE 54

tag lineREPORT/AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENT ■ By Nate Hendley SPECIAL

Tilling Paint Farm Equipment Coatings: Not Just Tractor Paint Anymore For all the hype about high tech, Canada remains very much an agricultural nation.

Farming generated $87.9 billion worth of Gross Domestic Product in 2006 while the agricultural sector employed 2.1 million people. According to Statistics Canada, there were 182,240 farms in Canada in 2008, down from 226,645 in 1999. Threequarters of these farms were found in Ontario, Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Average farm operating revenues amounted to $293,378 in 2008, up from $161,911 in 1999. Much of this revenue goes towards equipment—tractors, combines, ploughs, harvesters, manure spreaders, power tillers, conveyor belts, cotton pickers, hullers, backhoes, etc.

Thanks to the recession, sales of tractors—the mainstay of most farms—are down. Figures from the Milwaukee, WI-based Association of Equipment Manufacturers show that 19,657 tractors were sold in Canada between January and October 2009. This represents a 20.7 per cent decrease from the same period in 2008. On the other hand, sales of selfpropelled combines are up, with 2,268 purchases as of October 2009, an increase from 1,958 in the same period in 2008.

Coating companies generally don’t

extreme in that it includes environments from hot to cold, dry to moist with various degrees of salinity and sunlight intensity.

It is important to provide coatings that will perform under all operating conditions.

Corrosion resistance and weathering resistance are special challenges that need to be met by suppliers to the agricultural equipment market. Some of the corporate colors in the industry are bright colours that require the careful selection of resins and pigments to allow a coating to perform in harsh weather conditions,” notes Ron McMahon, market development director for heavy equipment at Sherwin-Williams, based in Cleveland, OH. “[Our coatings for] agricultural products are sold worldwide. Therefore the coatings have to be able to withstand high heat environments in tropical climates as well as bitter cold environments such as Canadian, northern European and Russian winters,” adds Michael Reinerth, a Toronto-based regional sales manager at Protech Chemicals Ltd. which has its headquarters in Montreal.

Protech’s “Z-series” of powder coatings is “the perfect product line for farm equipment,” continues Reinerth. The

“ There’s a “solid trend” towards powder in farm equipment coatings, says Greg Taylor, manager for ITW in Canada.” make finishes just for farm equipment.

Instead, coating firms typically lump farm gear into a broader category, such as the “ACE” (agriculture and construction equipment) sector.

According to information from DuPont, 60–70 per cent of ACE coatings in North America are liquid-based, while 15–20 per cent are made with powder.

Electrocoating accounts for another 15–20 per cent.

Regardless of how they are processed or applied, farm equipment coatings have to withstand incredible rigours.

“The North American climate is 52 ■ February 2010

product line can also be used to coat construction equipment, mailboxes, traffic signs and outdoor lamp posts. Among other advantages, Z-series coatings can be manufactured “in low bake formulations, which work well with the types of heavy substrates common to some farm equipment pieces,” says Reinerth.

Z-series coatings are also highly durable, meeting “five year Florida exposure requirements,” Florida exposure being “a coating industry standard test method used to evaluate UV resistance capability,” he explains.

Other coatings suitable for farm

machinery include Spectracron (liquid solvent base), Aquacron (liquid waterbase) and Envirocron (powder) from PPG, of Pittsburgh, PA. Powder and e-coatings are gaining in popularity in the farm sector.

Indeed, there is a “solid trend” towards powder in farm equipment coatings, notes Greg Taylor, the Stouffville, ON-based manager for ITW Gema in Canada. The trend stems from the fact that powder is “more corrosion proof and user friendly” than liquid, he adds.

ITW Gema has set up powder coating systems for several farm equipment manufacturers, including MacDon Industries and Westfield Industries in Manitoba, Brandt Industries in Regina, SK, and Case New Holland (CNH) in Saskatoon, SK. McMahon echoes Taylor’s observations.

“We are seeing more powder coating being used on farm equipment as manufacturers discover the advantages these coatings offer. A greater variety of substrates and substrate masses are being powder coated due to the efficiency and quality these coatings provide. Most Overspray

SPECIAL REPORT/AGRICULTURAL EQUIPMENt

powder coatings are single coat systems whereas liquid coatings typically require a primer and a topcoat,” he says.

Still, no one is dismissing liquid out of hand.

“The more extensive use of composites [in the manufacture of] agricultural equipment favours the use of liquid coatings due to the heat sensitivity of substrates that cannot tolerate powder curing temperatures,” states McMahon.

DuPont for example, recently introduced a new line of liquid paint called Tufcote for the industrial coatings market.

Farm machinery manufacturers themselves are loath to wade into the powder vs. liquid debate.

“We use powder paint over electrocoat for some applications and liquid paints in others. Both liquid and powder are capable of meeting John Deere paint specifications,” says Kathy Harmon, manager, global paint and coatings, John Deere & Company of Lenexa, KS. “The determination is made based on part complexity and size, cost and geographic location of approved suppliers or John Overspray

Deere paint systems,” If powder is coming on strong, ecoating is also making inroads.

DuPont has a line of electrodeposition coatings called CorMax, while PPG (which pioneered the ecoating process in the 1960s) offers an ecoat coatings line called Powercron.

That said, electrocoating has some inherent drawbacks. For a start, the size and scale of farm equipment can pose problems on the coating line.

“I think it would be very difficult to electrocoat say, a backhoe because of the sheer weight,” says Joseph Wood, market segment manager, Americas, for DuPont Industrial Coating Solutions, based in Wilmington, DE. Due to the size of the pieces involved, John Deere tries to paint farm equipment parts “before assembly, where possible and cost effective,” says Harmon. “Some of the components are very large and require a larger paint profile and longer ovens for curing. For complex parts, e-coat primer is used for full coverage.”

One of the best ways farmers can maintain the coatings on their equipment is to put machinery that’s not in use inside a barn. Industry experts concede, however, that isn’t always practical.

“In the process of harvesting, [the farmer] could be 30 miles away from their barn, so they leave their equipment out there in the environment until they get back to finishing the cropping ... there could be hot sun, rain, could be warm weather, cool weather all in the same day,” notes Taylor.

“Most coatings used on farm equipment are designed to last years with continuous exposure to the environment with little change in appearance or performance,” adds McMahon. “Keeping the finish clean through periodic washing with water and wiping off spills of fuel and chemicals is the best way to maintain finish quality. Avoiding harsh abrasive materials and acidic or caustic cleaners is also a way to prolong finish quality.”

When it comes to new equipment, some industry observers suggest precision farming and robotics are the wave of the future. Precision farming involves the use of GPS navigation systems in tractors and harvesters. Robotic farming would see rider-less tractors controlled electronically.

While sales of farm equipment might slacken, it’s a safe bet that the market for such machinery will never bottom out.

“One of the good things about agriculture is that people need to eat.

There’s going to be a lot of demand as the population grows ... demand for our product,” says Charlie O’Brien, vice president agricultural services, of the Association of Equipment Manufacturers.

As for future farm coating trends, experts run down a list.

“More low bake powder coatings will likely be used to help reduce energy costs. The agricultural industry as a whole is looking to cut costs and might also consider a complete revamping of the coating process. For example, there have been inquiries into UV-cure powder potential for farm equipment, which could even allow for the coating of units in a partial state of assembly with portable UV lamps,” says Reinerth.

Environmentally friendly “green” coatings might also become more common. DuPont, for example is “looking at renewables”—making resin from crops as opposed to petrochemicals, says Wood.

Wood points to the move towards polyurethane paints as another ongoing trend.

“If you look back 10–15 years ago, quite a bit of enamel paint was being used [for farm equipment]. Now, there’s quite a bit more polyurethane paint being used.”

Wood cites several reasons for this switch, including growing concern about the environment, better durability and improved appearance. Indeed, the aesthetics of farm equipments coatings is becoming increasingly important.

“More and more end-users expect the coatings on their tractor or combine to have the same appearance as their car, SUV or pick-up truck,” notes Mike Bredfeldt, global market manager for industrial coatings at PPG. In other words, farmers increasingly want equipment coatings that are bright and glossy, as well durable and corrosion resistant.

As Wood sagely notes, farm coatings “have come a long way ... it’s not just tractor paint anymore.” ■ Nate Hendley is a freelance writer and regular contributor to the magazine.

February 2010 ■ 53

SPRAY GUNS/PAINT HANDLING ■ By Jack Kohane

Hauling in Work A new spray booth and material handling equipment help Manitoba manufacturer slash solvent and paint consumption With its motto as the “Ultimate Choice” of the construction industry for making dependable truck bodies and trailers that haul the toughest payloads

The Graco ProMix Easy system, seen here on the left and the right, for two of the three booths in Midland’s finishing shop.

over the roughest roads, Midland Manufacturing Ltd. merits its place among the top echelon of Manitoba’s major manufacturers.

“It’s a reputation and a commitment to our customers we take very seriously,” says Gerald (Butch) Bouchard, Midland’s general manager responsible for all production. That includes allocating hefty investments in crafting a state-of-the-art, 60,000 sq ft manufacturing facility staffed by about 100 employees, using high tech CNC cutting and bending equipment, and 3-D modeling and engineering equipment. “Our leading-edge design means our manufacturing methods afford better quality control as well

The Graco material handling system, ProMix Easy system in Midland’s finishing shop.

as quality materials for strength and durability,” Bouchard adds.

A family business founded in 1977 in Rosenort, MB, about 50 kilometers south of Winnipeg, the company started out making grain truck bodies to service the local agricultural market and swelled in size and reputation for designing and producing superior gravel hauling equipment. The gravel line evolved into a full line of equipment used to transport aggregate materials ranging from sand and gravel, to ore on large mining projects to hot asphalt in road construction.

Midland’s annual volumes (in units) have ballooned. Six years ago, the company produced 412 semi-trailers

APPLICATION TECHNOLOGIES/MANUAL SPRAY GUNS/PRODUCTS DeVilbiss DeVilbiss’s latest innovation is the Compact MINI touch-up gun. The MINI is a gravity spray gun with many practical uses including fine shading, retouching, stenciling, spot repair, and reworking.

A fine finish spray gun with many uses throughout general industry, the Compact MINI incorporates sensitive fan control into the comfort of a full-sized gun. This spray gun has the pattern range and versatility needed for top quality fine finishing, including touch-up applications, says DeVilbiss. Available with HVLP or Trans-Tech air cap technologies, the Compact MINI is suitable for solvent and water based paints as well as stains and varnishes, inks, dyes and lacquers.

The Compact MINI touch-up spray guns feature: • Anodized, forged, aluminum bodies • Stainless steel fluid tips and needles • Nickel-plated brass knobs • Balanced air valve design • Anti-static plastic cup with threaded lid.

The Compact MINI will replace the SRI touch-up gun immediately, but SRI parts will be available for the next five years.

Exel Exel has launched a new Xcite Airmix manual spray gun. According to the company, the new gun offers improved atomization, is lighter weight, requires less trigger pull, has a better fit, feel and comfort, and features a new fluid swivel. The supplier claims that the Airmix and Xcite guns offer finishers high finish quality results and fewer rejects, high transfer efficiency, reducing paint consumption, and higher application efficiency, eliminating extra finishing steps.

Exel says that the new Xcite gun also offers environmental benefits to finishers. The guns performance results in a cleaner booth environment so there is reduced clean-up costs.

Also, less overspray means lower solvent emissions for a cleaner outside environment. It also has what the company claims is the lowest energy consumption of any production spray gun.

www.devilbiss.com

www.exel-na.com

54 ■ February 2010

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SPRAY GUNS/PAINT HANDLING

8,000 sq ft to a modern 12,500 sq ft operation. The project received a swift green light.

“Though we were using good equipment at the time, our old paint facility had been overtaken by the plant in terms of capacity as the company grew its sales,” Bouchard comments.

“It was also inadequate in terms of working conditions and safety.”

Early in 2008, Midland made the Midland has improved transfer efficiency and paint quality with the new system.

and 150 truck mounted bodies. By 2007/2008 over 600 trailers and 400 truck bodies were built, destined for customers across Canada and the Midwest United States.

To keep those numbers growing, Midland’s management recognized that to meet a projected throughput increase of 30 per cent, the company’s outmoded paint department needed to be updated and expanded from

Graco’s Pro Mix-Easy system.

Graco Graco’s new AirPro air spray guns offer a cutting edge aircap and nozzle design to optimize spray performance and increase transfer efficiency in wood finishing applications.

They provide even material distribution through the spray pattern for optimum coverage.

The AirPro guns are lightweight, ergonomic and have an ultra-light trigger pull to reduce operator fatigue.

Ergonomically designed for superior handling, the AirPro guns have a soft, controlled and adjustable spray pattern with less overspray. Offered in three air spray technologies, conventional, compliant and HVLP, to fit the needs of many environments.

Pair the AirPro spray gun with the Triton air-operated diaphragm spray package for high quality, decorative finishes on wood and metal parts. www.graco.com/airpro

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decision to expand the paint finishing operation.

The company quickly tapped a supplier for the job: Winnipeg-based Dormer Finishing Systems. Bouchard notes that he had long teamed with Dormer using an all-Graco system in the old facility supplied by Dormer.

During several meetings involving Dormer Finishing and Midland’s team of senior executives, paint personnel (currently five painters), production management, as well as paint supplier Endura Manufacturing Ltd. in Edmonton (for its two-part epoxy primer and a two-part polyurethane topcoat), all agreed that upping the number of paint booths from two to three pressurized cross-draft spray booths would allow a more efficient rotation of painters. In addition, each new booth would be outfitted with two new Graco G-40 high flo manual spray guns (the 4,000 psi model is for high pressure industrial applications) for primer and two Pro X-4 Air Assisted

Nordson Nordson’s latest powder spray systems combine three atomization technologies in a single, high performance electrostatic gun system. Nordson Trilogy spray systems are designed with coating versatility in mind, says the company.

Featuring two atomization technologies—air spray and high volume, low pressure (HVLP)—Trilogy systems deliver superior application performance with a variety of substrates, coatings and part profiles, according to the company.

Trilogy electrostatic spray systems are available in manual or automatic gun models that incorporate the latest in engineering and design materials. As a result, you’ll achieve many benefits that decrease the cost of ownership and enhance your bottom line. The guns offer what the company claims is the highest kV in the industry, 93, increasing transfer

February 2010 ■ 55

SPRAY GUNS/PAINT HANDLING

APPLICATION TECHNOLOGIES/MANUAL SPRAY GUNS/PRODUCTS efficiency, reducing material costs and improving part finish.

Tough and durable gun bodies minimize maintenance costs and downtime. Well balanced, handle-forward gun design ensures operator comfort for better productivity. www.nordson.com

Ransburg ITW Ransburg now offers the proven electrostatic technology of the Vector Solo 85kV in waterborne or solvent as well as 65kV and Air-Assisted Airless. The new family of cordless spray gun options provides effective, portable solutions for any finishing operation.

“Keeping with the Ransburg tradition, Vector Solo applicators significantly increase finish quality and production,” says Judith Lietzke, ITW Ransburg marketing manager. The Vector Solo guns offer cutting edge electrostatic technology and unmatched transfer efficiency, delivering consistency, accuracy and cost savings with every application. She adds that “because these Vector Solo models are electrostatic, they are also better for the

environment. The new Ransburg electrostatic guns can spray any colour under the sun, provide a durable quality finish and keep you ‘green.’”

Designed to increase user comfort and reduce fatigue, the guns deliver increased productivity. The cordless guns offer portability and improved flexibility to enhance movement. Ergonomic handle contouring provides operators with the proper and comfortable grip making extended spray times easier with less fatigue. Requiring less force for trigger pulls and minimizing handle vibrations, Vector Solos deliver better control and uniform applications.

The 65kV offers the transfer efficiency of the original one in a smaller, compact size. The reduced barrel length and lightweight design allows for easy handling and better control during applications. Coupling superior transfer efficiency with a reduced gun size, Vector 65kV delivers high quality finishes combined with ease of use.

The AA combines air-assisted airless technology with proven atomization in a portable, cordless model. The company says that the gun delivers advanced spray pattern characteristics, unmatched pattern adjustability and extraordinary transfer efficiency. Decreasing overall pattern size, the new gun provides improved accuracy and uniform finishes. www.itwransburg.com

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High-Dynamic-Remote Stores 50 coating programs Controller with HV-characteristic curve settings Rapid color changes Ergonomically designed gun 3 styles available: Airfluid, 60L hopper, 3L hopper Wagner Systems, Inc., 300 Airport Road, Unit 1, Elgin, IL 60123 Phone 630.503.2400 Fax 630.503.2377 www.wagnersystemsinc.com 56 ■ February 2010

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Wagner The Wagner Prima-Sprint manual powder coating unit offers users flexibility, performance and ease of operation, says Wagner. The new control unit provides up to 50 recipes with precise settings for voltage, current, curve characteristic and powder delivery. The curve characteristic allows operators the flexibility to dial in application performance regardless of powder coating material or substrate. The operator will also benefit from the dual trigger that allows toggling back and forth between two different recipes. The user friendly controller allows for easy adjustment of powder delivery. The Wagner Prima-Sprint uses an improved PEM-C4 ERGO manual powder gun. As with all Wagner equipment, the new controller and powder gun are compatible with any previous generation of application equipment. www.wagnersystemsinc.com

Graco’s PRO X-4 air assisted manual spray gun allows painters to vary the spray pattern without changing the tip.

topcoat guns for topcoat.

Graco’s AA Series guns were selected for their transfer efficiency, material usage and to give the sprayer the ability to significantly vary the spray pattern without changing the tip. The enhanced tip design creates uniform atomization for a superior finish quality. Its adjustable fan pattern allows less overspray, and less material waste whenever a colour change is done (up to 50 per cent in Midland’s case).

®

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1

February 2010 ■ 57 24/08/09 3:46 PM

SPRAY GUNS/PAINT HANDLING

The Graco Pro X-4 air assisted manual spray gun that Midland purchased recently for its finishing shop.

The Graco G-40 hi flow spay gun that Midland uses.

58 ■ February 2010

Purchasing new proportioners was another easy decision for Midland.

Because the old Graco proportioners held up so well for such a long time, Midland chose to replace their old workhorse with one of Graco’s new generation of proportioners—the ProMix Easy, a user-friendly electronic proportioner for single color, twocomponent spray finishing applications.

In addition to ease of access to the controls, the short distance the mixed material travels from the ProMix Easy to the spray gun reduces the amount of mixed material Midland wastes during flushing, as well as the amount of solvent required to purge the fast curing paint from the fluid hose at the end of the day. The proportioner features a new fluid manifold that further reduces the amount of solvent required to flush the system by an additional 20 per cent.

“There isn’t much the painter has to worry about,” says Dean Marino, president, Dormer Finishing Systems.

“All he has to do to start up the system is turn a dial, punch a button and he’s ready to spray. When he triggers the gun he knows he’s getting the mix ratio we programmed into the unit.”

The amount of mixed material Midland’s painters had to flush by reducing the amount of fluid hose by 75 ft (23 m), reduced flushing of approximately four litres per gun. Time to flush was decreased as well due to the system doing it automatically versus one person having to do it manually. “Even on the Pro Mix Easy we eliminated the need to reduce the primer with thinner saving money and time and increasing the quality by adding heat again. Here we reduced the product supply hose by 75 feet as well,” adds Marino.

The ProMix Easy automatically maintains its mix ratio within + 1 per cent. If an off-ratio occurs, the system stops production and sounds an alarm, preventing any off-ratio material from being sprayed on the part. Codes on the controller direct the operator to the cause of the problem. “Once we enter the specified ratio into the ProMix Easy, we don’t have to worry about the quality of material we’re spraying—it’s the same every time,” remarks Marino.

Overspray

SPRAY GUNS/PAINT HANDLING

Midland’s New Paint Process Once a work piece (a trailer body or chassis) is produced and comes off the assembly line, it is moved to the blasting booth housed in a separate building.

In the blast booth, the workpiece gets a steel shot blast surface; blasted white to achieve a 1-2 mil profile in the steel, giving the primer something to “grip” onto.

The new cleaned part is moved to the prep area where it is checked for any residual welding spatter and blown clean of any dust or other foreign matter. The part is then transferred to one of the three spray booths where primer is applied manually for a four to six mils wet build and left to flash dry for 20 minutes. The 2K topcoat is then applied using the Graco manual spray guns, approximately three to six mils wet build, typically accomplished in two coats. Finished parts are left to air dry for approximately two hours and the final dry coat thickness is four to six mils.

There are two sets of painters, those that apply the primer and those that apply the topcoat. Once the painters who prime parts are finished their work, they move on to the next booth to prime the next part. After the dry cycle has taken place in the first booth, the topcoat painters go into the booth to finish the job. The same cycle occurs with the second and third booth: the topcoat painters then move on to the second booth where the dry primed part is ready for a topcoat and the “primers,” as Midland refers to them, move onto the third booth to prime the part.

Changing or adjusting the ratio on the old proportioner was another chore, Bouchard recalls.

Now his painters find that changing the ratios on the new ProMix system is simpler. It requires only that the operator enter the new recipe into the controller.

When the correct ratio is displayed on the controller screen, the system is reprogrammed.

Midland’s former facility was capable of painting 24 truck/trailer body units per week (single shift).

It’s estimated that using the same amount of labour, the new booths will be able to move through about 30/week (single shift). Midland’s paint shop has not yet been ramped up to reach its full capacity and throughput.

Touting the paint shop’s improved capabilities, Bouchard points out that his painters have not just gained efficiencies due to less paint loss because of the improved electrostatic system, creating better wrap and coverage, they have also gained a safer and roomier building. “And for us, that is most important of all,” he says with pride. ■ Jack Kohane is a freelance writer based in Toronto.

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Canadian Welding Bureau (CWB) 50 Canadian Manufacturing Week (CMW) 30 Chem-Ecol Ltd. 27 ESAB Group Canada Inc. 48 Ferric Machinery Inc. 20 Glass Shield, Inc. 45,56 Haas Automation, Inc. 11 Haco Canada Inc. 4 Hilco Industrial 12 Horn USA, Inc. 7 Hurco Companies, Inc. 2 ISCAR Tools Inc. 62 Jesse Engineering Co. 46 Mate Precision Tooling 47 Mazak Corporation 22 Mitutoyo Canada Inc. 14 MMTS 19 35 PFERD Inc. Prima Finn-Power North America Inc. 3 Reid Supply Company 28 8 Rofin-Baasel Ltd. Sandvik Coromant Company FLP, 37 SCHUNK Intec Corp.

30 Scientific Cutting Tools 29 Sowa Tool & Machine Co Ltd 33 41 Strippit, Inc. TNT Tools Inc. 39 TRUMPF Inc. 13 Tungaloy Canada, Ltd. 61 WIDIA Kennametal Inc. 16 Overspray magazine DeFelsko Corporation Wagner Systems, Inc. Global Finishing Solutions 8CMM20186 01/07/2008

59 56 08:1957AM

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Japanese Standards inch or metric.

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TEL 937-686-6405 FAX 937-686-4125 www.retentionknobsupply.com Retention Knob Supply Company P.O. Box 61 Bellefontaine, OH 43311

60 Canadian metalworking

Metal...works

In the Spotlight: Heinz Hoffmann roud founder of 32-year-old machine P tool distribution business tells it like it is There’s one thing Heinz Hoffmann believes in business: honesty. The former tool and die maker turned machine tool distributor is adamant that honesty is the best policy in business dealings.

“I have the same pricing for all end users whether they are a big corporation or a small business.”

If everyone is treated fairly everyone is happy. Hoffmann has an extensive showroom with machines all under power and a price list attached for each machine. It disappoints him to occasionally see customers purchase by price only and forget about quality.

Quality, he says, is an important factor to consider when purchasing machine tools. He says that by buying quality it saves time, aggravation and money in the long run.

More importantly though, high quality machine tools will lead to high quality manufactured products, which Hoffmann believes is the key to maintaining a successful operation in North America.

Page 1 “This is the way a business can develop a reputation for quality workmanship,” adds Hoffmann.

When it comes to inventory, Hoffmann doesn’t hesitate to boast about the comprehensive machines, accessories and parts supply he maintains in his sprawling 47,000 sq ft facility in Mississauga, ON, 15,000 of which is dedicated to a showroom.

“No one has what we have and we keep parts and supplies for all the machines we sell, even those dating back 30 years. After service can most often be guaranteed in a timely manner. We have half a million dollars worth of parts in inventory. And customers are always grateful that we have parts in stock to keep their downtime to a minimum.

Hoffmann believes that one of his company’s strengths is its long-term

relationship with its machine tool builders, some that date back 30 years, including Chevalier, Dah Lih, First, Fortworth and Kao Ming.

“If there is one important piece of advice I could give to a buyer it would be to stick to a brand you can trust with after service support in parts. We get many calls from people asking if our parts will fit other brands because their supplier has no stock or the brand no longer exists.”

In his 30-plus years in the machine tool business Hoffmann has seen many changes, such as the big technological leap from manual to CNC machines, but what concerns him is growing imports from China, mainly because of cheap labour costs.

“Many North American companies have set up their manufacturing facilities in China just to stay competitive and some smaller businesses have decided to just close down, leaving more used equipment on the market. This trend has been hurting the North American manufacturing sector.”

In time Hoffmann believes that the Chinese will seek a better quality of life, which will drive labour costs up to a more fair trade level for North American manufacturing.

Hoffmann is obviously proud of the business that he founded and that his family has helped build over the course of the past 30-plus years.

“I started with nothing; my machines weren’t on consignment, I bought them all.”

He’s optimistic about the coming year. He doesn’t expect a complete turnaround and a rush of orders, but he’s starting to sell more machines and he is hearing customers talk more positively about the future.

“I think things are getting better, but we don’t know for sure what will happen in the future.” CM www.heinmanmachinery.com February 2010

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