The Problem:
A customer machining five-foot long cast iron engine heads for off-road agricultural vehicles had difficulties maintaining the required Ra 3 surface finish. The primary issue was with one of 45 tools used in an autochange CNC machine.
The customer was under pressure – the company had invested $750,000 in a CNC milling machine for the production of tractor “engine heads”, and the machine, tools and cutting fluids as originally purchased were found to “not be capable” and the OEM would NOT release the parts for production.
Evaluation Process:
During this evaluation the entire focus was on meeting the required Ra finish specification.
Tool-X was added to the existing coolant and the issue was resolved.
Further testing was conducted with TiCN coated cutter and Tool-X which resulted in the customer quote:
“We put in a TiCN coated reamer with the Tool-X and saw Ra numbers unlike anything we have ever seen. We started at 0.7 Ra on the first piece. We just pulled off our last piece (42 pieces later) and we are still holding at 1.2 Ra. This is unbelievable, our tool life more than quadrupled with that tool!”
Test Results: Improved Tool Life
The Solution:
Addition of Tool-X nanofluid coolant resolved quality problem and tool life was extended resulting in $123,000 savings for one tool; projected savings across the remaining 44 tools valued at $6,700 per set was estimated to bring the total savings to $696,000 over the next 12 months
Based on these test results, OEM release was received and the parts went into production.
Tool X Improves Tool Life and RMS in CNC Milling
