BIG
Mega New Baby Chuck Drops Cycle Time 20 Percent
and Increases Tool Life 300 Percent
Cycle time dropped
20% and tool life increased by three times after a major medical manufacturer
introduced the BIG Daishowa Mega New Baby Chuck to a micro drilling
and milling operation there.
BIG Mega New Baby Chuck, standard with the BIG-PLUS
dual contact spindle system. |
The company had been
getting 0.0002" runout on the precision drilling operation for
a medical device. The BIG Mega New Baby Chuck cut runout in half to
0.00009". Tool life went from 5 holes using carbide drills to an
average of 330, with stainless steel and titanium most often being machined.
A Sphinx micro drill as seen under a high power
microscope next to a human hair. ( The average human hair is 0.0035"). |
BIG tool holders
and Sphinx micro drills' superior runout helped drop production from
5.4 to 4.2 minutes per part for the drilling operation, and the company
was able to eliminate it's centering drill operation.The drill is 0.0065"
diameter by 0.08" deep.
The company previously
used high speed steel drills because the cost per hole was too high
for carbide. These drills only netted an average of 20 holes per drill.
After running a test tool, the decision to switch was an obvious one.
The tooling was paid off within the first shift.
Each Mega Chuck comes
standard with the BIG-PLUS dual contact spindle system to assure the
highest rigidity possible in high speed and high metal removal machining
operations. BIG-PLUS allows interchangeability with existing tool holders
and machine spindles.
Because all Mega
Chuck tool holders and components are made under BIG Daishowa’s
strict quality control and all collects go through a 100% inspection,
accuracy is guaranteed when assembled together.
The company was running
5.8 parts per hour / 12,000 RPM / 0.00025" peck / 1.0 IPM / 0.053"
deep. Now, with the BIG Mega New Baby Chuck, it runs 240 parts per hour
/ 6,000 RPM / 0.0006" peck / 2.5 IPM / 0.053" deep.
BIG Kaiser helped
this manufacturer achieve a significantly increased tool life with the
ability to fixture more parts per machine cycle, and a considerable
impact on increasing spindle efficiency.
With the dramatic
increase in tool life and the predictability of tool failure, the company
could anticipate tool failure and load the tool changer with back-up
tooling, allowing the company to preset 240 parts under the spindle
for 15 hours of unattended production.
Medical manufacturing
demands very tight tolerances of +/-0.00005". The Mega Chuck Series
offers the industry’s highest levels of rigidity, gripping force
and runout accuracy to help users achieve better surface finishes, superior
precision, and extend tool life.
Cross-section view of the Mega New Baby Chuck |
The exclusive notch
free design of the Mega Chuck Nut eliminates tool vibration at high
speeds and reduces whistling noise. The nuts have high precision bearing
races to assure lowest friction against the collet when clamping to
give no influence against runout accuracy.
The BIG Mega New
Baby Chuck offers six different size collet series to provide ultra
precision for high speed machining with carbide drills, taps, reamers
and endmills. It is offered in all popular styles of shank types, such
as CAT, BT, or HSK, and can hold a range of cutting tools from 0.010
to 0.787".
The project was so
successful, management at this medical manufacturer gave the machine
shop authority to purchase new and replacement tooling wherever it can
be justified in cost savings.
This company found
more than just a tooling solution in BIG Kaiser. With a 20 percent drop
in cycle time and a 300 percent increase in tool life, they found a
tooling partner.
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