Tooling performance is thankfully very easily measured. A simple calculation of parts per use can give you some indication of how they performed, but is that all you need to know? In our opinion, as great believers in horses for courses, making accurate calculations depends on the situation at hand! Don’t make it too complicated and you will make the right decisions more often. Work out what is most important in the work you do and concentrate on that. For instance, if you are making thousands of panels, a week, cutting speed is obviously very important, but, then again, there is no point running at a million miles an hour if the tools only last 5 minutes! Alternatively, if machine time is at a premium you need alternatives that can save you time. Being able to cut faster, for longer, is great, but so is accuracy! I’ve seen many a company putting an expensive tool in an old or cheap holder and then spending time re-machining to get the accuracy or finish required. In the main there are no shortcuts!  If machine time is of the essence, then consider large tooling carousel or pre-set tooling systems. These can save an enormous amount of time, improve tool life, productivity, safety and of course save money.                

6m/min

12m/min

For wood based production we can look at achieving feed rates of at least 6m/min at full depth, assuming 18,000rpm+ and with a tool with a Z=1+1 configuration. We can then add an additional 6m/min for every step increase in Z  that we have. So, Z=1+1 is 6m/min, Z=2+2 is 12m/min and so on. We have tools that will cut at 35m/min. All our tools will do 30,000 rpm. Our tools are balanced so accurately they can achieve higher cutting feeds without distortion! This gives a better finish, longer tool life and reduced cycle times.         

25m/min

35m/min

some of our tools for wood and composites

For metal and composites the stakes are slightly different, the major cost can sometime be in the component or materials! An aircraft wing, for example, is not cheap, and sometimes in the amount of work already put into the job is extensive, I’ve seen cycle times of 8 hours or more. You never want to scrap a piece of work, but it does happen. If this happens on the last operation, all the work previously carried out is wasted! If this is due to tool failure, sometimes referred to by accountants as, “just one of those things”, it can be very costly, and annoying. The quality of our tooling minimises the risk of failure giving you tools that you can rely on.  In addition to this, in some cases we are able to provide massive reductions in cycle time due to the skill and dedication put into the design and manufacture of every tool we supply!       

some of our tools for metal and composites