The demand for precision and efficiency remains high in today's competitive manufacturing environment. Because standard tools often fail to address the unique production challenges of specific applications, manufacturers request custom carbide tooling and other kinds of tooling, including specialized drills and cutters, to optimize productivity and meet their customers’ specifications and delivery requirements.
Since we started the business nearly 30 years ago, we have continually invested in applications and manufacturing engineering. We use a unique combination of CAD/CAM tools and have extensive metrology and lab resources to help our tooling achieve best-in-class performance. Additionally, we have grown to have a full team of experienced engineering and tooling manufacturing professionals, onsite or on call, to help our customers be more productive.
Investing in Our Customers
To gain first-hand knowledge of our customers’ operations and processes, we visit their facilities at the beginning of the relationship and beyond. This extra effort enables us to design the right tools with specific geometries so our customers can machine parts most effectively.
In an era of videoconferencing, we have found that there is still no substitute for a first-hand look at a production system and a face-to-face meeting with the customer because we learn so much more by “being there” and can help our customers more significantly.
When we design and manufacture tools using the data and insights we obtain during our visit and through lab testing, we do it with regrinds in mind. As a result of this approach, we enable our customers to reduce tooling costs and cost per part, which can make a big difference in the profitability of any given job.
Besides engineering new tool designs, we can modify existing tools to have complex geometries that meet blueprint specifications. This capability has proven highly useful to customers who manufacture parts and components for applications related to aerospace, automotive, food service, medical, mining, orthopedic instrument tooling, and die & mold.
Subland Drills: an Example to Follow
Carbide Subland Drills are an excellent illustration of our custom tooling capabilities. These drills are designed with material-specific geometry for applications involving materials such as aluminum; brass; cast and ductile irons; super alloys such as Inconel, Inconel+, Rene, and Ti6Al4V; and all types of steel, including stainless steel.
After gaining first-hand knowledge of the customer’s manufacturing process, we developed, designed, ground, and PVD-coated these multi-fluted drills featuring helical and straight flutes. These innovative and durable drills allow the customer to reap the benefits of a single drill with independent flutes of different diameters. To help optimize performance and tool life, we added coolant-fed ports to each flute.
By taking the time to thoroughly understand the customer’s application and applying our practical knowledge to his special tooling needs, we provided him with a Subland Drill that can be reground multiple times, especially because of the drill’s short step length.
We also designed the tool to have no undercuts on regrinds, allowing the tool to maintain its inherent strength regrind after regrind. Additionally, we provided maximum pilot margin length to assure stability in the cut throughout the tool’s life.
Although this tool design did not require a dead sharp inside corner or a double angle step profile, we can incorporate those features into a tool’s unique design.
By partnering with experts who treat every custom tooling challenge like the unique situation it is, you can achieve productivity, quality, and on time delivery goals that you may have thought were out of reach. To benefit from our engineering expertise and manufacturing excellence..
If you want to learn more on how you can improve the life of your cutting tools when machining iron-based materials give us a call at 419-678-4991 or visit our website at www.tru-edge.com. We’ll get our TE Tech Team involved and simplify your iron-based machining processes!