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Drill sharpener cuts tooling costs, inventory
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Gear manufacturer reported that by reclaiming used drills using a Darex Sharpener the machine has paid for itself 'several times over' by sharpening drills to 'new' condition. Drills required to make holes to tighter tolerances are more expensive to replace than conventional tools and can also be costly to have resharpened by external grinding services To offset this expense, Dalton Gears in the USA has installed a Darex XT3000 Xpandable tool sharpener T Dalton Gears said that the machine had paid for itself 'several times over'. The high precision, XT3000 Xpandable tool sharpener is easy to use and custom-sharpens tools to operator specifications. Consequently, Dalton said that it has been able to return its used drills to 'like-new' condition in-house. The company said it had not only substantially reduced its tooling costs, but had also avoided ordering any new drills since purchasing the XT3000 six months ago from 1st Machine Tool Accessories (1st MTA). Founded more than 50 years ago in Minnesota, Dalton Gear markets its products in the US, Canada and Europe. In addition to spur, helical, bevel and worm gears, the company manufactures a range of products including sprockets, shear-pin couplings, timing-belt pulleys, right-angle gearboxes, drive shafts, transmission shafts and idlers. Components are produced in variety of materials, including mild steels, alloy, brass, bronze, aluminium, stainless steel, cast iron or heat-treated steel. Most feature a series of drilling and tapping operations in their production, which are undertaken on an assortment of CNC machines, milling machines and bench drilling machines - typically using 'jobber' length drills with 118 deg drill points. * Tooling costs brought back under control - the purchasing manager at Dalton, Scott Holler, said that Dalton had been experiencing 'out-of-control' costs associated with the purchasing and sharpening of drill bits. Analysis revealed that the company had bought at least US$13,000 worth of new drill bits over a period of years. When the bits became dull, some were sent off site for re-sharpening. However, most were left unused, so had to be replaced. Now that Dalton has a Darex XT3000, the company has sharpened many of the drill bits that had been discarded over the years. Consequently, Dalton had recovered its initial investment several times over. Holler explained: "With about two-and-a-half plastics bins full of dull drill bits waiting to be sharpened, we decided to install a workbench and shelving bins in a converted store room within our manufacturing shop. This now provides a dedicated area to process and hold the refurbished tools". * Drill sharpening - the basic Darex XT3000 unit sharpens standard and split-point drill bits at angles ranging from 118 to 150 deg. It includes two adjustable, stainless steel chucks that accommodate drills from 1/8in to 13/16in diameter (3.18-20.64mm) as standard, with an optional attachment available to extend tool diameter. The unit can also be supplied with optional fixtures for sharpening other cutting tools, such as step drill bits, brad points, 90 deg points, large drill bits and single-flute countersinks. The XT3000 achieves a lip-height tolerance of 0.001in (0.03mm), exceeding National Aerospace Standards. In addition, it is capable of sharpening left-handed drills and incorporates cams for three- and six-flute countersinks. All sharpener adjustments and attachment changes are performed without tools, with a lock-and-pin system employed to secure the auxiliary equipment. The device's solid design includes steel and bearing-grade bronze components in all critical places, and roller bearings are incorporated in areas where wear might occur. The sharpener is available with a choice of CBN Borazon wheels, which are recommended for high speed steel and cobalt tools, or with diamond wheels for carbide cutting tools. These superabrasive wheels require no dressing, minimising grit levels. In addition, more than 90% of the XT3000's workings are enclosed and each unit incorporates a port that can be connected to a vacuum system to ensure clean operation. The sharpener is also available with two different vacuum-powered grit removal systems and its 1/4 horsepower, 3450 rev/min motor is rated for continuous duty. Rather than discarding their dull bits and taking expensive new items from stock, operators can now sharpen the drills themselves or use re-sharpened bits held in reserve. * Drill resharpening quality improved - Holler said that the ability to sharpen drills in-house has provided Dalton with more than just cost benefits. For example, the company wasn't always happy with the results of sending tools off site for sharpening. With the XT3000, however, it is equipped to ensure top quality results. According to Dalton, the resharpened drill bits consistently cut to size and work just as well as new ones. Operators also find the device easy to use - often being capable of accurately sharpening bits after only a brief demonstration. In addition, the sharpener allows Dalton's production staff to control each drill's point configuration, including the relief and design of the split point. Accordingly, an ordinary jobber drill can easily be resharpened into a high-performance split drill. Holler concluded: "In these challenging economic times, the Darex XT3000 has helped us control costs by sharpening our drills in-house rather than sending them out or buying new. It enables our profits to be used to promote further business growth". * About 1st Machine Tool Accessories - offering a comprehensive range of top quality products at competitive prices, 1st Machine Tool Accessories is a leading supplier of workholding and machining accessories including the following. * Collets. * Chuck jaws. * Kitagawa chucking. * Rotary tables and vises (vices). * Leave fixturing and clamping products. * Chick workholding equipment. * Darex tool sharpeners. * OK Vises. * Brighetti reduction bushes. * Deburring and countersink tools. * IEMCA barfeeders. * Cooljet high pressure coolant systems. * Machine mounts. * Overbeck deburring twister lathes. 1st MTA's extensive stock holding is backed by excellent warranty and service provided by a dedicated team of technical engineers; demonstrations of some products are available from external sales specialists. http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/sts/sts115.html |
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