How many times have you strained your eyes to see the condition of your cutting tools in a turning center?  Do you have to keep a flashlight and mirror or magnifying glass nearby?  How often does the operator pull an insert out just to look at it?

Well I may have found a solution to this problem and one that the Okuma P200 THINC control is uniquely capable of supporting.  I purchased a cheap digital microscope off of an online site.  This is a 10X magnifier with LED lights that is powered through a USB connector and will work with any Windows XP computer.

By holding this hand-held microscope up to your cutting tool you will get a view of your cutting tool that looks like the photos you see in the insert manufacturers' catalogs.  No more two pair of glasses, no more leaning in to get coolant dripping on your head as you strain to see if your insert is chipped.  Now it's just hold the camera to the insert and shoot.

The best part of this story is that no one wants to carry around a laptop computer to the machine.  Here is where the Okuma P200 THINC control comes in.  With the help of Bryan Newman of Partners in THINC, we loaded the software onto the control of my Okuma Captain L370 turning center.  Now you can plug the camera into the USB port and right on the screen you can see your tool.  You can even take still photos of it to show your tool rep or boss just how bad or good your insert is performing.

Now off you go grasshopper, into the world with wisdom and until next time....

-Charles

If I were a famous former president I might start this off with...

Six Months and 15 days ago... I was fortunate enough to win a contest sponsored by Okuma and Morris South. Along with winning an Okuma turning center and getting acquainted with my new extended family at Morris South and Okuma, I was also blessed with several smaller tool packages. I wanted to take some time and thank those who should be thanked. Iscar offered a couple of different tool sets and I chose to go with a selection of their new solid carbide endmills. Now I haven't used them yet but they will get very intimate with a stack of titanium plates in the next couple of days. I'll let you know how it comes out.

Then there was Schunk who offered a very generous line of credit for any of their products I wished. I was going to get some chuck jaws for the lathe but decided at the last minute that I wanted to try their line of milling tool holders. I choose to get several of the Sino-R series toolholders for my Okuma milling machine. I have gotten around to giving them a good testing and I must say I am seriously impressed with how well these tools work.

I first put them to work with some carbide insert endmillls. I had been using ER and GT collet holders and wondered how much more dampening could I really get just by changing toolholders. Well I was surprised the first time I started cutting with a 5/8 two-flute carbide insert cutter. It was so much smoother sounding that I thought I had set the depth wrong, but no it was shearing right through at 100% depth and full width. The reduction in noise and slight reduction in spindle load says it all.

Next to the starting gate was a ½ solid carbide endmill for finishing and a chance to see if there would be any real improvement in the surface finish. Well I wasn't disappointed. The surface finish on my old ER collet chuck wasn't bad, in fact most of my customers comment that I produce better surface finishes than the parts need. But the improvement was quite noticeable, most people will probably never notice, but I will know.

So my hat is off to the nice people at Iscar and Schunk, thanks again for doing your part to help this little shop out during the current hard times. You can be sure I will be looking for more Sino toolholders in the near future.

Did any of the other "winners" get to use their prizes? Will they share a word or two about how they are doing?

Charles

Well some might wonder why go through the trouble to drill coolant holes in your tool holders? I have a new tool and I wanted to try it out on titanium, and if you have ever worked with titanium before it likes coolant and lots of it. I had to remove the material from a 2" diameter titanium slug that will be used to make a threaded cap.

There was lots of material to remove and I wanted to have a nice flat bottomed hole, so that leaves out most drills. I found out about a multipurpose tool that was made just for the task. This tool is made to bore nice flat bottom holes with a single insert and be stiff enough that you can step it over and remove material like a boring bar. Many operations, one tool and only one toolholder needed.

You can see the tool in the photograph: It uses a 6mm insert and makes nice tight little chips that evacuate nicely. You may not be able to see all the coolant holes but there are at least 3 holes pointing at different angles to the insert to make sure the tool flushes chips out of the hole. That is why you need through the tool coolant!

I have also included a photo of the bottom of the hole showing the pattern that the tool leaves. This is in 6AL4V titanium and was cut at 120 sfm. This same tool is available from Iscar, Ceratizit and other manufacturers.

More fun to follow--another $2,000 worth of titanium yet to cut. Of course with the price of titanium, that isn't that much material.

-Charles

Most of the internal tooling and drills that are available today have coolant holes drilled through the body of the tool.  This allows for coolant to be applied right to the cutting edge, even when working deep inside a part.  This requires that you supply the coolant to the back of the tool.  However, this is a problem for me and my new Okuma Captain.

The turret on the Okuma Captain L370M is equipped to operate live tooling and uses the tried and true VDI system of tool holders.  Unfortunately these holders don’t port the coolant to the center of the tool.  All coolant is ported to two adjustable ports at the end of the tool holder.  These can be seen in the photo of the tool holder (001).   I decided to modify two of my tool holders so that I could direct the coolant to the center and have taken some photos of my results.

One photo shows a close-up of the business end of an internal grooving tool from Sandvik (002).  

You can clearly see the hole where coolant is directed at the cutting edge of the tool.  With some careful measurement I could drill a hole through the existing coolant channel and direct it to the center of the tool holder without interfering with the internal tool bushing.  I drilled through with a “D” drill and followed that with a 1/16 NPT pipe tap, the photo shows the wrench in the end of the pipe plug that seals the hole (003). 

This drilling is tricky as you must drill though a cross drilled hole but it can be easily done with a little care.

When I tested this I found that the coolant is so powerful that I could leave one of the existing external ports running and still have pressure to the face of the tool.  I couldn’t get a photo of the results but I can tell you it works great. 

Have a happy day; the weather here is so nice I have all the shop doors open…

-Charles

Wow,  time to take a breath...just finished one of the most challenging parts we have ever been asked to do.  Learned so much while doing it, and had great help from the folks at Morris South.  That's when it really feels like a partnership.   I will have to get some photos to you later, and I have a video planned, just will have to get some other things off my plate so we can do it. 

Good news, the part that we did for the machine installation is a winner.  The customer has finally worked out its supply issue and placed another order--first of many we are expecting.  For now we have lots of milling work to get going and I have one or two other commitments to keep up.  But I'm working on that next project to keep the new Okuma busy, busy, busy.

Catch ya later...Oh almost forgot...lots of positive response from the article in Manufacturing News.   Have to send a big hug their way!

-Charles

Wow!  Charles and DCMS are TRULY famous now!  Check out the article on the front page of the magazine. 

If you don't have a paper copy, you can view the electronic version by clicking on the thumbnail to the right.

Charles... you are SUCH a rock star!

-Mindy

I recently had the opportunity to visit the shop of Real Help Machine Giveaway finalist Dimension Machine in Cincinnati, Ohio.  Accompanied by Gosiger salesman Dave Marsh, I was warmly welcomed by Dimension owner Don Barth and his wife, Ruthie and treated to a shop tour.

Talk about an Okuma history lesson!  Since his first Okuma purchase at IMTS in 1996, owner Don Barth has amassed a collection of Okuma machine tools that looks like a rainbow and provides him with a broad range of capabilities.

You can tell from the video he submitted to the contest that Mr. Barth is proud, not only of his Okumas, but of his family.  Those are his employees, kids and grandkids in the video!  It seems like everyone, even the baby, got in on the act.

A long-time customer of Gosiger, Mr. Barth buys Okuma because of their long-term reliability.  Yes, over the years there have been a couple of issues or concerns with certain machines, but Gosiger and Okuma have always been able to fix any problems quickly and efficiently.  In fact, Mr. Barth has chosen not to purchase extended warranties for his machines because he hasn’t experienced any major problems with them!

Like most other machine shops across the country, 2009 was a challenging year for Dimension.  Looking forward to 2010, Mr. Barth sees positive changes in the economy and this is evidenced by the fact that his business is getting better.  While we were speaking, a freight train rumbled by on the tracks across the street.  He said, “Right there is my indicator of economic improvement.  When the trains start coming by more frequently, I know that business is picking up.”  Luckily, he’s seen and heard more trains lately.

If you get to Cincinnati, you can see these Okumas in action.  Be sure to ask Mr. Barth for some Girl Scout cookies!  Apparently he has a reputation for being a soft touch and has helped the neighbor girl with the contest for selling the most cookies!

Julie Murphy

Marketing Manager, Okuma America Corporation

I checked in with Charles a few days ago and must apologize for posting this late.  Here is what he had to say:

The Okuma Captain L370 is working fine.  Yes we have made progress on parts and so far I couldn't be happier with the outcome.  I'm just so busy that I don't know what to do with myself.  Dad has been working at the shop almost every day for a week.  I hope to have a video of the machine running soon, but the friend who has offered to let me use his video camera has evidently been pretty busy, too! 

I hope to have some videos of the celebration ceremony-including video of Charles' "acceptance speech."

Keep checking back to see more about DCMS's progress!  Go, Charles!  Go, Okuma Real Help Team!

-Mindy

Hey, gang!  We continue to cut parts here at Doraville Custom Machine Services.  We had a couple of problems with the parts catcher, but a quick change to the parameter and all is well again.  We got 100 parts done, and have about 200 more to go. 

We have been having a small problem with a recurring PLC error that prevents us from starting the machine.  However, Morris South will be here this morning with a software patch to fix this issue.  That was really nice, fast service.  Now I just need the machine to run at peak performance this week-I have lots of parts to run. 

I might have some really good news in a week or so from one of my customers.  It's still hush-hush, but there is a chance that we may get a big run of their parts soon.  We are already talking about other uses and modifications as well. 

Our networking group is going well.  We had guests from the Georgia Department of Economic Development visit and join the group.  We will see lots of information in the coming months about what the state is doing for manufacturing.  I am really looking forward to seeing how that partnership works out.

Stay tuned for more photos and information on an updated DCMS website soon!

Charles

Well, we had the official ceremony giving me the "keys" to my new Okuma Captain turning center on Wednesday. They had a real nice Bar-B-Q lunch and about 35-40 folks came by to attend. Some were customers and others were friends from local shops. I also got to meet the BMOC for Okuma USA and Morris Group, two very nice guys. Of course when Larry Schwartz of Okuma was in the house, you knew "he was in charge..."

Some folks have questioned whether this machine tool giveaway was the real deal. Larry wanted me to make sure that everyone knew that there are no strings attached on this deal. No hidden doors or anything like that. I have been treated like a king and haven't had to pay for almost anything to get this machine running.

I didn't pay shipping, rigging, training and they even provided tools, courtesy of Sandvik, Lyndex-Nikken and others, so that this machine was ready to make chips when it hit the floor. We have finished our first run of parts, and now I am resetting the machine to cut the next two sets of parts I have ready to go.

Of course nothing free is ever totally free, I paid for electrical installation and we have bought a few tools and tool holders. My father and I have been working hard to reorganize the shop to make room for everything and find a place to put the new stuff. My neighbor even provided an old trash can for the chip conveyor, and it fits perfectly.

I must say this has been a truly wonderful experience and I can't wait to see how things go for the next year or so...so many things to learn about, so little time to get things done...

Charles