Any questions?

Moderator:  What kind of training is required to run a CNC machine?  Can any machine operator learn how to do it quickly?

Simon:  We offer extensive training course on our equipment.  It doesn’t take a lot to learn how to run a CNC machine, but it is important to have a good knowledge of tools.  We find that if an operator has approximately five years of experience running some kind of a CNC machine he can probably adapt to a grinding machine quite easily as long as he has some knowledge of tools.  If he’s been running a grinding machine, even manually, then he should be able to pick up a CNC machine pretty quickly.

Moderator:  Does a shop have to use a certain minimum number of tools to justify CNC tool grinding?

Simon:  Yes and no.  If you’re grinding standard tools:  endmills, drills, things like this, then yes, you would need to be grinding a minimum amount of tools, or using a minimum amount of tools, to justify CNC tool grinding in-house.  If you’re using specials or you change your tooling quite frequently then bringing a CNC grinder in-house gives you complete control over turning those kinds of things around very quickly.  So it depends on whether you’re justifying the machine from a financial point of view, or whether you’re justifying the machine from a flexibility point of view.

Moderator:  I hear about new designs, like variable helixes or different helixes?  Are they beneficial?  Do they require CNC grinding?

Simon:  Yes, they are beneficial.  A lot of high-speed machining centers are using tools that have different helixes on each tooth, or that have varying helixes so that they can reduce the harmonics when they’re cutting at high speeds.  This is to improve spindle life and to improve the surface finish on the part that they are cutting.  And to grind those kinds of tools you need to use a CNC tool grinder.  It’s very, very difficult to grind a tool that has different helixes on each tooth and it’s impossible to grind a tool that has variable helixes – where you’re changing the helix from the front to the back of the tool – if you’re trying to do those with a manual grinder.  CNC is the only way that you can do that kind of a tool.

Moderator:  What are some machine technologies and innovations that make in-house tool grinding attractive?  And why are some shops hesitant to move to CNC?

Simon:   As far the technologies goes, a lot of the newer CNC equipment has macro-based programming.  So you have a very simple programming system.  You have 3D simulation now on many grinding machines, so it helps with the training of the machine operator, it helps with the job setup, and helps to visualize what the machine is doing before you actually go to the machine and press the “go” button.  

I guess a lot of shops are hesitant to move to CNC because they think it’s a costly thing to have a CNC machine on the floor and to have a man running it.  And that’s something that really has to be calculated by the individual shop to see if it’s actually justifiable for them.  If you don’t have a very big turnover of tooling and you don’t do a lot of specialized tools then it may well not be justifiable to get a CNC machine and it may be more cost effective to go ahead and carryon outsourcing.

Moderator:  In your spreadsheets, did you take into account the floor space necessary and the cost for using it for regrind and not production?

Simon:  Yes, those are taken care of in the spreadsheet.

Moderator:  You said support is important.  How can I find out how good the support really is before I commit to buying a machine?

Simon:  The best thing would be to speak to somebody who already has a similar machine to the one you’re looking at.  Either the people you outsource tools to right now would be a good source to tell you how good their support is, or you could request from the machine manufacturer a list of people who are currently using that equipment and who wouldn’t mind being contacted to ask how the support has been that they’ve been getting.  That’s probably how I would do it.

Moderator:  What are some of the most important questions a shop should ask itself when considering purchasing a CNC regrinding machine?

Simon:  Again, do you have skilled labor in the area that can run a CNC machine is the first question.  Because obviously you need the machine and you need to have somebody to run it.  Then, the next thing is to justify it by how many tools you have that can be made on that machine, and what kind of inventory reduction you will achieve by not having to stock so many tools on your shelves while other tools are out being refurbished.  And then, how much flexibility do you need in house to change tools or to turn tools around quickly.  

Moderator:  Who programs the tool grinder, the operator or an engineer?

Simon:  The machine operator is the person who programs the machine.  It asks simple questions about the cutting tool: clearance angle, rake angles, diameters, lengths, radiuses.  All of these things are normally on the tool print and he just has to plug them into the menu and put in his feeds and speeds and then the machine calculates everything else.

Moderator:  This concludes our webinar.  Thanks for attending.  For more information, visit us at www.grinding.com.