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Machine utilization


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Just pulled data from our tracking software. This is in cycle for our three lathes (Okuma Multus B300, B250, LT3000) since Jan 1, based on 24/7 production. Not too bad considering we do multiple setups in each machine everyday. We try to hold no more than 2-4 weeks inventory. We have about 300 part numbers that go through these three machines in monthly quantities ranging from 10 pcs to 500 pcs. Also, we only run one shift a day and minimal weekend times. We run a few different short 10-20 piece runs during the day and switch to longer running parts for overnight unattended. We also have a new Okuma U3000 that we are building the robot cell now. The auto door option for the machine is not scheduled to be delivered until mid next month. Once that is installed that machine will go into full production as well. That should give us a break on weekend demand from the machines, at least until we develop more products to sell.   

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1 hour ago, huskermcdoogle said:

I'm assuming the LT is doing more setups, and or it takes longer to do them.  How many tools are you guys swapping in the turret?  Any opportunity to improve on that?  What type of jaw system are you running?

With 16 station turrets in the LT we don't do any tooling changes. We have enough parts that can be run with the same tools. Sometimes we use an endmill to open up a hole, etc. We have Schunk ROTA quick change chucks in all our lathes. A changeover that needs chucks jaws, robot jaws, and different material trays takes about 20-30 minutes. The reason the LT is lower on cycletime is we can't run it all night without filling the chip bin to fast and sucking chips back into the machine. We are working on building a motorized bin that will move back and forth to spread chips out. 

22 minutes ago, crazy^millman said:

Great chart and I about what I would expect to see. What are the majority of materials your are cutting? How deep do you need to go with parent child tools on these machines? 

Of our 450+ parts numbers, all but <20 are aluminum. We outsource all the non-aluminum parts. It's not worth changing over tooling for. We run PCD finishing tools so they last for months. Everything else we run insert style carbide tools so no tool touch off is required. We do use some carbide endmill, but we have stops in the holders. 

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2 hours ago, YoDoug® said:

The reason the LT is lower on cycletime is we can't run it all night without filling the chip bin to fast and sucking chips back into the machine. We are working on building a motorized bin that will move back and forth to spread chips out.

Time for a chip grinder and a pumpback system.....

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13 hours ago, huskermcdoogle said:

Time for a chip grinder and a pumpback system.....

We looked at chip shredders but they are pretty expensive, we couldn't find one for less than $50k. We figured out the moving bin should get us 12-16 hours of unattended running on our more stringy chip producing parts. That's enough to cover overnights. On other parts we no routinely get 16+ hours of unattended running. 

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24 minutes ago, YoDoug® said:

We looked at chip shredders but they are pretty expensive, we couldn't find one for less than $50k. We figured out the moving bin should get us 12-16 hours of unattended running on our more stringy chip producing parts. That's enough to cover overnights. On other parts we no routinely get 16+ hours of unattended running. 

Doug what I have done is taken Endmills and used them to rough ODs and other features to eliminate stringy chips on roughing if I cannot break the chips. Another thing is to take the depth of cut and divide them in half and double the feed rate to break the chip. I have take a .400 depth of cut at .03 per rev and broken it down to .100 depth and .075 per rev. was almost like watching a threading cycle, but it was breaking chips. Not sure if the machine has a Y axis in upper and lower and if you got the 3rd turret option or not, but if you got that might think of switching to Dual station tools in the turning section so you can push the roughing tool harder to break chips and create a parent child for the roughing tools. Helps add more tools to the turret and give you the light out tool life you need without really breaking the bank trying to figure out a quick change method with the robotics. 

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18 minutes ago, crazy^millman said:

Doug what I have done is taken Endmills and used them to rough ODs and other features to eliminate stringy chips on roughing if I cannot break the chips. Another thing is to take the depth of cut and divide them in half and double the feed rate to break the chip. I have take a .400 depth of cut at .03 per rev and broken it down to .100 depth and .075 per rev. was almost like watching a threading cycle, but it was breaking chips. Not sure if the machine has a Y axis in upper and lower and if you got the 3rd turret option or not, but if you got that might think of switching to Dual station tools in the turning section so you can push the roughing tool harder to break chips and create a parent child for the roughing tools. Helps add more tools to the turret and give you the light out tool life you need without really breaking the bank trying to figure out a quick change method with the robotics. 

We actually have a pretty good handle on chip control. Roughing is not an issue, we get good chip breakage during roughing. The only thing we struggle with is finishing on the serpentine grooves. We rough them with a custom profile mill to avoid stringy chips, but it is not good enough finish. It is a bit of slow finish feed rate combined with a 35 deg tool going into a 40 deg v to finish. In the bottom we end up cutting a wide flat ribbon of material as the tool rounds the root into the opposite wall. We have made our own custom holder that aim 1000 psi coolant with the nozzle .5" from the tool tip. We use PCD inserts with laser cut chip breakers. They work great for finishing the rest of the part. At .002" IPR feed the chips look like little bits of fuzz. It is also a little bit of piling issue in the chip bin. We have 1.6 cubic YD. bins and the chips pile up in tower while the rest of the bin is empty. With the moving bin it will spread the chips out across the bin. 

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49 minutes ago, YoDoug® said:

We actually have a pretty good handle on chip control. Roughing is not an issue, we get good chip breakage during roughing. The only thing we struggle with is finishing on the serpentine grooves. We rough them with a custom profile mill to avoid stringy chips, but it is not good enough finish. It is a bit of slow finish feed rate combined with a 35 deg tool going into a 40 deg v to finish. In the bottom we end up cutting a wide flat ribbon of material as the tool rounds the root into the opposite wall. We have made our own custom holder that aim 1000 psi coolant with the nozzle .5" from the tool tip. We use PCD inserts with laser cut chip breakers. They work great for finishing the rest of the part. At .002" IPR feed the chips look like little bits of fuzz. It is also a little bit of piling issue in the chip bin. We have 1.6 cubic YD. bins and the chips pile up in tower while the rest of the bin is empty. With the moving bin it will spread the chips out across the bin. 

Need to add a shaker to the side. I would use some rubber to isolate the chip bin from the machine to dampen the shaker. Get a 10 to 20 rpm motor and make an eccentric to put on the end of it. If you can get a variable speed drive for it then you can find the sweet spot to get enough vibration into the chip pan, but not be crazy. Mount it to the side of the chip bin and not you have created your own shaking table so to speak like they use for mineral separation. 

Here is one that will vacuum to the side of the chip bin.

Link

1352.jpg

 

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On 7/31/2020 at 3:33 PM, YoDoug® said:

We actually have a pretty good handle on chip control. Roughing is not an issue, we get good chip breakage during roughing. The only thing we struggle with is finishing on the serpentine grooves. We rough them with a custom profile mill to avoid stringy chips, but it is not good enough finish. It is a bit of slow finish feed rate combined with a 35 deg tool going into a 40 deg v to finish. In the bottom we end up cutting a wide flat ribbon of material as the tool rounds the root into the opposite wall. We have made our own custom holder that aim 1000 psi coolant with the nozzle .5" from the tool tip. We use PCD inserts with laser cut chip breakers. They work great for finishing the rest of the part. At .002" IPR feed the chips look like little bits of fuzz. It is also a little bit of piling issue in the chip bin. We have 1.6 cubic YD. bins and the chips pile up in tower while the rest of the bin is empty. With the moving bin it will spread the chips out across the bin. 

Doug,

As a thought... could you not put a timer on the conveyor (pulse on for a period but keep it mostly off)?

Keep it off to allow the machine to suitably fill, then activate the conveyor so a lot of chips come out at once?

In my experience, conveyors on all the time will grow a mountain, chip by chip.

Lot's of chips coming out together and the mass/weight dumps it into the bin more evenly?

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14 hours ago, Leon82 said:

Our bins are 3' * 5' * 3'. The issue isn't the size of the bins. It is that the turnings like to pile up in a straight cylinder. Our project to motorize the bins to have them move back and forth slowly is designed to spread the chips evenly across the 5' length of the bin. 

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4 hours ago, YoDoug® said:

Our bins are 3' * 5' * 3'. The issue isn't the size of the bins. It is that the turnings like to pile up in a straight cylinder. Our project to motorize the bins to have them move back and forth slowly is designed to spread the chips evenly across the 5' length of the bin. 

Make the robot a shovel and let it spread the chips when it's just reading a magazine. :p

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Glad my boss doesn't see that chart. He thinks we should get 85 % up time on the one mill we have. Good luck when we do short runs, mostly prototype, fixtures have to be designed and made and a nite guy that doesn;t show up half the time. I do all the programming, tool orders ect.

 

And to top it off. IM RETIRING SEPT 15. i'M DONE HERE!!

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  • 3 months later...

Here is a more recent summary including the Multus U3000 we added in August. The Multus B250, or the baby Multus, as we call it, only runs about 6-7 part numbers of our higher volume parts. That thing only stops running to change chuck jaws and robot jaws once a day or so. The Multus U3000 only has a dozen proven programs so far and we are still working out chips issues with the lower turret that keep us from running more than 8 hours unattended. We have had a few successful runs of 12-16 hours unattended but we have also had a few that ended up with a couple of broken tools and a tray of scrap parts. 

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