TCI Precision Metals

[Frank Caudillo]

Hi All,

I just wanted to see if anyone had any experience with TCI Precision Metals, more specifically their prepped material for 5-axis vises such as Raptor. Getting prepped material ready to go in the vise would reduce a setup for me but I wanted to hear everyone's thoughts if they had used TCI specifically or any other company. Thanks.

[crazy^millman]

Yes they are a good company and they do good quality work.

[Colin Gilchrist]

Time = Money.

Which do you have more of? TCI Metals make good quality "prepped" blocks. (Machined on all six sides)

It will be cheaper if you can give them some tolerance. +-0.015 makes it much cheaper than +-0.005. I think the closest you can request is basically +-.003(ish), without grinding. The more tolerance you can give them, the more money you will save.

Flatness and Parallelism are other big factors. The tighter you need something controlled, the more expensive it will be.

I had them supply some 304 stainless blanks that were 6" x 8" (+- 0.03), and thickness controlled to 1.85 (+- 0.002), with .001 Flatness and Parallelism, and they held it, no problem. I also had them dovetail the stock after finish grind.

It was cheaper for us to just purchase the prepped material vs. the internal costs of doing the same work. Plus, it frees up a spindle that would be dedicated to just "squaring stock".

I haven't found any other material supplier that will beat them for "prepped" stock. If the quote comes back high, ask them "why". Often there is some rather arbitrary reason you picked the tolerance you did. Do you really need +-0.005 on the length? Really? Why not +-0.03. Because that is 1/4 of the cost of the tighter tolerance. Their internal inspection plays into that as well. +-0.03 can be checked with calipers, and requires no 'secondary' inspection, beyond the 1st piece. A tighter tolerance may necessitate 100% inspection by an inspector...

[Frank Caudillo]

On 11/28/2017 at 7:45 AM, Colin Gilchrist said:

Time = Money.

Which do you have more of? TCI Metals make good quality "prepped" blocks. (Machined on all six sides)

It will be cheaper if you can give them some tolerance. +-0.015 makes it much cheaper than +-0.005. I think the closest you can request is basically +-.003(ish), without grinding. The more tolerance you can give them, the more money you will save.

Flatness and Parallelism are other big factors. The tighter you need something controlled, the more expensive it will be.

I had them supply some 304 stainless blanks that were 6" x 8" (+- 0.03), and thickness controlled to 1.85 (+- 0.002), with .001 Flatness and Parallelism, and they held it, no problem. I also had them dovetail the stock after finish grind.

It was cheaper for us to just purchase the prepped material vs. the internal costs of doing the same work. Plus, it frees up a spindle that would be dedicated to just "squaring stock".

I haven't found any other material supplier that will beat them for "prepped" stock. If the quote comes back high, ask them "why". Often there is some rather arbitrary reason you picked the tolerance you did. Do you really need +-0.005 on the length? Really? Why not +-0.03. Because that is 1/4 of the cost of the tighter tolerance. Their internal inspection plays into that as well. +-0.03 can be checked with calipers, and requires no 'secondary' inspection, beyond the 1st piece. A tighter tolerance may necessitate 100% inspection by an inspector...

Thanks for the info, Colin. The prepped stock would have pretty loose tolerances (±.03) as it would be just to eliminate the need for a dovetail OP for raw extruded aluminum, out of which the final part would then be cut. I could incorporate the dovetailing OP into my procedures, but I'm also looking at cost/benefits so getting prepped stock may have saved some money on each part. I'll have to let my managers decide if the time savings is worth any extra cost.

I will keep them in mind for future projects, though. We make a lot of custom fixtures so having some nicely prepped blanks that are flat/square within tight tolerances would make all of that much easier.

[msg]

On 11/30/2017 at 1:51 PM, Frank Caudillo said:

Thanks for the info, Colin. The prepped stock would have pretty loose tolerances (±.03) as it would be just to eliminate the need for a dovetail OP for raw extruded aluminum, out of which the final part would then be cut. I could incorporate the dovetailing OP into my procedures, but I'm also looking at cost/benefits so getting prepped stock may have saved some money on each part. I'll have to let my managers decide if the time savings is worth any extra cost.

I will keep them in mind for future projects, though. We make a lot of custom fixtures so having some nicely prepped blanks that are flat/square within tight tolerances would make all of that much easier.

We use tci all the time but it would still be cheaper to buy rough stock and prep the dovetail yourself. You should be dovetail prepping the material and finishing the part in the same op. It shouldnt take anymore than a minute to cut a dovetail and slot, add in a program stop and load the part into the raptor. After the 4 or 5 axis work is done that part could go into another vise in the machine and machine off the dovetail and complete the part. You will have finished parts coming off the machine which saves time, inspection of multiple ops and less chance of scrap.