Heimatec designed this special 90° angle head (16" length) for cutting the keyway in a high precision cutting tool head used in the oil field.
PMC-Colinet uses the custom angle head on a Monarch VMC to produce keyways in the bore on oil field pipe, typically 6" in diameter and 12" in length. On one part, PMC has documented a savings of 184 hours in set-up and machining time as the result of the head design supplied by Heimatec.
PMC-Colinet, an Ohio manufacturer of oil field equipment, recently found a way to save 184 hours on one high-precision cutting tool head.
PMC-Colinet did an assessment on this challenging job, which involved cutting keyways into large sections on a high-precision cutting tool head made of Nitralloy. For many years the production had involved the use of a shaper to produce the keyway in the bore of the die head. Typically, the bore ranged from 6" to 13" in diameter and more than 12' in length. These keyways have extremely tight tolerances, with location at +/- 0.0005", width at +/- 0.001" and depth to +/- 0.0025".
One style of cut is a three-step keyway that does not run all the way through the bore, but stops at a window that is milled from the outside diameter. This situation prevented the PMC machining department from using a ram EDM to produce the keyway. The only options previously used were to rough the keyway on an old shaping machine, and then send it out for ram EDM. This process required 50 hours on the shaper, plus approximately a week for the ram EDM. Another option was to do the job entirely on the shaping machine. Roughing the keyway had to be much more precise and usually required about 61 hours. Plus, an additional 145 hours were normally required to finish the part. These times included 10-12 hours for set-up.
The team at PMC, led by Milling Foreman Rick Kokish, decided to explore other methods to produce this part on its Monarch 175B VMC. They conducted an exhaustive search on the Internet, turning up over 133,000 hits for 90° angle heads. After more than 30 hours of gleaning out the unsuitable products, they narrowed the search to two vendors. Both manufacturers visited the facility and brought out their standard angle head designs. One of the companies, Heimatec, realized this job would require a custom 90° head design to satisfy all the requirements.
One competitor brought a standard 40 taper tool, while Heimatec presented a larger, heavier 50 taper unit.
A week later, Preben Hansen, Heimatec's President, supplied a drawing for the proposed custom product. PMC engineering reviewed both the standard and custom designs and awarded the project to Heimatec.
The angle head supplied was designed to perform a wide variety of cutting tasks on the various end products produced by PMC. On the keyway in a bore 6" in diameter and 12" in length, using the Heimatec 90° head, PMC spent six hours in set-up - three for roughing and three for finishing - plus 12 to 16 hours of actual cutting time. This represented a total savings of 184 hours on a single part. Although the head appeared too slender to remain rigid during the entire cutting cycle, according to PMC the performance was deemed successful.
Heimatec's head design for this custom radial drilling and milling head features an adjustable tool stop, three support pins for stabilizing the tool, CAT 50 taper style, 360° indexable pivot on the angle head and inclined tooth gear designed for maximum rigidity.
During the project Hansen supervised the installation. The stop block attachment and grinding of the supports pins for the head were accomplished in just one day. The head was then mounted and several experimental cuts were performed. Hansen spent time with Kokish and CNC Programmer Barry Spence discussing various options for programming the head on the Monarch VMC. The next morning the set-up was performed and an actual keyway was roughed.
Ongoing results have continued to satisfy all requirements, according to PMC.
PMC-Colinet has a long history in the pipe and tube market, having started in 1912 and introduced a carbide-tooled pipe threading machine in 1958. Today, the company is a primary supplier of machines to the oil country tubular goods (OCTG) sector. Its customers include integrated steel mills that sell finished pipe and couplings to the oil and gas industries and use the company's machines for threading products for downhole drilling applications. PMC-Colinet also supplies cutting tools, consumable tooling, aftermarket parts and field service to the industry.
For more information contact:
Rick Kokish, Milling Foreman
PMC Industries
29100 Lakeland Boulevard
Wickliffe, OH 44092
440-943-3300
www.pmc-colinet.com
sales@pmc-colinet.com
Preben Hansen, President
Heimatec Inc.
16 E. Piper Lane, Suite 121
Prospect Heights, IL 60070
847-749-0633
info@heimatecinc.com
www.heimatecinc.com