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Dynamic Tool Uses
VMC To Hard Mill Molds
 Long recognized as a pioneer in the field of EDM, Dynamic Tool
& Design has received numerous awards for its EDM applications.
In 1998, Dynamic Tool was one of the first mold makers to implement automation and lights out EDM machining into their processes.
Notwithstanding its reputation for high-quality EDM work, Dynamic implemented a high-performance, hard-milling vertical machining center (VMC) to drive down lead times and be able to compete for die/mold projects. The addition of the Makino V33 has breathed a new life into Dynamic’s operations, allowing the company to drive out operational costs and remain competitive in a shrinking global market.
“We were doing some hard milling in the past, but not high-performance, high-speed milling,” says Randy Lee Meissner, Dynamic Tool’s CNC department supervisor. “Our EDM department is really built up with tons of automated horsepower. You could say we put all of our eggs in one basket. So, making hard milling an integral part of our mold making process was a big challenge.”
According to Irv Fischer, co-founder and vice president of Dynamic Tool & Design, the V33 is paying off in a big way. The company is seeing reduced lead times of about 30 percent and reduced manufacturing costs of about 15 percent from its previous processes. In addition, the new approach to hard milling has broadened his employee’s knowledge base.
“The ability to hard cut offers us a different way of doing things,” Fischer explains. “The Makino V33 is helping us sell the fact that we can make molds quicker and more economical.”
Searching for Milling Superiority [back to top]
Dynamic Tool specializes in engineering and building small- to medium-sized precision molds for medical parts, cosmetic packaging, closures, consumer packaging, automotive and electrical equipment. From its 34,000-square-foot facility in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, Dynamic serves a domestic customer base while competing with mold makers in Canada and Germany. Despite being an innovative mold shop, it was critical that Dynamic find a way to better compete in product lead time.
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| The Makino V33’s primary role at Dynamic Tool is to cut multiple cores and cavities in hardened steel. |
“We realized that we were not the cheapest shop on the block to build tools,” Meissner says. “So quality and lead time is everything. If we are competing with shops that have five-week lead times, we can win a bid because we can finish it in four weeks or less.
That gets customers extremely excited. They can equate that instantly to dollars because now their product can go through testing sooner and make it to market faster.”
In 2000, Dynamic Tool began an extensive search for a high-performance machine. The company tested machines by requesting manufacturers to cut a cavity based upon a prototype model that they provided. “We only had one company that was even close to what we were looking for—and that was Makino,” Meissner says.
Makino customized a V33 machining center to fit Dynamic Tool’s current and future needs. Equipped with a 25-tool magazine and automatic tool changer, the V33 was specially constructed with an access door leading into the machining envelope for a future robot installation. And to maximize the use of their new machining technology, Meissner and two other team members attended a Makino Technology Transfer seminar. “It was an amazing class,” Meissner says. “It taught us a whole new way of thinking about programming and tooling.”
Fischer explains that Makino’s educational support was an important part in Dynamic’s purchasing decision, and ultimately eliminated several competing manufacturers. “It is new technology and there are a lot of companies out there selling it,” he says. “But if you have to sit there and try to figure out what you are doing on your own, it is a huge learning curve. Makino worked with us on how to use the machine and program around its feeds and speeds. We came back from the school and took right off.”
The Cutting Edge [back to top]
Besides cutting product lead-time, the Makino V33’s primary role at Dynamic Tool is to cut multiple cores and cavities in hardened steel. Using heat-treated H13 premium grade steel, Dynamic utilizes the Makino 64-bit processor with SGI.3 to cut cavities with unbelievable speed.
According to Fischer, hard milling with the V33 has dramatically improved the company’s lead times because of its superior performance over EDM in speed and finishing. The V33 has the capability to rapid traverse at 787 ipm and holds accuracies as tight as 0.0003 inches.
“We can put a block of steel on the V33 and pretty much finish it, which saves going through a lot of areas in the plant,” Fischer says. “If we use our EDM machines, we have to make electrodes. If we have to make electrodes, more programs have to be written and more programs have to be developed to get it unattended. So, in some cases, EDMing can be a more costly process. If you can fit the parts on the hard cutter, it is definitely a better way to go.”
Another cost saving process that Dynamic Tool has undertaken is utilizing metric rather than standard English tooling. The shop currently uses coated TIALN (titanium, aluminum, nitrate) tooling that it constantly tests to maximize tool life. Since the Makino is completely gauged in metric, Dynamic has more tooling options.
“We went 100 percent metric on the V33,” Meissner says. “That gave us greater flexibility in picking tools, which we can now get worldwide. Typical Midwestern shops still rely on standard measurement and have limited themselves.”
The V33 has allowed Dynamic Tool to remove steps from the mold making process, including grinding and polishing. In addition, Meissner says that the investment in the equipment and training has “given us more opportunities to bring more work into the shop.”
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The V33 has saved the company approximately $50,000 annually, or nearly $100,000 since Dynamic installed the machine in early 2001. |
By taking an educated approach to the V33 installation, Dynamic has reduced labor costs and achieved solid finishes on the final products. Meissner says the V33 has saved the company approximately $50,000 annually, or nearly $100,000 since Dynamic installed the machine in early 2001. The biggest savings have been in polishing, where they have seen a 65 percent reduction in labor requirements compared to EDMing, a testament to the superior finish on the molds coming out of the V33.
Although Dynamic Tool has gained substantial benefits from hard milling molds, they still see a practical use for EDM. “We now have a choice on how to create our molds,” Meissner says. He explains that EDM is still preferable when faced with intricate parts and tight spaces—instances where run times on a hard cutter “start to go way out of site.”
Renewed Employee Esprit De Corps [back to top]
The introduction of hard milling into Dynamic Tool’s operations has brought more than just reduced lead-time and costs. It has invigorated employees and challenged them to take on a new method for creating molds.
“It’s given people who thought they were at the end of their learning curve a whole new interest in the trade, which is really amazing,” Meissner says. “With employees from 19 to veterans in their mid-50s, they are seeing just how cool technology can be. It is a new approach to complement our usual EDM solutions. And as a manager, it has been encouraging to have the guys on the floor so excited about wanting to learn how to cut on the V33.”
But while the employees are excited about learning how to hard cut molds, some of Dynamic’s customers have trouble understanding the value of hard milling.
“Telling some customers that we would prefer to hard cut over EDM on specific projects is still hard to sell,” Fischer says. “They hear ‘hard milling’ and they start thinking about an end mill whipping back and forth and putting chatter marks up and down their mold. And that is not the concept of hard milling with a Makino V33.”
The secret of hard milling still remains in the hands of mold makers, and it has a legitimate future at Dynamic Mold. Fischer admits that the company will need to add to its hard-milling capabilities soon. Meissner will certainly welcome the addition, considering that just about any job cut on the V33 is a significant return on investment.
“On every job that I’ve followed through the V33, we’ve been making money,” Meissner says. “It is hard to believe that Dynamic Tool thrived for so long without the hard cutter. On every project we look at now we believe we can see hard-milling opportunities that will make our entire shop quicker.”
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