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05 November 2014

EX-SUS-GDR Drill Reduces Cost per Part on Stainless Steel Exhaust Header

Darrel McCoy, District Manager

The 41st Annual Barrett-Jackson Auction located in Scottsdale, AZ. is no ordinary auction. It is “The World’s Greatest Collector Car Events™,” which captures the essence of a passionate obsession that collectors and enthusiasts share throughout the world. I was fortunate enough to attend the auction where I saw lines of gorgeous vehicles and watched a $50,000 bid shoot up to $250,000 in 30 seconds, all for a used car!

Many of the high performance vehicles displayed in the auction had employed the exhaust manifold design, also known as the exhaust header design, for car tuning. Exhaust headers are one of the easiest ?bolt-on? accessories? for improving? engine ?performance because they make? it easier for? the engine to? push exhaust? gases out of ?the cylinders. Most headers ?for naturally aspirated? engines are ?manufactured ?in mild steel, while headers for turbo charged engines, on the other hand, are often manufactured in 304 Stainless Steel.

Recently, one of my customers from Las Vegas, NV, who is a header plate manufacturer, called regarding a drilling operation in 304 Stainless Steel. He had been using standard cobalt drills but was not able to produce a good hole and had encountered some abnormal sound during the operation. To solve the problem, the customer had to pay to water jet at $40 ?per part. Not only were they losing money, they also had to extend their lead-time by using an outside vendor.

After a careful examination of the application, I recommended OSG’s EX-SUS-GDR drill from the EX-GOLD® series. OSG’s EX-SUS-GDR drill is manufactured from premium high-speed steel, ideal for stainless steels, mild steels and aluminum alloys. The addition of OSG’s TiN or TiALN coating improves wear-resistance and prolongs tool life.

During the first test, the EX-SUS-GDR drill also encountered the abnormal sound, producing a long thick chip and breaking after the second hole. I was concerned with the chip formation while the customer was concerned with the sound, breakage and no parts. I knew that once we had the chip formation under control, the sound and tool life would increase. So, starting off slow, we increased the 10 mm EX-SUS-GDR drill to 480 RPM with 0.009 IPR. With these simple adjustments, we were able to produce 120 holes and finish the job with no trouble whatsoever.

At the end of the day, this customer was not only able to produce holes efficiently and effectively, but they also eliminated the need to utilize an outside vendor, reducing lead-time and cost per part.

The success of large auto events like the 41st Annual Barrett-Jackson Auction depend on having consistent, working parts in all of their cars. By using our EX-SUS-GDR drill combined with the right cutting tool strategy, our customer was able to produce parts more efficiently, allowing them to continue to supply cars with headers that hold up under the spotlight.

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26 September 2014

WDO Drill, XPF Tap, VGx End Mill - Total Solution Video

The versatility of the EXOCARB® WDO Drills, EXOPRO® XPF Taps and HY-PRO® VGx End Mills makes this dynamic trio an unstoppable force.

Whether drilling, tapping or milling, the unique design of these tools allows them the ability to machine a wide range of materials from cast aluminum and carbon steels to die steels and hardened materials, making them an ideal solution for job shops and manufacturers requiring flexible tooling options.

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03 September 2014

HELIOS® Drill: No Pecking or Coolant-Through Required

David Whitmire, District Manager

There are many things that can hold job shops back, from tight tooling budgets to non-coolant through machines. On a recent visit to a customer located in Overton, TX, the owner of a medium sized job shop had expressed a major concern regarding one of his drilling operations. The OSG solution easily solved both these issues and more.

The customer was trying to drill a 7/16” diameter hole, 9” deep in alloy steel using a competitor’s high-speed steel drill, running at 525 RPM and a feed rate of 0.003 IPR. With that tool, at those parameters, they were pecking every 0.050” to get the chips out of the hole, which added considerable time to the process; it was taking approximately 22 to 25 minutes to drill just one hole.

Based on the cutting conditions and the trouble they were having with pecking, I knew that this was a great application for the OSG HELIOS^® Drill. OSG’s V-Series HELIOS^® drill is a high-speed, cobalt drill designed for deep-hole drilling. The unique design and patented technology of this drill gives it the ability to process deep holes without the use of internal coolant supply. State-of-the-art flute design improves chip evacuation, making it feasible to drill up to 20D without pecking. By utilizing OSG’s WXL^® coating, the V-Series HELIOS^® drill can handle a wide range of materials with up to three times greater wear resistance versus conventional coatings.

Upon explaining the benefits of this high performance drill, informing the customer that we had a HELIOS® 7/16” x 20D drill available off the shelf with the required flute length and that we could run it at 837 RPM and 0.008 IPR, he immediately ordered two test drills.

As soon as the drills were delivered, I received a call from the machine operator wanting to verify the speeds and feeds before running the drills. After I confirmed that 837 RPM and 0.008 IPR was indeed accurate, his first comment was that he didn’t think the HELIOS® Drill would make it through one hole, but he proceeded with the testing based on those parameters.

When the operator couldn’t hear any noise on the first hole, he was sure the drill was already broken, but to his amazement, the drill was still in the machine when the cycle ended. Even then, the operator continued to be skeptical. It wasn’t until the HELIOS® drilled 100 holes and all the parts were completed that he was finally sold on this dynamic drill. The operator himself admitted that the HELIOS® Drill had dramatically reduced cycle time and saved three days of machine time alone.

When all was said and done, by eliminating all the pecking required with the other drill, we reduced the total drill cycle time from 25 minutes to 1.5 minutes per part. This didn’t even take into account the cost savings, which was estimated to be nearly $30,000 based on the 5,000 holes the shop was scheduled to drill.

OSG’s HELIOS® drill was able to help this customer improve their machining process and produce more parts off the machine per day. Plus, the HELIOS® Drill is a fraction of the price compared to solid carbide drills, making it a more economical solution with the flexibility to be used on non coolant-through machining centers.

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03 June 2014

EXOCARB®-WDO Drill Video

The OSG EXOCARB®-WDO Drill is an ultra-premium coolant-through carbide drill, ideal for a variety of work materials, from stainless and alloy steels to die steels and more.

This drill features OSG's proprietary WD1 coating providing higher hardness and heat resistance, allowing for increased speed and feed rates.

Available from 3xD up to 30xD, the EXOCARB®-WDO Drill is the perfect solution for any number of applications.

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