Shop wins die work from OEM in-house: for job shops, the competition for forging die business is not coming from off-shore; usually it comes from the OEM's own in-house operations. Machining technology may be the way for shops to get and keep this die/mold business.

Market forces on the U.S. forging die industry from Far Eastern competition do not appear to be as severe as other job shop or die/mold segments. So far, most of that complex work has stayed in the western hemisphere. The challenge for shops is to provide high-end quality and service in order to compete with the many customer-operated, internal OEM milling and EDM operations.

This type of competition requires an investment in technology by job shops of all sizes for high-speed, high-performance machining. It also requires developing and using new techniques for the cutting of hard steel, which is needed to get the results required for forging die production.

"Technology like the S-Series vertical milling machines from Makino help us save a great deal of money, reducing our costs by upward of 200%," says Doug Mason, president of 3D CNC Technologies and a partner in EWT, Inc. (Rockford, IL). "With the value-added Makino S56, delivery time savings are not simply measured in percentage improvements, but rather in days of production saved.

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"A part that used to take two weeks to produce can now be designed and have a die built for it in two or three days," says Mason. "That is what we try to achieve ... to keep this outsourced work."

Full Service Solutions

3D CNC Technologies, which provides advanced software solutions for the forging die industry, is merging with EWT, which provides the market with high-speed machining and EDM solutions. The companies will still maintain their separate brands, but will merge under EWT in an attempt to offer full-service, turnkey solutions. And they will serve as a software reseller and contract machining operation, as well as offering high performance machining consultation.

The company primarily manufacturers molds, forging dies, patterns, stamping dies, electrodes, and anything else that requires 3D contour milling. It also uses conventional EDM and burns areas of molds that cannot be machined.

"We can manage and manufacture the whole mold for a customer," says Mason. "This often includes a combined process of rough milling a block of steel and then EDMing it for detail. But, with the Makino S-Series machinery, we often find we can run the entire process from design to finish while eliminating all polishing.

"One customer's part was roughed in one of our two Makino S-Series machines, and then we used electrodes to EDM in the detail, per the customers existing process. It took about eight hours to rough the steel on the S56, then EDM the part with three electrodes provided by the end customer, which took an additional six hours each to burn in order to finish the cavity. The total cycle time was 26-hours."

"We then machined the same job complete on the Makino S56 in 16 hours, eliminating the EDM operation," says Mason. "This eliminated another two full days of work from the process, as the part required no bench time and was virtually polish-free.

"This does not include the time eliminated from process improvements," adds Mason, "such as the various setups, machine programming, transfers between internal operations, and the time the customer had in manufacturing the electrodes.

"We realistically saved a total of three days out of the process with the S56, a reduction of 60%, while maintaining accuracy tolerances of 0.001".

Machine Controls

The Super GI Makino control allows EWT/3D CNC to run at a higher rate of speed and maintain stability for continuous, quality cuts. "The machine acceleration and deceleration hold complex contours and still maintain a fast chip load and good tool life, despite abrupt directional changes," explains Mason. "You get good tool life and you get good finishes. That is what people want in the forging die marketplace.

"During our field tests, which we used in determining which machine to buy, we took a part that was an electrode and machined it out of aluminum, as we needed a 0.032" dia, tool with flute length exceeding 0.350". We also did steel cutting tests. The Makino S56 performed better than any of the other machines."

Mason says one stamping die run on the Makino S56 is a rail die with a large radius part that fits inside a door. The top contour would have been probably a four-axis wire cut, because it is hardened D2 steel, and it has inserts that typically would have required wire EDM.

"Since we were able to cut them with the S-Series, after being heat treated, the hardened steel part fit together perfectly and required no grinding or wire cutting," notes Mason. "We eliminated two whole processes, and it came together directly from a 3D surface model.

"EWT and 3D CNC have also seen a large increase in business activity because we have the added capabilities of the Makino S-Series machines. These vertical machining centers have not only brought in a great deal of milling work, but also have brought in ram and wire work because customers are looking for a one-stop shop. And, we have taken away a lot of jig grinding work and some conventional EDMing, because we are now able to do more of those processes using high-speed machining techniques."

One particular job the company would not have been able to perform with previous equipment technology was the milling of eight bronze automobile part cores. The top detail ribs of 0.360" X 0.039" with a 0.5[degrees] draft, were all precision milled in 32-hours with only one tool on the Makino S56. This would have previously required multiple electrodes.

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Value Added 

Mason explains when the companies first started looking at acquiring an affordable, high-performance machine, the main reason they opted to go with the Makino S-Series was the availability of a 20,000 rpm spindle. "We got a high-end spindle in a fast machine with linear guide ways.

"We were making parts within 30-hours of a great installation. Their (Makino) technicians stayed that day and the next working with our operators, just running parts and molds and dies. They not only showed us where we can drive out costs with this technology, but they showed us how.

"We are a contract shop, and we are getting a lot of work because we are able to save up to 50% of costs for our customers," says Mason. "We are able to quote work and show a financial benefit for the customer, which they are not used to seeing. They cannot do it themselves because they have not made the investment into the high-end machinery ..." Makino, Inc.

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