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moldmakingtechnology.com 13 certain segment of customers. Automotive industry tooling with far fewer cavities gets the same treatment, whether that means a few extra mechanical actions or a complete replacement stack for just two cavities. "We attack everything the same way, whether it's a two-cavity fuel flange mold or a 64-cavity closure mold," he says. Past experience has shown that this practice can be well worth it, even if it means extra cost for the shop in the imme- diate term, Myers says. Typically, that happens because the company opts to manufacture spares even if the customer specifically requests to save money up front by avoiding this service. Although the components might never leave the shop, having them available makes Carson Tool a veritable white knight in an emergency situation. One recent example involved replacing a broken core pin with details that, in the absence of a spare, would have required more than 15 hours' worth of wire EDM work at an expedited rate. "We end up carrying some inventory, and there is cost there, but it's worth it," he says. "In the real world, stuff happens, and having a tool go down can be catastrophic for an automotive manufacturer that's running just-in-time production." Carson Tool's policy toward spares evidences long-term thinking as well as the view that increasing customers' profits is the best way to boost one's own. This attitude has kept customers coming back and helped navigate plenty of tough eco- nomic times since the shop's founding in 1945, Myers says. Uncompromising Capability During good times, leadership has histori- cally poured profits right back into the company, and recent years have been no exception. The more the company ramps up technology, the greater its workload, culminating in the production of more than 50 molds in 2014. That's about 10 more than Carson Tool manufactured in 2013 and far more than what had been the typical workload of approximately 35 tools per year, Myers says. Whether success enabled adding new technology or the other way around is a question of chicken and egg. Regardless, Carson Tool makes a point to replace machine tools after 7 years if possible, and it never buys used. "Technology is always changing. We want the latest, and we want to know exactly what we're getting," he says. One significant and relatively recent upgrade was Carson Tool's move into linear motion technology. On the milling side, a Micron HSM 700 purchased in 2014 from GF Machining Solutions has dramatically improved capability. On one recent job, Myers reports that this machine helically milled 64 holes measuring only 0.036 inch in diameter with the same 0.5-mm- diameter end mill. Although such precision is often sufficient to eliminate the need for slower sinker EDMs, those operations are faster than ever before, Myers says. That's thanks largely to enhanced spark generator and other technology in the shop's most recent EDM purchases: two AG60L Linear machines from Sodick, one of which produced a gas pedal mold cavity about three hours faster than its predecessor despite starting the burn about three hours later. What's more, many features that once required multiple electrode sizes for roughing and finishing can now be produced with only one. Like the Mikron, these systems also feature linear motion technology. Adding to EDM efficiency is an electrode pull module in the shop's Cimatron CAD/CAM software, which reduces electrode extraction time by 80 percent, Myers says. Along with 30,000- rpm graphite milling capability, this system has reduced cut- ting time from about two or three hours to 20 minutes for a typical electrode, Myers says. When it comes to making use of this technology, strategies haven't changed any more than the company's overall busi- Thanks to a machine that combines milling and turning functionality, complex parts like those above can be produced in a single setup. Carson also prioritizes machines that offer high precision, such as the mills and EDMs employed to produce the 0.3-inch-diameter insert shown in the inset. The 0.017-inch-diameter, tapered pins are replaceable.