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Case Study / Machining 8 MoldMaking Technology —— AUGUST 2016 Multitasking Lathe Speeds Production of Complex Mold Components By Cynthia Kustush Last year, Trifecta Tool and Engineering in Dayton, Ohio, had its best year ever, according to co-founder Bret West. That was because the company purchased a multi-axis, multitasking Okuma LB3000 MYW lathe and saw its orders for caps and closure molds almost triple, from 5 percent of its business to about 15 percent. Trifecta has built molds for caps and closures since West and four partners founded the company in 2004. It also builds molds for automotive and consumer products, including plastic-injection and rubber-injection tooling for automotive, plus compression tools for the oil and gas industry. A specialty is high-temperature tools for molding parts in materials like Torlon, polyetheretherketone (PEEK), Amodel, Ultem and polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) plastics. But West says the com- pany plans to focus on continued growth in molds for caps and closures, and the Okuma's ability to cut machining time and eliminate some machining functions will play a key role. "Components for caps and closure tools need to be 100-percent interchangeable so that if you have a 32-cavity mold and a problem arises with one of the cavities, you can interchange any part in any cavity," West says. "The challenge for us is to lower costs by being able to machine hardened, close-tolerance injection mold components that have com- plex shapes like threads and gears, and do it accurately and efficiently. By having this multitasking capability using the Okuma, we probably cut 30 percent to 50 percent of machining Images courtesy of Trifecta Tool and Engineering. This mold spindle, or core, was machined in one setup using Trifecta Tool and Engineering's Okuma LB3000 MYW live- tool lathe. The core has undergone hard-turning, grinding of inner and outer diameters, and gear-hobbing. VIDEO Access video at end of article.