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58 MoldMaking Technology —— SEPTEMBER 2017 LEADTIME LEADER Q&A; How do you define five-axis machining as it pertains to your company? Don: Graphic Tool elected to pursue five-axis machining for several reasons. We wanted the ability to machine five sides of six-sided geometry in one set up, which saves us valuable time. The machine's rigid construction and five-axis capa- bility enables both soft and hard milling operations. Plus, we can run regular, 3D-milling routines, 3+1 or 3+2. Or, if required, we can run true five-axis milling, which expands our capabilities. Our FANUC articulating arm robot loads custom-made pallets that can hold many different work- piece shapes and sizes. This functionality allows us to perform unattended machining on multiple inserts in both a soft and hard state. We use the first-article inspection pro- cess to validate the program and, once proven, we use the robotics to feed the components through the programmed routine. This methodology allows us to run many compo- nents (soft or hard) totally unattended through the process. We routinely machine a large volume of identical inserts, rough them out and then finish them by hard milling after heat treating them to a close tolerance. We are capturing this as unattended time, which we monitor very closely. All of this lends itself to how we define five-axis milling at Graphic Tool. Ed: Five-axis machining provides us with infinite possibili- ties in effectively processing part sizes and shapes. The term "five-axis" refers to the number of directions in which the cutting tool can move. On a five-axis machining center, the cutting tool moves across the X, Y and Z linear axes and rotates on the A and B axes to approach the work piece from any direction. In other words, you can process five sides of a part in a single setup. This saves time and money and ensures accuracy like never before. For which types of jobs or workpieces do you use five-axis machines and why? Don: Graphic uses its five-axis machines to perform five- sided machining on cores and cavities or on a variety of mold components. We purchase our steel with extra stock on one of the six sides (usually, the bottom surface of the component) so we can more easily secure the material directly to the machine pallet, magnet or in a vise. Another example is machining spiral water lines on water jackets or drilling water lines on angles. In the case of drilling water lines on angles, we would use 3+1 drilling or 3+2 machin- ing for compound angled water lines all in the same set up. We can machine very complex undercuts that would oth- erwise require a time consuming and expensive electrode set, EDM operation with additional polishing. We routinely perform and finish hard-milling operations to a 0.0002 inch tolerance with total reliability. This is done as three- axis machining, or 3+1 or 3+2 machining, depending on the complexity of the geometry and the most efficient set of machining parameters for that given project. On some occa- sions, we finished the entire insert in our DMG MORI DMC 75V-Linear five-axis machining center and then proceeded directly to polishing. Ed: We know all mating parts must connect precisely with others. The slightest imperfection from one clip feature on the instrument panel of a vehicle, for example, means that the glove box does not line up with the H-Vac system behind it. Before you know it, the avalanche has begun. It's for this reason that we use our five-axis machines for all our lifters, inserts, slides and details that require the level of accuracy that we need but cannot get from using other machining resources that we have. We feel we have tuned our five-axis machines to run as fast and accurately as possible, using the machine and tooling to their optimum performance. Graphic Tool Corp. and Concours Mold Inc. 2017 Leadtime Leader Honorable Mention Ed Ergun, corporate sales manager Concours Mold Inc. Lakeshore, Ontario, Canada concoursmold.com 2017 Leadtime Leader Winner Don Smith, president/ general manager Graphic Tool Corp. Itasca, Illinois graphictool.com EDITOR'S NOTES In this column, MoldMaking Technology invited this year's Leadtime Leader winner and honorable mention shops to share some of their thoughts about some hot industry topics. For more information on how to enter our Leadtime Leader Awards program, or if you have a question for any of the Leadtime Leaders, please e-mail Christina Fuges at cfuges@gardnerweb.com, or visit short.moldmakingtechnology. com/leader