- Haas Automation®, Inc.

Transcription

volume 18 • issue 53
TA B LE O F C O NTE NT S
FEATURES
02
Something from Nothing
02
Italy’s Fast Future
12
The Bone Maker
16
12
Over The Top Down Under
20
A Call To Destiny
24
Taipei and La Dolce Vita
42
Made (it) in Taiwan
46
Hearing Into The Future
50
EDUCATION
The State of Training
56
20
CYCLE TIME
Haas F1 Milestones
58
Haas Donates Equipment
59
Harvick Wins Championship
59
ONLINE
Stories and Videos
60
46
O N TH E C OV E R
Titan Gilroy used to fight for respect
and recognition, and it landed him in
prison. Today, he’s fighting to save
American manufacturing.
Photo by Scott Rathburn
CNC MACHINING is published by Haas Automation, Inc., 2800 Sturgis Road, Oxnard, CA 93030, 805-278-1800. Postmaster: Return invalid addresses to
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2 | www.HaasCNC.com
I N TH I S I S S U E
art |ärt| noun
{
1. the expression or application of human creative skill and imagination, typically in a visual
form such as painting or sculpture, producing works to be appreciated primarily for their
beauty or emotional power.
2. works produced by human creative skill and imagination.
3. creative activity resulting in the production of paintings, drawings, or sculpture.
4. a skill at doing a specified thing, typically one acquired through practice.
THE ART OF MACHINING
What is art? That question has plagued mankind for ages,
and the answer varies greatly from person to person. To most,
though, it probably falls into a few general categories, like
paintings, drawings, and sculptures . . . you know, the stuff you
find in museums and galleries. Sure, there are other forms of
art – like music, theater, and motion pictures – but it’s a pretty
sure bet that most folks don’t go looking for art at their local
machine shop. In fact, they probably couldn’t even find their
local machine shop . . . even if they knew what one was.
But they would find art there. Not in the form of framed
paintings on the walls, alabaster figurines ensconced in glass
cases, or marble sculptures perched atop pedestals. But the
art is there. And usually, it is clearly displayed for the world
to see, proudly showcasing the skills of the shop’s in-house
artists – the CNC machinists.
I’ve yet to visit a machine shop that didn’t have a
collection of finished p(art)s on display to show prospective
customers their capabilities. Complex components
sculpted from difficult-to-machine materials, tiny pieces
with intricately machined details, decorative components
with beautiful surface finishes, utilitarian devices with
extraordinary form and function – they’re all art.
Each billet of raw material is a blank canvas; the cutting
tools are the paintbrushes; the workholding is the easel; the
machinist is the artist – and each finished part is a work of art.
But it’s not only the finished parts that are art. So is the
process. The motions of the cutting tool and machine are a
carefully choreographed dance, sculpting billet into part. The
sound of an endmill taking a perfect cut is fine music to the
machinist’s ears. The G-code program is the sheet music that
directs the machine tool orchestra. It’s all art.
For our cover story, we visited Titan Gilroy, a true artist
in both the classical and machinist sense. His mother was
a talented artist, and he inherited the gene. While growing
up, art was his refuge from street fighting. During a stint in
prison, art was his salvation. And today, art is his passion –
as he machines complex parts out of difficult materials for
the aerospace, defense, subsea, and medical industries. His
particular style of art – let’s call it Americanism – is all about
running parts hard and fast, making money for his customers,
and bringing work back to America. But Titan is not content
to keep his artistry to himself; he’s taking his Americanist
Movement to the masses through another form of art: a
reality TV show about machining called TITAN – American
Built. We take you inside Titan America MFG for a look at the
artist at work.
We also take you inside the creative studios of numerous
other machining artists around the world to see how they
turn raw materials into art. You’ll see motocross art from
Florida, medical implant art from Arizona, automotive art from
Australia, aural art from Spain, motorcycle art (with an Italian
flair) from Taiwan, and much more.
For our education piece, we visited Bates Technical
College in Tacoma, Washington, which gears its training
program toward getting graduating “artists” into jobs and
apprenticeships at such local companies as Boeing. Thanks
to state and legislative support, the school is able to provide
first-class, hands-on training in a high-quality learning
environment.
You’ll also find a selection of interesting industry news in
Cycle Time, and a preview of additional content available online,
such as helpful videos, customer case studies, and more.
It’s a jam-packed issue, so sit back, relax, and enjoy!
CNC MACHINING | 1
F E AT U R E
Story by Brad Branham
Photos Courtesy Nihilo
SOMETHING
FROM
NOTHING
Motocross racing is a rough sport. The tracks are
full of tight curves, punishing whoops, deep ruts, 80-foot
jumps, and more tight curves. Dropping the gates at the
start of a race unleashes a swarm of forty or more riders
fighting to get through the first turn ahead of the pack – all
trying to occupy the same space at the same time. Rivals
on high-performance motorcycles push and power over
one another for the lead. A stalled bike or broken part here
could mean a heap of wrecked bikes and injured riders in
the middle of the track. The action is very quick, very close,
and very personal. Bikes and riders get pushed to their
limits – drive chains snap, forks bend, engine covers crack,
and tempers flare. Throw in plenty of dirt, rocks, and mud,
and you have one of the most popular sports in the world!
But to win, you have to finish. Motocross and off-road
motorcycle riders demand rugged bikes that stand up
to lots of abuse and deliver lots of power. But the bikes
often suffer extreme mistreatment – a fact recognized by
Nihilo Concepts, a Stuart, Florida, shop that designs and
manufactures tough, critical components for motocross
and off-road motorcycles. Bikes that are less likely to
break are more likely to win.
2 | www.HaasCNC.com
CNC MACHINING | 3
The company got its start back in 2000, when a group of Florida motocross
enthusiasts – although devoted to the dirt, dust, and stiff competition of the sport
– decided they were a less than satisfied with the equipment. They wanted bikes that
functioned better – giving them an edge over the competition – and they wanted their
bikes to flash a little glitz!
These riders not only had a passion for bikes, but also a knack for machining.
They formed Nihilo Concepts to manufacture innovative billet parts for off-road and
motocross racing motorcycles that enhanced the durability and functionality of the
bikes, while increasing the riders’ chances for success – and adding a touch of style.
“My father, Bob Brewster, rode bikes and raced when he was young,” explains Joe
Brewster, the owner of Nihilo. “I’m four years younger than my brother, Bobby, and I
started riding his hand-me-down bikes at the age of seven. We’d ride at local motocross
tracks, as well as some areas close to home – but always off-road.
“Although I was a pretty good rider, I gravitated to the mechanical side of the sport,”
he continues. “When I was about 17, I bought a knee mill through a newspaper ad, so
I could make and modify small bike parts. It has just grown from there. I still have that
machine today, and I will probably never sell it.”
Although his first mill was manual, Joe Brewster definitely saw the CNC light:
Nihilo Concepts is an all-Haas CNC shop.
4 | www.HaasCNC.com
“My family owns WMR, the local KTM and Husqvarna dealer,” Joe says. “I own Nihilo
Concepts, but my father and brother work together with me in both businesses. We’ve
owned a motorcycle shop for 20 years, and we’ve always had an interest in racing bikes.
Many of the competition teams made their own parts, or got them from China. But, to
keep the cost of production down, they used plastic side covers and other components
that were functional, but could be stronger – and they didn’t look that great. We decided
to make our own products, because we wanted best-quality components, made here in
the U.S.A.
“Our first product was what we call a skew,” he recalls. “It’s a rear chain-guide
protector for 65cc KTM dirt bikes. We made the first one by hand – the long, hard way.
Word spread quickly, and after a few weeks, the orders started to come in. We had a
meeting and decided that if we sold 10, we’d buy a CNC mill. Sure enough, we quickly
sold 10 – and the rest is history. We started with a used Haas Mini Mill, but we sold so
much stuff that we could not keep up. So, we decided to expand and get more machines.”
But it isn’t enough for Nihilo components to just be rugged and functional; they
also need to offer what they call the bling factor. Many of their customers enjoy spiffing
up their bikes with parts that not only function better, but also look better. So Nihilo is
especially attentive to style and finish: They design some parts with bold colors, some
parts have the cool Nihilo tiki-mask logo, some sport the rider’s name – and all deliver a
little island pizzazz.
CNC MACHINING | 5
“We use Haas machines,” says Joe. “And we especially appreciate the fact that
Haas machines are made in America. We have three VF-2SS machines, a TL-2 Toolroom
Lathe, and a Mini Mill. The high-speed spindles help us produce an excellent finish, while
cutting down run times.
“We mostly use 6061 aluminum,” he continues. “We also cut some 303 and 304
stainless steel, and some Delrin®. We found that if we run insert cutters at .200" depth
of cut and 100 ipm with full stepover, the spindle load is only at around 25 percent,
and it cuts run time drastically. By switching to the Super Speed machines with the
programmable coolant nozzle, we can easily run these numbers. At this rate, the cycle
time is low, and inserts hold up very well.
“One of our most popular products is our ignition covers,” Joe points out. “We make
these in two ops, starting with round stock cut into slugs. It is pretty straightforward:
We face it off, cut the contours for the inside, then drill and pocket. For the second op,
we use a custom soft-jaw setup, then face and contour with an insert for roughing, and
then finish with a 3/8" carbide mill. We switched to custom-made taper mills instead of
surface machining to save time.
“Another popular product is our clutch baskets,” Joe says. “We use 7-inch round
7075 aluminum, and cut it into 2.5-inch-thick slugs. Then we mill-cut the backside (the
side with the lugs), before drilling and tapping. The part is then bolted into a dedicated
fixture for facing, turning, and drilling. We keep the basket on the same fixture and
transfer it to the 4th-axis to cut the teeth for a final part, ready for hard anodizing.
6 | www.HaasCNC.com
The fact that all our machines are
Haas makes moving operators from
machine to machine a breeze.
“We use a Haas HRT160 4th-axis rotary table to make our clutch baskets,” he adds.
“It saves lots of set-up time, and it’s an easy way to increase the function of one of our
VF-2SS machines. At first, we thought we would be taking it out when not in use, but
it has not been removed from the machine since it was installed. We are continually
finding new ways to use it. The rotary table operates with the machine’s control, and it is
easy to program and use on many parts.
“The ease-of-operation of Haas machines is a big plus,” he states. “Our operators
are familiar and comfortable with the Haas control, and that helps keep the process
running smoothly. The fact that all our machines are Haas makes moving operators from
machine to machine a breeze. I don’t foresee us buying any other brand of machine. We
truly are a Haas shop.”
Nihilo Concepts makes ignition and clutch side covers custom engraved with the
rider’s name and number. And they make case savers – small, strong parts that protect
the engine case when a chain fails. They make performance motor parts, too, such as
redesigned clutch baskets, gears, and cylinder heads. Nihilo also stands out because
they make many parts not offered by their competition.
Nihilo products are designed and manufactured by racers who know how to
recognize a problem and work out a solution. Their products evolve from ideas to the
racetrack, and also from the racetrack to the shop. Racing also provides a great arena
for testing parts, so Nihilo is deeply involved in the sport.
CNC MACHINING | 7
8 | www.HaasCNC.com
“We sponsor hundreds of racers throughout the U.S. and
Europe,” Joe explains. “We sponsor lots of fast racers who really
put the bikes through their paces, and every weekend, they are
racing somewhere. We focus on the top amateur racers across
the country – the kids who have a chance of turning pro – but we
also support lots of top riders throughout the world. As part of
their sponsorship, we ask them to provide results and updates,
so I guess you could say we race every weekend. The feedback
is extremely important. We find out pretty quickly what breaks
or needs to be better, and start there.
“We will test in-house for a few months,” he says. “When
we feel the part is ready, we will put it into the real world.
Professional riders really put parts through the wringer, so we
typically learn something new, and make adjustments after
the pros have had their time testing. By doing this, we are able
to produce a part that will stand up to the everyday abuse of
motocross and off-road motorcycling.”
Joe’s system for success works very well for him. Racing
gives him the ideas for innovative products, his shop makes
the products, and he tests them at races . . . which gives him
more innovative ideas!
“We constantly develop and design products,” Joe
emphasizes. “And our Haas machines help with the prototypes.
We like the conversational ability of our Haas lathe control.
Many times, we need to make a one-off sample part, and
having the ability to design it on the control screen saves
hours of CAD time and conventional programming.”
Joe is committed to Haas because, as a customer, Haas
is committed to him. He relies on Haas dependability and
service.
“We have not had any issues at all with our newer machines,”
Joe notes. “But we did have a belt wear out on the older Haas
Mini Mill that we purchased used. The Haas Service Tech was
fast and professional, and had us back running in short order.
We purchased a few spare parts from the Haas Factory Outlet,
and the parts were shipped on time and were delivered in good
condition. You never feel alone if you have an issue; sometimes,
a simple phone call is all it takes to get technical help, and we
have fixed a couple issues that way, with no downtime.
“We really like the fact that everything is made here in the
USA,” he continues. “Most of our competition offers products
made overseas, and they just cannot match our quality and
R&D. We use the best quality materials and only Haas CNC
machines – and we keep our tolerances and finishes above the
industry standard for these types of components.
CNC MACHINING | 9
“We have experienced double-digit growth every year since we started Nihilo, and
have grown out of our current location” says Joe. “We are in the process of building a
shop directly adjacent to I-95 in Stuart, Florida, and hope to be in within the year. We
designed the machine shop to allow room for at least four more Haas CNC machines,
and we’ve set the space up for maximum efficiency. We are very excited about the new
shop, and can’t wait to get moved in and start making parts there.”
Nihilo Concepts products are made by motocross and off-road sports enthusiasts
for their very demanding, rugged, and hard-on-equipment sport. But Joe Brewster has
another passion.
“We have been machining Nihilo products for the last six years,” says Brewster.
“And I have been teaching machining at Palm Beach State College, a Haas Technical
Education Center (HTEC), for the last eight years. I went through their machining
program there, and took an adjunct position to help out the night instructor. He retired
after two years, and I took over. Now I have been teaching the night program there for
eight years. They have all Haas machines there.”
“Our night program is 2 years long,” says Brewster. “It’s on Tuesday, Wednesday,
and Thursday nights, and I usually have about 20 students. We provide hands-on
training on a VF-2, a VF-2SS with 4th axis, a 5-axis VF-2SS with a Haas TR160 trunnion,
and a DT-1 Drill/Tap Center. We also have a TL-1 Toolroom Lathe, an SL-20 turning
center, and a ST-20Y turning center.”
Palm Beach State College (PBSC), in addition to its HTEC status, is a NIMS Certified
school, and uses all the NIMS projects. PBSC also has a 1-year day program, with about
20 students, and graduates are in high demand. PBSC has a very high placement rate.
The machining programs at PBSC work very closely with local industry and machine
shops, and many students find jobs locally before they graduate.
10 | www.HaasCNC.com
So Joe Brewster closes the circle. He went to PBSC to learn the skills to be a
machinist, and now teaches others the same skills that he learned. Perhaps his
students will also use the skills they learn to start their own businesses – like he did
with Nihilo.
By the way, the cool Nihilo Concepts tiki logo is a little misleading, but oddly
appropriate for a machine shop. Joe explains that the word Nihilo is actually Latin, from
the term Ex Nihilo, and refers to creation – something from nothing. Nihilo Concepts
turns aluminum blocks (almost nothing) into complex components for some of the
world’s top competition off-road bikes. And Nihilo has a tropical sound to it, ironically
fitting for their South Florida location.
“My father told me that if you do what you love, you will never really work a day in your
life,” Joe Brewster recalls. “I really feel that way today. I can’t wait to get to the shop and
make something from nothing.”
Nihilo Concepts
Toll free – 1-855-4NIHILO (1-855-464-4456)
www.nihiloconcepts.com
WMR Competition Performance
Toll free – 1-866-WMR RACE (1-866-967-7723
www.wmr1.com
CNC MACHINING | 11
F E AT U R E
Story and Photos by Matt Bailey
ITA LY ’ S FA S T
FUTURE
Italian firm Vamec is a market-leading designer and manufacturer
of carburetors for racing kart teams. The company has grown as
karting has evolved from a pastime for weekend hobbyists into a
globally competitive motor racing formula. During that evolution,
Vamec has improved and expanded its range of products, in spite
of owning some “challenging” production equipment. Things are
looking up, however. Lately, the company has invested in Haas CNC
machine tools, including a UMC-750 universal machining center, and
is benefitting from new levels of speed, accuracy, and efficiency.
Vamec srl is based near Bologna, in a region famed for its motorsport heritage. The
city of Modena, the birthplace of Enzo Ferrari and home to Maserati, and Lamborghini, is
just up the road, while the legendary Imola F1 circuit and the Torro Rosso F1 team are
both neighbors.
The Vamec office walls are adorned with photos of young karting stars – one time
customers of the firm, who went on to become World Championship winning F1 drivers,
including Michael Schumacher and Ayrton Senna, no less.
Racing is in the blood at Vamec. In his day, founder Vincenzo Vannini was a
passionate kart competitor, who first took to the track in 1968. After subsequently
becoming a preparer and mechanic for various international teams, he established
Vamec in 1994, with the intention of manufacturing purpose-designed components
for a sport that had previously relied on non-specific parts, such as those found on
motorcycles, tractors, and lawnmowers.
Some 20 years later, with Vincenzo’s sons Matteo and Fabio running the workshop
and business administration functions respectively, Vamec has become a world leader
in the development and manufacture of components, accessories, and equipment
designed specifically for competition. Its Tryton carburetor series, for example, is used
by both national and international kart racing teams.
In recent years, the sport of karting has moved up several gears to become as
competitive and professional as the upper echelons of motor racing to which its drivers
aspire. The potential rewards for talented young drivers who reach F1 are there for all to
see. It’s a shot at fame and riches in which many are prepared to invest heavily.
Vamec has also invested with the sport, purchasing numerous CNC machine tools,
and adding components to its catalogue, including various engine and chassis parts,
pit stands, jigs, and tools, which are supplied to teams and individual racers all over
the world. More recently, the company also made engine parts for Moto 3 motorcycle
racing, and has even remade parts for a collectable Ferrari F1 car owned by a Californian
enthusiast.
Vamec’s goal, according to its founder, is to be as close to the customer as possible.
This approach is an insider’s strategy. After all, Vincenzo knows what it’s like to race and
to run a team – he understands how valuable good support can be. “There are lots of
companies that make and sell standard replacement parts, but we want to develop our
relationship, so we can support customers as much as possible,” he says.
CNC MACHINING | 13
For many years, Vamec bought well-known, far-eastern CNC machine tools. But
in 2013, Vincenzo placed an order for the newly launched Haas UMC-750 universal
machining center. “We couldn’t believe the value offered by the UMC,” he says. “We’d
heard very good things about Haas machines, so we placed an order – even though we
knew the machine had only just been launched, and the delivery date was quite a way off.”
In the meantime, Vamec looked at other Haas machines to see if they also offered
similar value and performance. The company quickly decided to invest in a VF-2SS
super speed vertical machining center, mostly for one-off, three-axis work. “All of our
other machines were busy, so we needed another,” says Matteo. “Again, the price and
performance of the VF-2SS were very attractive. As soon as it was installed, we moved
one or two jobs from the adjacent Japanese machine. We had to make some very
minor modifications to the program so it would run on the Haas control, but that was
straightforward. The first part we made, well, we just couldn’t believe it! The Haas did
the job better than a machine that cost a lot more. The surface finish was better and
the cycle times were shorter.”
A little later, in July 2013, the company took delivery of its UMC-750, and soon,
Matteo says, the machine was making 70 to 80 different parts, mostly one-offs.
“Thinking in five axes was new to me,” he recalls, “so I took it slowly to start with.
It’s not that the machine is difficult to use – on the contrary, the control is the same as
the VF-2SS, so it was immediately familiar. It’s the CAD/CAM part of the process that is
different and took a little longer to understand. Of course, our
need for accuracy and capability will only increase over time,
but we are in a very good position now that we have access to
an affordable, very good machine like the UMC.”
“Fortunately, Haas machines give us the technology to do
what we want to do, quickly and cost effectively,” concludes
Matteo. “Furthermore, there’s no need to lease the machines
or get a big loan from the bank; they’re affordable and reliable.”
Despite Vamec’s successful efforts at diversification,
karting will for the time being remain its core business. The
company has an impressive roster of 250 clients worldwide,
with countries such as the USA and Brazil providing more
recent opportunities to grow its business.
Matteo may have studied electronics, but he has steadily
nurtured his passion for mechanics; the latest Vamec
carburetor is all his own design. He’s self-taught, and a good
example of how ingenious, hard-working individuals can be vital
to the health and success of an industrial nation’s economy,
providing they have access to the right technology.
“Karting has gone from being a low-cost, amateur sport
to being technology-led and very well financed,” says Matteo.
“It’s certainly not the industry my dad started in, all those years
back.” Indeed, it’s not even the industry in which the likes of
Senna and Schumacher began their careers. Today, karting
is regulated by the FIA, which means new products must be
homologated. Of course, this adds cost, just like U.S. medical
companies making products under the watchful eye of the FDA,
for example.
Italy has a long and distinguished heritage in motor racing
and high-performance road cars, which began with passionate
and talented individuals. With Haas CNC machine tools in their
workshops, the latest generation, like Matteo and Fabio
Vannini, could ensure the country’s motorsport industry also
has a long and distinguished future.
www.vamec.it
CNC MACHINING | 15
F E AT U R E
Photos Courtesy CoorsTek
THE BONE
MAKER
Orthopedic medical implants are marvelous examples
of ingenuity and modern technology, significantly improving
the quality of life for those who need to replace, repair, or
supplement damaged bones and joints. They often mean
the difference between being able to walk and needing a
wheelchair – or being able to move without excruciating pain.
“Our facility uses three Haas VF-4 CNC machining centers,”
says Journeyman Machinist Jim Konrad. “All are 5-axis: two
have Haas TR210 trunnions and one has a TRT160 2-axis
rotary table. In-house engineers design and develop the
parts, but each machinist is responsible for programming and
setting-up their machines.
CoorsTek Medical depends on its prototype shop
in Chandler, Arizona, to develop new implant ideas for
manufacturing. Their in-house engineers design the parts,
and their machine shop can produce a prototype in as little as
two weeks!
“The Haas machines are more than capable of holding
the tight tolerances required for our parts,” Konrad observes.
“Typical tolerances are ±0.001", but a lot depends on what the
item is, and we use the ANSI and ISO standards for clearance
and press fits. With high-speed machining, and programming
with Mastercam®, our Haas CNC 5-axis machines produce
complex-geometry parts at speeds and accuracy that well
exceed our requirements.
In 2013, CoorsTek Medical acquired a medical devices
manufacturing group, IMDS, which included the Arizona
facility. This location was established in 2006, as an
expansion of its sister facility in Logan, Utah. Now known as
CoorsTek Medical – Phoenix, the shop makes prototype spine,
knee, hip, ankle, and even dental implants – as well as the
instruments for performing the implant surgery. Essentially,
implants become body parts, so they must be made with great
care and precision to ensure proper fit and function.
“Our core business model is taking a surgeon’s idea, or
a medical device company’s concept, and turning it into a
product,” explains Nick Slater, Engineering Director, CoorsTek
Medical – Phoenix. “We have collaborated successfully with
some of the largest medical device OEMs for the spine, sports
medicine, and orthopedics, as well as some very innovative
startup companies. We are able to rapidly design, develop,
and prototype these technologies with our streamlined
processes.”
“The complexity of our parts, considering the required
lead time, is probably our biggest challenge,” he says.
“There are no flat, square, or parallel features on most of
our parts, because the human body has no flat, square, or
parallel features. The heavy contouring required for our
products sometimes requires difficult setups, but we have
streamlined the process to cut cycle times. With the help of
the Haas Intuitive Probing Systems, setups are a lot faster
and more accurate. Also, we designed a dovetail clamping
system for 5-axis machining to accommodate the different
sizes and configurations we need, and it allows us to cut five
sides of the part in one setup.
“We use dedicated tooling in the first 15 tool stations,”
says Konrad. “We cut medical grade titanium, 17-4 and 400
series stainless steel, and implant-grade plastics, like PEEK
and UHMWPE. Some of these plastics cost $2000 per meter,
so we have to be certain we make the part right the first
time. The difficulty in working these materials, compared to
steel or aluminum, is a matter of relevancy; they are generally
more difficult to work. But for our shop, titanium, stainless,
and plastics are all we cut. It is easier using our dedicated
tooling, setups, and procedures. Of course, we occasionally
need custom tooling to cut some of features that would be
impossible with standard tooling.”
This is understandable, given the contours implants
require to mimic, or at least function as, natural bones in the
human body. But another consideration is size. Many of the
implants CoorsTek Medical – Phoenix prototypes are very
small, calling for tooling and setups that are somewhat off the
normal, compared to general machining.
“A large endmill in our shop is 1/8", and there are times
when we do our rough cutting with a 0.020" diameter endmill,”
Konrad notes. “We then finish with a 0.010" diameter endmill.
At previous employers, I loaded parts into the machines
with a crane, now I inspect some of the parts I make under a
microscope!”
CoorsTek Medical depends on their Haas VF-4s to get the
job done, and Konrad especially likes the Haas control. He says
CNC MACHINING | 17
the user-friendly, but powerful, control has stayed consistent
through the years, so transferring operators from one
machine to another other is very easy. And he is very pleased
with the Haas VF-4’s reliability. Konrad asserts that their Haas
machining centers are virtually maintenance-free, and when
there is a problem, the local Haas Factory Outlet provides
quick, efficient service to minimize downtime and disruptions
to their process.
“After we make a couple pieces complete, the engineers
will do tests to see what changes need to be made to the
design,” he says. “Then, they will repeat the process two more
times to lock down the final design.”
“Our process usually begins with our engineers bringing
the initial concept or design to the shop,” Konrad explains.
“We look it over and give DFM (Design For Manufacturing)
feedback, such as where a radius might be needed, or where
one should be taken out, if possible. The engineers use a 3D
printer in the preliminary stages of their designs. For some of
our parts, engineers will print a 5X or 10X size part in order to
easily analyze some of the smaller features. When everything
“One of the biggest keys to our success is having the
prototype shop co-located with our engineering group,” Nick
Slater says. “This facilitates good communication between
the engineers and the machinist, which leads to a fast transfer
of the design, and a quick turnaround of prototype parts, with
fewer dropouts. As a result of the quick lead times, we are
able to iterate on the designs at a more rapid pace, leading to a
shorter overall design cycle.
looks good, we start programming, which we sometimes do
only partially, so we can see how the parts react to each step,
such as warping or deflection during machining.
“In addition,” Slater notes, “our shop personnel are cross-trained on all aspects of the
prototype manufacturing process, including programming, setup, machining, surface
finishing ops, and inspection. This leads to greater efficiency, as each part is owned by
a single machinist, and it allows them to take a greater responsibility for all steps in the
prototype manufacturing process.”
“And we have to keep as many processes as possible in-house to ensure on-time
delivery,” adds Jim Konrad. “So, we do processes like heat treating, titanium anodizing,
passivation, and laser marking to keep our lead times down.
“Due to FDA regulations and requirements, we can only build prototypes in our facility,”
Konrad concludes. “But we do have production facilities in Utah, Ohio, and Oregon – and
those facilities also use Haas CNC machines to manufacture the parts!” CoorsTek Medical – Phoenix
480-598-2678
www.coorstekmedical.com
CNC MACHINING | 19
F E AT U R E
Photos Courtesy Foden Designs
OV E R TH E TOP
DOW N U N DE R
Ormeau is a small Australian town just south of Brisbane on the famous Queensland
Gold Coast. If you have a product that you need designed and prototyped, Ormeau is a
great place to be, because it is the home of Foden Designs Pty Ltd – a small design and
machine shop with big talent. The young company is growing quickly on its reputation
for over-the-top quality, superior service, and imaginative design.
James Foden and his wife, Jenny, started Foden Designs four years ago, with a
couple manual machines and a Haas SL-30 CNC turning center. “We started with the
idea of making automotive aftermarket parts for the Australian market,” James Foden
explains. “It became apparent that the market was being increasingly offshored. We
came up with a very good design for catch cans, which separate the oil from engine PCV
vapors. We sell them as our own product, and to other companies, who market them as
their product.
“Jenny started out doing the books at night after working her full-time position
during the day,” Foden adds. “She now heads up the marketing department and does
some sales. And she’s spent time on the shop floor – doing jobs from deburring to
running the CNCs – when we were against a deadline!”
It wasn’t long before Foden Designs evolved into much more than a manufacturer
of catch cans. In addition to automotive products, the company also designs and
machines parts for the construction, mining, and several other industries. They are
especially talented at providing complete engineering service – from design to prototype
– especially for innovators and manufacturers developing their own product and looking for
high quality, and high style.
“Quality is our biggest emphasis,” Foden says. “But we also highly value appearance.
We make top-quality, functional, precision products that look good, too. It’s art. When
the customer holds our product in their hands, they see and feel something beautiful
and functional. They walk away loving it. It is a great experience, particularly if we helped
them develop a brand-new product, and they’re holding the very first part! They say,
‘Yes, we are going to make this work, and we can take it to the market!’ We want people
to walk in and feel that this is a quality shop that does quality work. We are a boutique
shop that does high-end, beautifully crafted work, and small- and medium-sized, highprecision production runs. This is not just another jobbing shop.”
Foden Designs added a Haas 5-axis VF-2SS with a TR160 trunnion table to their
machining arsenal in 2012, and expanded into new facilities in 2013. They plan to add a
Haas VF-2 to the new shop soon.
“The Haas CNC machines are awesome,” Foden says. “The Haas SL-30 with the bar
feeder can run extended periods without attention, and the VF-2SS with the 12,000rpm spindle and trunnion is just essential. Since we got the trunnion, we use it daily. We
just could not do the type of work we do without it; that would take some really crazy
fixturing! Just last week, we did a part where the first side had ten different working
planes. The ability to work five sides in one setup is a tremendous asset. With the
trunnion, it was just a matter of programming, but without the trunnion, we’d have to
turn the job away.
CNC MACHINING | 21
“And we have had very few issues with the machines,” he adds. “Except for when
we let someone operate the SL-30 who should not have been operating it. He did a 100
percent rapid traverse into a spinning chuck – but that was not the machine’s fault! Our
Haas service technician took care of that. He handles the whole south Brisbane area,
and he just finished his annual Haas recertification classes. He does a great job, and
whenever we have a question, we ring him up and he takes good care of us.”
Great service is an essential element of Haas Automation’s commitment to the
customer. It’s also an essential element of Foden Designs’ product development
business model. Another component of their success is the implementation of DFM
(Design For Manufacturing) principles.
“One of the biggest machining issues we encountered was that some of our existing
and new clients’ designs could not be machined efficiently,” Foden explains. “This led
to our design department and machinist working together with the clients to educate
them, starting with the really simple things, like removing unnecessary tolerances, and
better defining surface finishes. This is something that a lot of designers who have
never worked in a machine shop take for granted.
“We use SolidWorks® for designing for our clients, and ourselves,” Foden says.
“People come to us with a concept, and we will work closely with them and their team.
Designing their product using DFM principles allows the product to be quickly and
efficiently machined. We machine their product in aluminum, steel, stainless, or plastic.
We can do all the prototyping for them, and if they are happy with it, we can help them
bring the product to the market, and do small production runs. And, of course, we also
design and build components for established companies.
“Our machinists noticed that, with the implementation of DFM, they are able to
create simpler and more reliable programs that are best suited to our Haas machines,”
he points out. “This reduces cycle times, which is very important if we take prototypes
into production. Using high-speed machining with DFM is a great combination with
materials like aluminum, 4340, and stainless steels.
“But our best machining solution was to buy the Haas 5-axis VF-2SS with the TR160
trunnion as our first machining center,” Foden continues. “That made life a lot easier,
and way more efficient, by not having to create as many crazy jigs and fixtures. We use
the trunnion in conjunction with a vise and dovetail systems from 5TH AXIS® Fixtures,
or a chuck, as well as the occasional part that still requires a combination of a vise and
a customized fixture for final-op 5-axis machining. This gives us a lot of flexibility when
doing R&D design work for other companies.
“We work with Fiik Skateboards – one of the biggest electric skateboard
manufacturers and suppliers – designing and prototyping their parts,” he notes. “We
push the boundaries on skateboard parts, and that is something that we really enjoy. It
is different, and very satisfying to see a new, unique design go into production.
“We were approached in 2011 to start working with Fiik for product development,
to keep them in the number 1 position in the world for electric skateboards and unique
personal 4-wheel transportation,” Foden says. “We developed new billet trucks, plastic
injection molds, new drive mechanisms, and assisted in refining existing products and
developing new ones.”
Another Foden-involved product-development success is the Golf Skate Caddy™
(GSC), a four-wheeled skateboard-style golf caddy.
“The most exciting news for us is we are now producing heaps of iPhone
accessories,” Foden reveals. “We do a couple of billet docks on the VF-2. These are
branded as Foden Designs. All the automotive enterprise is now branded Foden
Engineering.”
Foden Designs has projected adding another 5-axis trunnion machining center in
the next year – a Haas VF-4SS – to handle increased requirements of a rapidly growing
business. Foden Designs is a great example of building success on top quality, service,
and innovation.
http://www.fodendesigns.com.au
https://www.facebook.com/fodendesigns
CNC MACHINING | 23
A CALL
TO DESTINY
For some people, a name is just a name. For others, it’s a
mandate – a call to destiny.
When Titan Gilroy was growing up, he had no clue about the
origins of his name. It was just the name his mother had given him
at birth. To his friends, he was Ty, and he didn’t think much beyond
that. It wasn’t until he saw the movie Clash of the Titans that he
realized there might be more to it. But even then, he just joked with
his mom that she’d named him after a monster.
Quite the contrary. The Titans of Greek mythology were a
powerful race of gods descended from Earth and Heaven. They
were giants of incredible strength and knowledge, who ruled the
world during the legendary Golden Age of men.
In modern parlance, a titan is a person or thing of great
strength, intellect, or importance. In our solar system, Titan is
Saturn’s largest moon. And the element titanium, a metal known
for its high strength, is named for the mythical Greek Titans.
Notice a theme here?
Story and Shop Photos by Scott Rathburn
CNC MACHINING | 25
T
oday, Titan Gilroy owns and operates Titan America MFG in Central California, one of
the most successful machine shops in the U.S. The company specializes in machining
complex components from difficult materials for NASA and the burgeoning private
aerospace sector, as well as the subsea, defense, automotive, and medical industries.
Not only is Titan the personification of his name – strong, aggressive,
knowledgeable, larger than life – but he also machines titanium for a living! How’s that
for a cosmic twist of karmic synchronicity?
But these days, running a successful machine shop isn’t enough for Titan. He’s on a
much larger mission: “to put American manufacturing back on top of the world.”
Perhaps not what you’d expect from a tattooed pit bull of a man who looks more
like someone who’d kick your ass in an MMA cage match or heavyweight title bout, than
a successful businessman trying to restore the American way of life. His aggressive,
in-your-face style would be right at home in any WWE smack down, throwing down a
challenge to his next opponent.
That impression isn’t wrong. Titan is a fighter, and he is throwing down a challenge –
putting the rest of the world on notice that American manufacturing is still the champ.
“American manufacturing built this great country,” he says. “Great men built this
country, and they would roll over in their graves if they saw what was going on. Today,
America has lost its way. One hundred thousand manufacturing plants – gone. Millions
of jobs – gone. Once great cities now left in ruin. People starving on the streets. It is
time that we stand up and fight for America, fight for our jobs.”
And those aren’t idle words. Titan is not only doing it in his own shop, but has also
created a reality TV series to show the general public what American manufacturing is
all about – and show other machine shops how they, too, can fight the fight.
Fighting is something Titan knows all about. He’s been doing it all his life.
He spent his early years on the run with his mother and sister, fleeing an abusive
father. They ended up in Hawaii, but found themselves homeless for a time, until
his mother could get the family back on their feet. As the only white kid in a poor
neighborhood of islanders, Titan found himself constantly being picked on and beaten
up, until a concerned neighbor taught him how to fight and train.
Street fighting became a way of life for Titan; it was something he was good at. He
started hitting the local gyms and honing his skills, becoming a very good boxer. At the
same time, he sought refuge from the streets through drawing and painting. His mother
was a talented artist, and he followed in her footsteps.
CNC MACHINING | 27
A
rt was an escape, but fighting earned Titan respect. It also got him into trouble. He was
sent to a juvenile facility at the age of 12, and charged with armed robbery at the age
of 14. He not only got himself kicked out of school, but out of the entire school district.
Despite his troubled history, a private Roman Catholic high school offered Titan
salvation, giving him reduced tuition and arranging a job for him to pay the remainder.
Grateful for the opportunity, Titan dedicated himself to his job and studies.
But trouble still found him. During his senior year, Titan was mobbed during a street
fight and ended up hurting some people. Just 18 years old and facing prison time, Titan
went before the court and was found not guilty.
Legal issues aside, Titan’s fighting skills had caught the eye of a local boxing trainer
with connections to Dick Sadler in Oakland, who had trained George Foreman and other
boxing greats.
With help from his defense lawyer, who was impressed with the young boxer’s
intensity and desire, Titan received a sponsorship for a boxing contract and headed to
Hayward, California. After winning 35 of 38 amateur bouts and several Golden Gloves
tournaments, Titan was picked up by Top Rank Boxing in Las Vegas [one of the country’s
top fight promoters].
He was well on his way to becoming a professional boxer, when he threw a punch
in anger outside the ring during a return trip to Maui. During a confrontation outside a
nightclub, Titan broke one man’s jaw and caused brain damage to another. He was
charged with three counts of assault and sentenced to 16 years in prison.
In prison, Titan used the skills he’d gained on the streets to negative effect, and
ended up in lockdown for 6 months. Eventually, he was moved to a maximum-security
prison, and then to a medium security facility, where he could have pencils and drawing
equipment. Once again, he sought refuge in art, using his skills to create cards to sell
to other inmates for their wives and children. He also took a computer class, where he
learned desktop publishing and marketing.
CNC MACHINING | 29
Only 2 years into his sentence, and still years away from the possibility of parole,
Titan asked to be put on the “pine” line, a work program harvesting pineapples at local
plantations. It was hard, backbreaking work, but provided a temporary escape from the
prison walls. It also earned Titan a year off his sentence for good behavior.
Meanwhile, officials at Top Rank Boxing had been keeping tabs on the young boxer.
He was training again and working out, and they felt he had a future. They contacted
the parole board on his behalf, and promised to give Titan a boxing contract if they
would release him early. The board agreed, and Titan headed straight to Vegas, where
he started working with the best trainers and fighters in the world, winning fights and
dominating the competition.
Titan was well on his way to achieving his goal of becoming the heavyweight boxing
champion of the world, when tragedy struck again. A neighbor who was doing drugs and
terrorizing the neighborhood started threatening Titan and his wife. Trying to do the
right thing, Titan went to the police, but they were unable to do anything. He was on
parole, and any misstep could send him back to prison, so he asked the police what he
was supposed to do if the neighbor came after him. They told him to take care of his
family and protect himself.
Which he did, when the neighbor tried to follow through on his threats a few
days later. Titan put him down with one punch, and just like in the fight that sent
Titan to prison, the assailant hit his head on the concrete and was injured. The police
determined it was self-defense, and Titan was not charged, but he was done fighting.
“It didn’t matter if that was the only chance I had to do something with my life,”
Titan explains, “I just could not hit anybody anymore, and I walked away. We got a
U-Haul that day, packed it up, and came to California.”
Upon reaching California, Titan scoured the local papers for work. He landed a job
at a metal supply house in San Jose, cutting raw material for local machine shops for
$9 an hour.
Quite a cut in pay from professional boxing, but it didn’t matter, Titan says. “I
had a normal job, and a chance to do something, and within 6 months, I was able to
program every single saw in the whole place.”
That was Titan’s introduction to the metalworking industry, and it wasn’t long
before he graduated from sawing raw material to machining parts. The owner of a
local machine shop was looking for someone young to teach the trade to, and Titan
fit the bill. When he saw the CNC machines in action, Titan was hooked. He told the
owner: “I will do everything to master this thing, if you give me an opportunity.”
And master it, he did. Within a year, Titan went from making $11 an hour to
making $28 an hour. He became the foreman of the entire shop, and was doing all the
programming. To him, it was art – an opportunity to challenge himself and be creative.
One of Titan’s favorite challenges was cutting cycle times. “I’d look at these
cool parts,” he explains, “and I’d look at the cycle time, and it would say 7 minutes.
Nobody would be around, so I would jack up the spindle speed, and jack up the
feedrate, and see if the tool would break. And it wouldn’t break. And all of a sudden,
I’d look at the cycle time, and it would be down to 5 minutes.
CNC MACHINING | 31
“That’s 2 minutes per part, times 1000 parts, divided by 60 minutes, times the
hourly shop rate . . . we just saved a bunch of money!”
Titan quickly learned that, as long as he stayed within the limits of the tools and the
machines, he could push hard and fast to save time and make money. And that became
his mode of operation.
“We started doing more and more difficult parts,” he says, “and the challenge was to
do hard materials, do them fast, and make some money. I wasn’t thinking about making
money for myself; it was so awesome making money for my boss.”
That attitude kept Titan moving up in the company, but after 4 years of working in
the Bay Area, he was ready for a change. His enthusiasm for machining had not wavered,
but his enthusiasm for city living had. “I just kind of got tired of it,” he says. “I decided to
move up to Auburn, California, and get a different perspective.
Located just northeast of Sacramento, Auburn offered a more rural lifestyle, yet still
boasted a large contingent of machine shops where Titan could ply his new trade.
But his aggressive approach to machining was not well received. “I had a rude
awakening,” Titan explains. “I went from shop to shop, and I couldn’t find my place.
People thought I was dangerous, that I ran the machines too fast. I would program stuff
and drop the times in half, and they’d ask me to put it back how it was, because it was
too aggressive, and they thought somebody might get hurt.
“I worked for a lot of different shops and got a lot of experience. But through all of it,
I just found that I was so different from everybody. I was very aggressive, I was creative,
and people just didn’t really understand it. I was all about running fast and hard, and
saving people money, but they were comfortable in their present place, and didn’t want
to push the limits. And I just couldn’t live like that.”
Titan found some modicum of freedom at a shop in Colfax that was transitioning
to CNC. “They had just gotten their first Haas CNC machine,” he explains, “and it was
just sitting there. They had no clue what to do with it, because they were a manual shop.
They asked if I knew how to run it, and I’m like, absolutely!”
Within a few years, Titan turned the struggling manual shop into a thriving CNC
operation, with seven Haas machines. “I did all the programming, and ran multiple
machines,” he says. To run the night shift, he hired Jeff Weaver, a journeyman machinist
who had owned his own shop, and the two became fast friends.
“Titan was just the best I’d ever seen or worked with at production CNC machining,”
says Weaver, now retired in Texas. “He just had a gift for it. Anybody can just push a
machine to go fast, but what happens is you break the tool or the machine. The skill, the
talent, is how to get the most out of the machine without destroying it.”
Titan was set to take over the company when the owner retired, but the owner
decided to sell the company instead, so Titan walked out. He realized the only way he’d
ever be able to control his own destiny – and run the machines the way he wanted to –
was to start his own shop.
Weaver, disgusted with how Titan had been treated, left the company as well, and
offered Titan $50,000 to help fund his new shop.
Although reluctant to take his friend’s money, Titan
accepted – with the understanding that he would triple Jeff’s
investment in 2 years, and give him a 25-percent ownership in
the company. “It was a handshake deal,” says Weaver.
Titan contacted the local Haas Factory Outlet and quoted
two Haas VF-2SS super speed VMCs and two SL-10 turning
centers, along with the tooling he’d need to get started. He
also started lining up customers who were familiar with his
talent and knew his capabilities. “Everybody was super happy
that I was going to get my own shop,” he says.
But everything came to a grinding halt when the financing
fell through for the machines.
As with his boxing career, providence intervened. Bill
Selway, owner of the local Haas Factory Outlet (HFO), had
heard good things from his staff about Titan and what he was
doing with Haas machines. He looked at his business plan and
agreed to underwrite the loan.
“Boom! So then I had to get a building,” Titan says. “Jeff and
I realized I wasn’t going to get money from anyone else, so he
refinanced his house – against his family’s wishes – and took
out another $75,000.”
Titan found a building and worked a deal with the landlord.
He offered customers discounted rates to get their work, and
they agreed to pay him early to help him out.
“I was all about running fast and hard, and saving people money,”
Titan says. “And finally, I had my own company. I started
with nothing, and we got our first four Haas machines, and
I just started running the way I always wanted to run, without
anybody telling me what to do. And it was awesome!”
Titan is quick to credit those who helped him get started,
though. “If they hadn’t taken a chance on me, then I would not
be where I am today.”
Titan Precision Engineering opened its doors in 2005 –
with three employees and four Haas machines – and within a
year, the company had generated $1 million in revenue. Titan’s
hard and fast approach, along with his ability to run difficult
parts in tough materials, kept his customers coming back.
“We were doing parts in two or three minutes that other
people would do in 10 minutes,” Titan says. “We were doing
parts in 10 minutes that other people would take 40 minutes. I
had double vises – as many vises as I could get in the machines
– running as many parts as possible, and doing them in minutes.”
Titan’s Haas Super Speed VMCs played a key role in his
success. “I truly was in love with them,” he says. “They could
go 833 inches a per minute, and I just got it into my head
that, every time I run anything, it’s going to be at 833 inches
a minute. Not 800, but 833. All the tool guys, sales guys, and
different people would come into the shop, and they would
just stand in awe, and look at the programs. It just became the
way we did things. I got a team of workers around me, they all
learned this style, and that is who we became.”
CNC MACHINING | 33
The client list grew quickly, bringing with it more challenging work. Materials like
6AL-4V titanium, Inconel®, ToughMet®, Nitronic® 60, A286, and 15-5 stainless were the
norm, with aircraft-grade aluminum alloys, carbon fiber, G10 glass-reinforced epoxy,
Vespel®, and Delrin® thrown in to keep things interesting.
But not everyone was a believer. Titan Precision Engineering is, and always has
been, an all Haas shop, and some people doubted the machines’ capabilities. “And it
really started to bother me,” Titan says, “when people would come into the shop and
say: How do you machine titanium [on a Haas]? How do you do Inconel? How do you do
A286? It can’t be done.
“I’ve been running Haas machines for about 15 years, now. The machines are
awesome, and all the controls are exactly the same. I love the fact that one guy can be
trained on one machine, and basically walk throughout my entire shop, and not have to
be retrained. That’s important to me.
“They’re easy to program,” he adds, “and it’s all about the talent in the programming.
You just need to know how to approach it and how to program it. We are operators and
programmers; we tell the machines what to do. You have to be cautious. Every material
has a tool, and you just have to understand feedrates. You have to understand the art of
approaching any particular part, taking the pressure out of the part, out of the tool, and
just making it cut like butter. If it’s aluminum, you run it a certain way, and if it’s titanium
or Inconel, you run it a certain way.”
Impressed by what Titan was doing with his Haas machines, the salesmen from the
local Haas Factory Outlet often brought customers by his shop to see things firsthand.
“I’d be running a 14"-diameter piece of Inconel in my SL-20, taking up the entire work
envelope,” he says, “and it would just blow their minds. And I would just get excited. I’d
be like, you know, it’s this tool, and it’s this feedrate, and it’s this chip load. Don’t take
huge cuts. Take a smaller radial cut, but use the entire depth of the tool flute. The same
amount of material is coming off, but with less pressure. Now, jack up your parameters
in all areas. Take the same amount of material, but do it faster. Cut it like butter. And I
just started teaching people.”
[In case you were wondering, Titan also made good on his promise to triple Jeff
Weaver’s investment in the company, paying him $620,000 for his original $125,000
and 25-percent share, along with a generous monthly stipend that continues to this day.
Weaver’s wife, who threatened Jeff for risking their entire life savings on the venture,
now counts Titan as a close friend and family hero.]
In 2008, Titan moved to a 35,000-square-foot facility near the Auburn airport,
added more machines, and hired more employees. The company had grown to 20 Haas
machines and 55 employees – running three shifts a day, seven days a week – with
revenue expected to hit $6 million by year’s end.
Then the world economy went into a downward spiral. “In 2009, 2010, I literally went
through the toughest times in my life,” Titan says. “I had some big customers stop work
across my floor. Work gone. Things going overseas. Jobs stopped. We were at the top of
CNC MACHINING | 35
our game, saving people huge money, yet the jobs were just put on hold.
People weren’t running a thousand pieces, they were running five. People
weren’t even giving out work. They were just holding on, and waiting for
the economy to come back.”
Over the next year and a half, Titan had to lay off 40 of his
employees, and relocate to his former facility in Grass Valley.
Knocked down, but not out, Titan continued to fight.
“I made it out . . . barely,” he says. “I ended up reforming my company,
keeping my best machinists – a smaller group of guys – and taking the
work to an elite status. I was fortunate to get some new customers, do
even harder parts, more extreme parts, and just kept going after parts
that wouldn’t go overseas.”
But something had changed for Titan. “It wasn’t about building a
huge company anymore,” he says.
A man of strong faith, he believes that everything happens for a
reason. He changed the name of his company to Titan America MFG –
“an American job shop,” he says – with the eagle as his new logo, and he
made it his personal mission to reestablish American manufacturing as
the best in the world.
Having suffered firsthand the effects of clients taking their work
offshore, and seen the devastation wreaked upon machine shops
throughout America by the economic meltdown, Titan had a clear
vision of what needed to be done.
“I’m not saying that I have all the answers,” Titan says, “but people
are taking American work to other countries for 10, 20, 30 percent
savings. Yet, most companies are only running at 10 to 30 percent of
their machines’ capabilities. If we push a little bit harder; if we change
our mindset, and start really getting to know these machines; if we stop
fearing them, and start pushing them the way they’re capable of being
pushed, using the right tools, and doing all the right things, we could
actually start competing, keeping these jobs here.
Photo Courtesy Titan America
It’s a philosophy Titan lives by every day. His business has
continued to grow by taking on the difficult jobs that other shops
couldn’t – or wouldn’t – do. Titan America currently boasts 13 Haas
machines, including a brand-new UMC-750 5-axis universal machining
center, and recently relocated to a larger, 20,000-square-foot, airconditioned facility in Rocklin, about 25 miles south of the company’s
Grass Valley location.
CNC MACHINING | 37
“We’re taking everything to a higher level,” Titan says. “We still have the
amazing parts and the amazing customers, and the machines are running
nonstop every day.”
It’s exciting stuff. But what Titan is most excited about is his new
reality TV series – TITAN: American Built – which airs weekly on the MAVTV
cable network.
“This is the first high-end manufacturing show to hit prime time,” Titan
explains. “Every week, we’re doing challenging parts for different American
industries. It’s against all odds to get it done. We’re showcasing CNC
machining, delivering the parts in the nick of time, showing them getting
assembled, and then showing the payoff.
“It’s not just about having a TV show,” he says. “It’s about making a
difference. It’s about having a platform to educate the public. I think a lot of
people look at machining, and they think about oily floors and grease, and they
don’t even want to step in the door. Today’s machine shop is a lot different. It’s
clean, the machines are awesome, and each piece, literally, is like a work of art.
“When I look at the show, I see a platform to – in a non-threatening way –
educate America about this amazing, very high-tech trade that is literally the
foundation of this great country. A great country that is going to be in trouble
if we don’t pick our manufacturing base back up and revive it.
“This is real life. A hundred thousand companies have gone out of business.
Not because Americans don’t know how to work, or because we don’t have
the machines, but because we haven’t truly embraced the technology.
“We need to run hard. We need to run fast. We need to save people money.
We need to solve problems,” he says. “We need to teach our youth about
this great industry, and raise them up to move forward and take this trade to
another level. Together we can bring about change.
“I’m not here to solve every problem. My team is not here to solve every
problem. We’re just going to showcase great projects and great companies,
and we’re going to show American manufacturing and CNC machining like it’s
never been shown before.
“I just want to open people’s eyes to the truth. America can do it faster,
better, and cheaper than anyone. We need to believe, and embrace advanced
technologies. Because that is our future.
“BOOM!”
916-824-1005 | www.titanamericamfg.com
https://titanamericanbuilt.com
http://www.mavtv.com/shows/titan
For more about Titan’s history, and additional photos, visit:
http://atyourservice.haascnc.com/Success-Stories_Titan
CNC MACHINING | 39
How do you build a winning NASCAR team – literally?
Do what Stewart-Haas Racing does.
Machine your parts on a Haas.
Every part listed here, and dozens more,
are made on Haas CNC machine tools.
Haas Automation, Inc.
|
8 0 0 - 3 3 1 - 6 74 6
|
w w w.Ha a s CNC.c om
CNC MACHINING | 41
F E AT U R E
TAIPEI AND
L A DOLC E VITA
Motor scooters are unquestionably the most popular mode of transport in Taipei, the bustling capital
city of Taiwan. Marus Performance and Artitek are two companies working together to make custom
bike parts for bike owners, particularly those with a passion for Italian motorcycles. Another thing
owners Maru Shen and Jeffrey Chen have in common is their passion for Haas machine tools.
To Western consumers, “Made in Taiwan” was once a
byword for spurious quality, even though the Asian Tiger built
a whole new economy with manufacturing as its foundation.
These days, the narrow backstreets of Taipei, the
country’s capital city, are where you can find the new
generation of makers. For example, friends Maru Shen and
Jeffrey Chen originally lost touch with one another only to
discover later they’d both chosen to make a living using Haas
CNC machine tools.
Now, when they’re not organizing ride-outs on gleaming
Ducatis, MV Agustas, and Vespas, they’re designing and
making aftermarket parts for a growing band of fellow
appassionati.
Taipei is mad about motorcycles. According to the most
recent figures available (2010), there were 13.4 million
registered motorcycles in the city and its environs – officially
the highest motorcycle density per head of population in
the world. There are many reasons behind this two-wheel
addiction. Firstly, the city’s narrow streets are clogged with
cars, while free parking for motorcycles and soaring gasoline
prices fuel the city’s residents’ preference for bikes.
Marus Performance, based in the Sanchong district
of Taipei, an important area for subcontract manufacturing
companies, was originally a typical motorcycle shop, repairing,
maintaining, and selling scooters.
“I’ve been interested in motorcycles since I was at high
school,” says Maru, “and I have been making modifications to
my own motorcycles for years. Of course, when you make a
part for your own bike, you want it to be special – unlike all the
mass-produced parts available.”
Mr. Shen soon discovered he wasn’t alone in his passion
for custom motorcycle parts. Before he knew it, Marus
Performance was diversifying into an area that would
provide him and his wife, Gomi Ho, with a raison d’être and a
very good living.
“In no time, we had a long list of custom-designed parts
that needed machining. At first, we would outsource, which
was very time and energy consuming. Then we realized we
could probably make the parts ourselves, but better, so we
started approaching companies selling CNC machine tools.”
Although Mr. Shen says the first thing that attracted
him to the Haas Super Mini Mill was the price, he also makes
clear how relatively easy it was to operate for someone who
had no experience, which was an important consideration for
someone about to take his first steps into the world of CNC
machining.
“When I decided to buy a Haas machine, I found lots of
links on the Internet posted by other Haas users, showing
operators how to use the machines,” explains Mr. Shen. “We
watched those tutorials and discovered it wasn’t as hard as
we thought.”
Since the installation of the company’s Haas Super Mini Mill, annual sales at
Marus Performance have increased to an impressive 1.5 million New Taiwan Dollars
(US$50,000).
“At the beginning of 2014, we also wanted to start exporting, and we’ve managed
to make a little progress,” says Mr. Shen. “The main thing is, the Haas machine is very
reliable, so we don’t have to worry that it will break down. This gives us the confidence
to take orders without the fear of disappointing any new customers.”
He provides the example of a fuel cap for an Italian motorcycle called an MV Agusta,
which has just been introduced in Taiwan. The cap is made from high-density 7075
aerospace-grade aluminum.
CNC MACHINING | 43
“Because we use a highly reliable Haas machine tool and
good quality CAM software, our price is very competitive.
We’ve just started exporting this part – a replacement filler
cap for an MV Augusta – and so far we’ve made 50. It takes
about one hour and 15 minutes to make each one, and
requires some delicate cutting.”
Of course, the list of potential replacement parts is
almost endless, but examples of components produced by
Mr. Shen include steering damper kits, wheel caps, swing
arms, caliper adapters, carburetor caps, brake levers,
handlebar mounts, engine covers, and thermostat housings.
The company also produces 12" rims for Vespa 946/GTS/GTV
scooters. Machined from forgings, the rims demand intensive
pocketing, profiling, and contouring operations.
Artitek CNC
“Maru and I have a very interesting history,” explains
Artitek founder, Jeffrey Chen, “as our relationship was
originally shop owner and customer. We lost contact with
each other for years, until I started my company, and he
found me through Facebook. He discovered I was using Haas
machines – the same as him.”
Today, Marus Performance designs the custom
motorcycle parts and makes prototypes and first-offs on the
Haas Super Mini Mill. The two companies then discuss how to
produce the parts in higher volumes, analysing how to make
the manufacturing process better and more efficient, and
how much they should charge customers for the finished
components.
Artitek uses several Haas machines, including two VF-2SS
Super-Speed vertical machining centers and a DT-1 Drill/Tap
Center. The most recent introduction – in July 2013 – is a larger
VF-3SS Super-Speed vertical machining center. The company
also has a Haas HRT210SP rotary table to serve as a fourth axis
on one of the VF-2SS machines.
“The main reasons I chose Haas are, first of all, they’re
made in the USA, and secondly, the control is very easy to
use,” says Mr. Chen. “I knew nothing about CNC machining
when I bought my first Haas machine, but within 12 weeks,
I was fully proficient. I had lots of support from the Haas
distributor, who was able to answer any questions and solve
any problems we had.”
Mr. Shen says that a lot of his friends questioned his
decision to switch in 2010 from his first profession as a
musician and sound engineer to CNC machining. Several told him manufacturing was a
“sunset” industry, but he doesn’t see it that way.
“Innovation in CNC machining never stops,” he says. “As a technology, it only goes
forward, not back. For this reason, CNC machining will never become a sunset industry.
For the past three years, our company has grown at a very speedy pace; we have
surprised those people who doubted us. I feel like all my hard work has paid off.”
Without a doubt, Maru’s and Jeffrey’s passion, determination, and commitment
to investing in affordable technology will take their young businesses from strength
to strength.
“While we spend time discussing how to machine parts for motorbikes, we also talk
about how to improve the riding experience, and how we can make the parts that
customers would love to have,” concludes Mr. Chen. “If those parts sell well here in
Taiwan, I see no reason why they won’t do well overseas, too. The important thing is they
are beautifully made, and our CNC machines are reliable and cost-effective.”
www.facebook.com/pages/MarusFactory/144909805683620
www.facebook.com/pages/Aritek-Ltd/189753234389925
CNC MACHINING | 45
F E AT U R E
MADE (it) IN
TAIWAN
TMPC Co Ltd is based on a side street of the city of Taichung, around an hour south
of Taipei on Taiwan’s west coast. There’s little about the exterior of the business to
reveal its history or the hard work behind its success. Inside, a number of CNC machine
tools, including a Haas VF-2SS Super Speed vertical machining center, are busily
producing parts for a variety of customers around the world.
Two decades ago, TMPC owner Mr. Hardus Coetzee arrived in Taiwan from his
homeland of South Africa as part of a government-sponsored educational initiative.
“I was one of 23 people who came to Taiwan to learn how to be instructors – teaching
locals with no prior education,” he says. “I thought it would allow me to use my skills as
a trained fitter and turner in the South African Air Force, which I had joined after leaving
school.”
Embarking on the three-month instructor course, little did Mr. Coetzee know that
one of the school’s English-speaking Taiwanese translators would later become his wife
and the mother of his two children!
“Unfortunately, she was fired once the school discovered she was seeing a student,”
he says. “I finished the course and returned to South Africa for a short while. I came
back to Taiwan a month or so later, and Frannie came to visit me. We were married within
four months!”
At first, finding a steady job proved easier said than done. Mr. Coetzee initially tried
his hand as an English teacher, but that only lasted a month. He longed to get back to
machining, but two subsequent spells as an employee at local CNC companies lasted
seven and eight months respectively. Mr. Coetzee even tried to start his own CNC
business, but the venture limped to a halt after 18 months due, he remembers, to a lack
of knowledge of local business customs and practices. The same thing also counted
against him in his next venture, which was buying and selling goods. His age (25, at the
time) meant others, speaking a language alien to him, often took advantage of him.
“It was then that I went to a second-hand machine tool ongoing “finder’s fee” he had to pay his acquaintance meant
dealer in an attempt to resume cutting metal for a living,” he the job was proving unprofitable, so once again, he stopped
says. “I asked the owner if I could use the machines to make production.
parts, in return for which I would pay a piece rate. This meant
that whenever they had a potential customer come along to
“The end customer asked why I’d stopped,” he says.
look at machines, they would see them working. The owner “I didn’t want to land my acquaintance in trouble, so they did the
was skeptical at first, but eventually agreed. He started to sell traditional thing and took me out and got me drunk. Then I told
more machines as a result of the agreement. Unfortunately, he them everything. Afterwards, we worked around the issue, and
then got greedy and wanted to charge me more, so I stopped.”
I’m happy to say we continue to make rollers for them to this
day. That was my very first encounter with ‘corruption,’ and in a
Almost at the end of his tether, Mr. Coetzee pooled all way, it was a good thing; I began to wise-up in business and be a
the money he and his wife could lay their hands on, around little more cautious in my dealings.”
US$20,000, and borrowed a little more from friends. It was
enough to buy his first “modern” machine: a Taiwanese-built
Mr. Coetzee had accumulated an armory of 20 machine
mill. With the aid of a helpful Frenchman who spoke fluent tools, and was working harder than ever. New orders came
Mandarin and made his living sourcing parts in Taiwan for from the optical lens industry, as well as makers of electric
overseas companies, Mr. Coetzee secured his first customer, cars – in the case of the latter, to produce as many as 12,000
a go-kart specialist in North Carolina, USA. TMPC Co Ltd was gearboxes a month. With more and more orders also arriving
properly on its feet, and the Coetzees finally had a future from the roller customer, TMPC clearly needed a bigger facility
ahead of them.
and better machines. The moment had arrived to expand again,
and fortuitously, he discovered Haas CNC machine tools.
In time, orders came, and Mr. Coetzee added two turning
machines. The shop was operating 24 hours a day – he’d work
“My first Haas was a DT-1 Drill/Tap Center,” he says. “Now
16 hours before his wife took over, while he slept in an adjacent that I’m a Haas user, I believe all shops, wherever they are in
room. Soon after, an acquaintance asked the husband and the world, should use Haas. For what you pay, they are the best
wife team if they could make large, roller components for the production machines in the world! Now, because of me, I know
woodworking industry. They could, they said, and promptly at least two other companies near here who have invested in
machined around 600 parts in the first month! However, the Haas machines in the past six months. I now have three Haas
CNC MACHINING | 47
machines, a DT-1, a VF-2SS Super Speed vertical machining center, and a VF-4 VMC,
which was bought to machine the rollers. We are now planning to buy a 5th-axis unit for
the VF-4.
“On the VF-2SS, I do a lot of prototyping, because it is so fast – it machines
wonderfully in 3D,” says Mr. Coetzee. “The machine is easy to set up, and ideal for short
batch production. I make around 100 different 3D machined parts on the VF-2SS, which
runs 17 hours a day, every day.
“My operators insist they only want to use the Haas machines,” he says. “For
example, they discovered that if they worked our other machines hard, they became
inaccurate. We push the Haas machines to the limit, and they show no such problems.”
Other parts he makes on the VF-2SS are carburetors for racing lawnmowers, for
a U.S. customer, which feature many small tack holes, with each part produced in less
than two hours. “The same part takes five hours on one of our Taiwanese machines,”
says Mr. Coetzee.
Despite the high-volume output at TMPC, nothing is rushed to the detriment
of quality.
“Many people are wary of Made in Taiwan,” Mr. Coetzee says. “I suggested to one
particular UK customer that I make him some molds free of charge, to see if they were
happy with the finished product. Of course, they were, and they’ve never looked back. Just
because we are based in Taiwan does not mean our customers get poor quality. For new
customers, I don’t charge; I let them try us, first. That’s how we get a lot of our business.”
In May 2012, Mr. Coetzee’s hard-won success allowed him to pay off his
US$2 million bank debt in its entirety. He also began working fewer hours, and allowing
others to take some of the day-to-day responsibility of running the business. These
days, the only job he does himself on the shop floor is machine programming; he employs
others to do the tool setting and machine operating. In total, the company has a staff of
14, which allows Mr. Coetzee to take time off and enjoy evenings and weekends with his
wife and daughters, or on extended fishing adventures in the South China Sea.
TMPC is poised once again to move to bigger premises, as well as achieve ISO
certification. After so many years of trial and error – so many trials and tribulations –
Mr. Coetzee is adamant he now knows the secret to running a successful machine shop.
“When we move to a new facility, we will not take any of our old machines,” he says.
“They will all be Haas!”
CNC MACHINING | 49
F E AT U R E
HEARING INTO THE
FUTURE
From brass ear trumpets to cochlear implants, hearing devices have come a very
long way. Spanish manufacturer GAES has been innovating for the last 60 years or
so, and during that time, it has applied all available technologies to make hearing aids
smaller, less obtrusive, and more effective. Its latest investment is a Haas VF-2SS CNC
machining centre.
Thanks to rising living standards, people in developed nations are living longer,
which is a good thing, of course. But ageing creates problems, not just for the aged,
but also for governments and the medical agencies charged with providing health
care. In otherwise healthy individuals, faculties fade and organs begin to fail. Medical
manufacturers with affordable, appropriate technologies have a growing market for
devices that enhance and preserve a person’s quality of life for as long as possible.
Hearing loss and preventable blindness aren’t just two of the world’s greatest
healthcare challenges, they’re also huge commercial opportunities. In India, for
example, companies like Appasamy use Haas CNC machine tools to make intraocular
lenses for millions of patients suffering cataracts, glaucoma, and similar eye
conditions. In Barcelona, Spain, hearing aid manufacturer GAES has invested recently
in a Haas VF-2SS CNC milling machine, which it uses to make moulds and dies for its
bespoke products.
GAES began almost by chance more than 60 years ago, after its founder, Juan
Gassó, returned from a trip to London with a primitive hearing aid, brought home for a
family friend. Inspired by the difference they could make, and fascinated by what was
cutting-edge technology at the time, Juan began a business to import and distribute
the devices. In those early years, he did his sales rounds on a green, 1953 Ossa
motorcycle, demonstrating his products to patients and potential customers the
length and breadth of Spain.
Business was brisk, and in 1958 Juan used his success to take the next logical
step and establish Microson SA, the first and only manufacturer of hearing aids in
the country. As part of GAES, Microson was created to provide users with pocketsized, analogue (transistor-based) devices, which are impressively small, even by
today’s standards.
CNC MACHINING | 51
In those early years, he did his sales
rounds on a green, 1953 Ossa motorcycle,
demonstrating his products to patients
and potential customers the length
and breadth of Spain.
N
owadays, the size and output of the business belies
its humble origins. Its vertical, 5-floor factory is
located at a busy traffic junction in the enigmatically
named 22@ area of Barcelona, where technology
companies cluster amidst colourful apartment blocks and small
coffee bars. The new headquarters was opened in 2010, and
dedicated to its founder. In the window of the office foyer is his
restored motorcycle: a monument to the man, his vision, and his
early endeavor. A long glass display along an adjacent wall shows the evolution of the
GAES product over the decades. Fifty years after Juan began importing and selling his
range of devices, the global market for hearing aids is worth $5.4 billion annually, and
GAES is the leading hearing aid company in Spain. At this facility, in clean rooms and
electronics labs, 130 employees produce more than 50,000 hearing aids every year.
The new building is also home to the company’s Haas machine: a VF2-SS Super Speed
vertical machining center. Microson has a daily production target for its volume made
products of 50 to 60 a day. The Haas milling machine, however, is used in the production of
custom products – bespoke devices that fit a users’ exact ear dimensions.
“The process starts when one of our hearing centres sends us a patient’s ear print,”
explains Mr. Sergio Pavon, R&D technical assistant. “This is a 3D negative of the ear
canal, created using a type of resin. We then scan the negative form and obtain a 3D file
in our CAD/CAM system, which we then use to programme the Haas machine. Now that
we have the Haas, we can go from order to delivery of custom devices within 3 to 4 days.
It has allowed us to take control of the entire manufacturing process.”
As well as reducing the time to make a new part, the Haas has also permitted better
product uniformity.
“In the old days, before computerised manufacturing technology, you could easily identify
which device had been made by which of our craftsman,” say Mr. Pavon. “Now, 3D printing has
helped standardise the final appearance of hearing instruments, and that has improved the
quality and reduced the amount of scrap.
“The Haas was installed in 2013. Initially, the goal was to acquire a good quality machine
that was accurate and user-friendly. It’s simple and intuitive, which makes for a very quick
implementation time; you don’t need much training to become a competent machinist. The speed,
accuracy, and precision are all very good, as is the versatility – it’s easy to change application.”
Although the VF-2SS is used for many day-to-day component machining tasks – cutting
steel, aluminium, and plastic – it’s used mainly for the machining of moulds. These, in turn, are
used to produce very delicate and small parts used within the company’s hearing devices, by
means of conventional injection molding and special, heat-less ultrasound injection machines.
The ultrasound method was introduced initially to produce a tiny plastic circular part, which
has a membrane mesh that stretches across the microphone part of the hearing aid to protect
against wind, water, and dust. “The component demands the use of very expensive plastic,”
says Mr. Pavon. “It must be non-allergenic, and comply with certain health industry directives.
Conventional molding was leading to high scrap rates, as the part would be damaged by the
inherent heat of the process.”
CNC MACHINING | 53
At this facility, in clean rooms and
electronics labs, 130 employees produce
more than 50,000 hearing aids every year.
W
ith the company’s specially designed ultrasound machine, there is no heat.
Instead, an electrode vibrates 30,000 times every second to liquefy the
resin. The company uses this machine to develop and make the inner ear canal
fitting and filter. The electrodes produced for the ultrasound machine are also machined
using the VF-2SS, which runs largely unsupervised across two shifts, every day.
Mr. Ivan Jimenez, machine shop manager, explains the process the company used
to select the right make and model of machine from a number of different options.
“When looking for a new machine, the first thing we do is complete a verification
report in which the supplier, in this case Haas, fills in a series of requirements with
which we need the machine to comply,” he explains “Using this evaluation method, we
complete a spreadsheet in which we start to award marks to each machine. We continue
this process until we are satisfied that the decision for purchase is based on completely
objective factors, such as rpm, power, accuracy, and repeatability, rather than subjective
factors such as visual appearance.”
“Actually, it was quite a hard decision,” adds Lluis Gómez, director of the Microson
product. “Ultimately, it was made based on the relationship of price and quality, although
the delivery date was also very important. However, we are very satisfied with the Haas
technology, which has allowed us to accelerate the machining of delicate and high
precision parts.”
In 2008, GAES founder Juan Gassó passed away. At the time of his death, the
company had opened more than 500 hearing centres worldwide. GAES now has offices
in Portugal, Turkey, Chile, and Argentina, serving more than 500,000 customers. The
company’s success owes a great deal to its tireless founder and his faith in technology.
GAES products today are discreet, digital devices that help more people than ever lead
a safer, happier, and overall better quality life. That’s an impressive legacy for a
salesman who started his business from the back of a little green motorcycle.
www.gaes.es
CNC MACHINING | 55
E D U C ATI O N
Photos Courtesy Bates Technical College
T H E S TAT E O F
TR AINING
a t B a t e s Te c h n i c a l C o l l e g e
The manufacturing industry’s shortage of new machinists is a growing concern.
Consequently, many companies reach out to local technical institutions, in search
of qualified graduates. Not surprisingly, many of the aerospace companies around
Seattle, Washington, including Boeing, hire graduates from Bates Technical College in
Tacoma. The school’s Machinist Technology programs not only boast an excellent staff,
thorough curriculum, and top-notch facilities, but also enjoy a very big advantage: They
are subsidized by Washington State.
“Our curriculum is geared to put our graduates into jobs and apprenticeship
programs,” says Bates Machinist Technology Instructor Bob Storrar. “We teach
algebra and trigonometry, CAD/CAM, measurements, blueprints, and provide hands-on
manual mill and lathe training, before going on to working with CNC machines; and most
graduates continue on to become journeyman machinists. That takes a lot of time and
effort. State support makes it possible to provide high-tech, hands-on training that
would otherwise be difficult to provide, if we had to find our own financial backing.”
The Bates facilities are well equipped with both conventional machines, and a
variety of high-tech Haas CNC machines, including an EC-300 4-axis HMC with pallet
changer, a Haas VF-1 VMC with 4th axis, six Mini Mill VMCs, an SL-20 turning center with
tailstock and live tooling, three ST-10 turning centers (one with tailstock), and a Haas
GT-10 turning center. The school’s engineering, robotics, and other related programs
are also located in the machining area.
“We have two machine shops, and two programs,” says CNC Machinist Technology
Instructor Barry Young. “One is primarily conventional machines, and the other
is primarily CNC machines. The conventional program includes four quarters of
conventional machining, and two quarters of CNC. The CNC Machinist program
includes two weeks of conventional training, and more than five quarters of CNC setup,
operation, and CAD/CAM programming. In the CNC Machinist program, we teach indepth Collision Avoidance classes soon after new students take a safety class – which
teaches them to safely use the Haas CNCs at the start of the program.
“We have had wonderful results from our Haas machining
centers,” Young asserts. “They are very flexible machines that
are excellent for teaching, yet have the complexity to provide a
good platform for students.
“Bates graduates are competent at setup and operation
of CNC machining and turning centers,” Young adds. “They
can draw whatever they can think up in SolidWorks®, generate
the toolpaths in Mastercam®, and verify the code in VERICUT®,
because they truly understand how to make the software work.
And they can make the part with high precision, because they
are proficient with the machines.”
Until recently, the Bates programs worked independently.
Now, there is an ongoing process to merge the machinist
programs into one robust, flexible program to more closely
match students’ objectives. Because state and legislative
support have minimized the uncertainty of funding, the school
is able to provide first-class training in a high-quality learning
environment. Graduates are fully prepared to be profitable
from the first day in any shop – and most stay in manufacturing
as a career.
The State of Washington is a winner, too. Bates students
generally choose careers in Washington, strengthening the
state’s manufacturing industrial base. Companies pay the
graduates good wages, so both companies and employees
pay taxes and buy goods, increasing the state’s revenues and
strengthening the economy – a very good investment.
“We’ve made machining one of our cornerstone programs,”
explains Bates President Ron Langrell. “Manufacturing,
particularly in the aerospace industry and secondary markets,
is a primary focus. There is an increasing demand for new,
skilled manufacturing workers.”
And Bates is helping meet that demand. Currently, 97
percent of graduates from the Bates CNC Machinist Program
are working in manufacturing, with about 90 percent working
in the Seattle and Tacoma areas; and many of those jobs are in
the aerospace industry.
While Bates provides a top-notch machinist program,
the school’s educators share the industry’s concern about
disappearing talent. “Many instructors with 20 or 30 years of
experience are retiring,” Storrar points out. “The average age of
a machinist instructor is over 50 years, so we need to keep that
tribal knowledge from being lost.”
“Bates is a Career-Technical education institution, serving
several greying industries,” Langrell explains. “Some big
companies have projected that they will lose half of their
qualified machinists in the next ten or fifteen years. That is a
sobering thought. Technical institutions have faculties that
are aging just like the industry. As we replace each one of these
precious teaching positions that become vacant, we must
think carefully about what succession will look like, and what
the habits and skills of the next generation of workers will be,
and how to meet the unfolding requirements of industry. We
have to consider who will make up the instructional staff that
will take us into the future.”
Bates Technical College
www.bates.ctc.edu
CNC MACHINING | 57
HAAS
CYCLE
TIME
HHP/Harold Hinson Photography
Haas F1 Team Milestones
It’s been less than a year since Gene Haas was granted a license by the FIA to field
an entry in the Formula One World Championship, and already the team is well on its way
to fruition. Scheduled to hit the grid in 2016, Haas F1 Team will be the first-American-led
Formula One team in 30 years.
Here are some of the team’s milestones on the road to Formula One:
The 125,000-square-foot Haas F1 Team headquarters on the campus of StewartHaas Racing in Kannapolis, North Carolina, is now complete. An additional facility is
planned for Europe.
Haas F1 Team has selected Scuderia Ferrari as its technical supplier. Scuderia
Ferrari, the most successful team in the history of Formula One with 16 constructors
titles and 15 driver championships, will provide the power unit, gearbox, and overall
technical support to Haas F1 Team.
Adam Jacobs has been named chief marketing officer for Haas F1 Team. Jacobs
comes to Haas F1 Team from Anheuser-Busch, where he was the sports marketing
manager for the company’s Budweiser brand in NASCAR and the Bud Light brand in the
NFL and college sports. Jacobs will lead brand strategy and partnership development
for Haas F1 Team.
Veteran motorsports engineer Matt Borland has been named vice president
of technology for Haas F1 Team and Stewart-Haas Racing. In this role, Borland will
serve as a liaison between the two organizations, overseeing the transfer of Formula
One technology to Stewart-Haas Racing, while providing Haas F1 Team with deep
engineering resources.
Haas F1 Team’s driver lineup likely won’t be determined until the 2015 season has
been completed. The organization is looking for an experienced driver familiar with the
current cars and regulations.
Haas Automation Donates New
Equipment to NAIT Machinist Programs
This past August, Haas Automation, Inc., made a
generous donation of equipment to Northern Alberta
Institute of Technology (NAIT) for its Machinist programs.
The donation, valued at $595,740, includes an entrustment
agreement of four CNC turning centers and 10 CNC Mini Mills
over a five-year period.
The newly entrusted CNC equipment raises the total
of entrusted Haas machines to 30. This, combined with the
purchase of 15 additional Haas machines, brings the school’s
total machine count to 70, making NAIT the largest CNC
training center in North America.
“Haas Automation recognizes the importance of NAIT to
the manufacturing industry in Canada,” said Vice President
Peter Zierhut. “Our donation of CNC machine tools supports
the high-quality training at NAIT, and ensures their success in
connecting with local industry. We fully support their efforts to
expand and modernize CNC training.”
“Companies like Haas Automation see the value in handson learning and, as in the past, have shown strong support
by helping us prepare our students to join the workforce by
using the most up-to-date tools and technologies currently
available,” said Malcolm Haines, dean of NAIT’s School of
Trades.
The school’s new Haas equipment arrived just in time for
the new academic year.
Harvick Delivers SHR’s
Second Championship
On November 16, Kevin Harvick, in his first season
with Stewart-Haas Racing (SHR), drove the No. 4 Budweiser
Chevrolet SS to victory at Homestead-Miami Speedway to
clinch the 2014 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship. It
was Harvick’s first Cup title, and SHR’s second championship
in only its 6th season.
The series finale at Homestead certainly was one of the
greatest in NASCAR history. With 15 laps to go, Harvick found
himself in 12th place after taking four tires during the race’s
12th caution, on lap 249. After two more quick cautions,
Harvick was on the front row for the final restart with another
Chase finalist, Ryan Newman. But Newman only took 2 tires on
the caution, and when the green flag waved, it was a heads-up,
nail-biting, 2-lap sprint to the checkers, with Harvick victorious.
The other two Chase finalists were not even close – Hamlin
finished seventh, and Logano finished 16th.
“You know, I think as you go back in time and you just really
think about everything that’s led up to this point, this is what
we race for,” said Harvick. “You show up to race for the Sprint
Cup Championship trophy, and to be able to come here in our
first year with Gene (Haas) and Tony (Stewart) and Rodney
(Childers) and all these guys on the team, you really have been
able to experience something that you don’t get to experience
very often. And in the end, it’s really about the people.”
SHR’s Kurt Busch, driver of the No. 41 Haas Automation
Chevy SS, closed out the 2014 NASCAR season with one
win, 6 Top-5, and 11 Top-10 finishes – and made it into the
Chase! All in all, not a bad first season with a new crew in a new
organization.
The 2015 Sprint Cup season kicks off Feb. 13-22 with the
traditional Budweiser Speedweeks at Daytona (Fla.)
International Speedway. The 57th Daytona 500, the first
points-paying race of the season, is scheduled for Feb. 22, and
will be broadcast live on FOX.
CNC MACHINING | 59
O N LI N E F E ATU R E S
Stories
Videos
FELCO Trims Part Costs – FELCO is perhaps the world’s
leading brand name for garden secateurs. The Swiss
company manufactures around 1 million pairs every year,
using two fully automated
Haas DT-1 CNC drill/tap
machines.
Haas VMC: Chip Clearing and Tool Lubrication – How do
Haas Vertical Machining Centers keep your cutting tools
lubricated, and clear chips
away from the cutting area?
This video shows all the ways
Haas VMCs tackle these
important tasks.
Scan to view full article.
Smiles Better – Dutch company Cyrtina uses 5-axis Haas
VMCs to craft impeccable dental crowns from zirconium
and porcelain. Dental restorations that used to be crafted
by hand are now produced
by machine shops equipped
with the very latest in CNC.
Star-Turn – Reality TV shows are popular due largely to a
formulaic business model that almost guarantees success.
Senior management at UK company PCML might balk at
being compared to such entertainment drivel, but they,
too, have developed a business model that reduces risks
and, as much as possible,
guarantees future success.
High Praise for the Hautbois – Paris-based Rigoutat
makes oboes using Haas CNC machine tools. The company
began more than 70 years ago, and is run today by Philippe
Rigoutat, grandson of the founder. These days, Rigoutat
makes 50 to 60 oboes every
month, using a Haas TL-1
Toolroom Lathe and, Mini Mill.
Tailstock Fundamentals – This video covers an array of
topics related to using the tailstock on your CNC Turning
Center, including: lengthto-diameter ratio, center
drilling, tailstock pressure,
dealing with fragile parts, and
choosing and maintaining a
live center. We also review
the methods for controlling
the Haas Tailstock with
M-codes and Settings, and finish by cutting the same part
with and without tailstock support.
Machine Tool Coolant Series – We created this series of
five videos to address the
most common questions and
problems customers have
when it comes to maintaining
their coolant. While these
videos can be watched in any
order, if you are new to mixing
and maintaining your coolant,
we recommend you start by watching the “Tools of Coolant.”
V I E W TH E V I D E OS
We’ve collected all of these featured videos on one playlist
exclusively for CNC MACHINING readers. Just scan the QR
code and watch them all from your mobile device. Or go to:
http://bit.ly/139xOA0
to watch these featured videos on your
desktop or laptop now!
Born to Run.
Once you’ve run a Haas, you’ll never be the same.
We get it right, because our focus is on the operator.
Our reputation is a badge of honor: reliability, value, performance –
and a machine that is flat out Born to Run.
Your personal Haas how-to
assistant is at HaasCNC.com.
Go online. Take some time and check it out.
You won’t know what’s there until you explore!
CNC MACHINING | 61

- Haas Automation®, Inc.

Transcription

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