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As a general subcontract manufacturer, APB Engineering Limited has been known to produce some fascinating parts and assemblies that include bio-scopes for heart valves, golf club heads, motorcycle parts and numerous obscure components that are all part of everyday life as a modern subcontract manufacturer. Working with materials from nylons and plastics to brass, aluminium, stainless and mild steels, the Sandhurst based company encountered numerous inefficiencies and difficulties with its cutting tools, until an ITC representative knocked the door almost 10 years ago.
When ITC technical representative Mr Dave Cleeve made a chance visit to APB Engineering almost a decade ago, Managing Director Mr Adam Busby decided to test ITC cutters on a particular problem part. The Berkshire based manufacturer was producing aluminium housings for a motorcycle assembly and the tooling that was in use caused imperfections where an aesthetically immaculate surface finish was required. The 2041and 3041 Cyber Series high helix 2 and 3 flute end mills from ITC made an immediate impact by generating remarkable surface finishes and improving tool life.
The previous tools left a poor finish that saw the APB team hand finishing the parts to achieve the required surface finish, a labour intensive task as the parts were produced in batches of 1000. The ITC cutters eradicated this laborious task and improved the tool life. Taking 6mm deep cuts, the previous tools could only machine one batch of 1000 before needing a tool change. The ITC 2041and 3041 Cyber Series comfortably machined upwards of four batches before tool wear created the need for a cutter change.
From the initial success of using ITC cutters, the company that opened its doors for business in 1984 continued to implement ITC tooling on numerous projects. The next issue encountered by APB was the machining of heads for golf clubs. The company won an ongoing order to machine the heads and the grooves on golf clubs. The company’s Bridgeport CNC machining centre had a maximum spindle speed of 6,000rpm and this was insufficient for the high speed machining of the grooves, resulting in poor tool life. As in many scenarios, certain machining centres are unable to deliver the spindle speeds required to optimise the performance capabilities of the cutting tools.
In this instance, ITC’s Dave Cleeve delivered the solution with an Air Turbine Spindle that was bolted to the spindle of the Bridgeport VMC. The 625JS Air Turbine Spindle available from ITC generates a maximum spindle speed of 40,000rpm and this proved ample for the grooving of the golf clubs. Combining the spindle with a 0.9mm diameter 155 Series solid carbide Metal Removal ball nosed cutter from ITC, APB immediately improved tool life from 70 parts per cutter to over 500 parts per cutter.
“As a general subcontractor we produce an almost endless array of parts from all types of materials and these jobs often demand exceptional surface finishes and tight tolerances. The ITC cutters have helped us to maintain and in many cases improve our surface finishes. As well as using the ITC tools on our machining centres for small batch and one off workpieces they are also used on our Tornos sliding head turning centres for large batch work. The reliability and consistently high quality of the ITC range gives us confidence that the tools can be loaded in machines that run 24/7 unattended,” says Mr Busby.
“What else has impressed us is the level of service. If we ever have a job that is particularly difficult or problematic, we can call on ITC and a representative can either give us support over the phone or be with us extremely quickly to provide support. Despite using ITC cutters for general purpose work, we have found from experience that special cutters and solutions like the Air Turbine Spindle are delivered with real urgency and this is something that you will only find with a UK based manufacturer. This exceptional level of support gives us confidence that we can rapidly acquire the tooling solution for almost any job that may come through the door. And as a general subcontractor that is invaluable to us,” concludes Mr Busby.
