ADF carbide flat drill more than double tool life and efficiency while enhancing counterbore hole surface quality in bearing production
Tim Holmer | OSG USA
Professional Bearing Service Inc. located in Los Alamitos, California, United States has been reconditioning and repairing bearings, oil rings and seals for over 40 years. The shop was founded by Ted and Chris Mandryk, father and son, respectively, with the goal to achieve superiority in the repair and manufacturing of Babbitt bearings for a wide range of industries, such as oil refineries, power plants, electric motor shops, mills, sewage treatment facilities, and many more. Professional Bearing Service currently employs 28 staff at its 12,280-square-feet shop. Many of its workforce are dedicated employees with an average tenure of over 15 years.
Since 1978, Professional Bearing Service has been serving as a full service 24/7 Babbitt bearing repair and manufacturing leader.
“We sometimes get calls from companies at 2 a.m. or 3 a.m. saying that their equipment is down, and we would get right to work to either repair or manufacture new parts for them,” said Joe Gonzalez, Professional Bearing Service CNC Supervisor.
“When a customer’s equipment goes down, it can cost them several thousands of dollars per hour in production,” said Gonzalez. “The capability to supply clients with immediate solutions is immensely important to their production schedule and financials,” said Gonzalez.
Over the years, Professional Bearing Service has evolved from repairing bearings to keeping inventory of certain products to best service their longtime customers. As Professional Bearing Service continues to provide superior products to their clients, they are always in search of new solutions to further improve processes.
Professional Bearing Service CNC Programmer Travis Lee prepares for the counterboring operation of their bearings made of 1020 steel in Los Alamitos, California, United States.
Recently, Professional Bearing Service has been trying to resolve an issue they have with counterboring. Professional Bearing Service counterbores approximately 90 percent of the bearings that the company manufactures. Professional Bearing Service manufactures approximately 500 bearings annually. Bearings being a round product, can present multiple machining challenges. There are several places in which machining curved surfaces to a flat is necessary in order to make these bearings. The counterbore depths that Professional Bearing Service deals with range from 1.5-inch to over 4-inch. The long reach requirement makes it a challenge to identify a productive and effective tool for the job.
In the past, Professional Bearing Service used a half-inch 4-flute end mill to plunge and peck out material to create flat holes in 1020 steel. The end mill’s length of cut was 1-inch with an overall length of 6-inch. The tool was used at a speed of 2,000 RPM (262 SFM), a feed rate of 5 IPM (0.0006 IPT) and a peck cycle of every 0.050-inch using a Southwestern Industries Trak Machine Tool machining center. The average tool life was 50 parts with four holes per part, which is equivalent to 200 holes.
Professional Bearing Service manufactures approximately 500 bearings annually. Bearings being a round product, can present multiple machining challenges. There are several places in which machining curved services to a flat is necessary in order to make these bearings. The counterbore depths that Professional Bearing Service deals with range from 1.5-inch to over 4-inch.
Professional Bearing Service has been using OSG’s A-Tap series for tapping deep blind holes to place bolts into their bearings. Its CNC department has relied on OSG’s A-Tap line for the past two years with great results that no other competitor taps are able to achieve. With high confidence in OSG’s tooling performance and a recommendation by Professional Bearing Service’s tool supplier Pacific Industrial Supply Co., Professional Bearing Service decided to try out OSG’s latest drilling innovation for inclined surfaces and counterboring applications – the ADF carbide flat drill series – to tackle their counterboring challenge.
Machining a flat hole traditionally required the use of an end mill and a drill. OSG’s ADF carbide flat drill enables one-step drilling without requiring a starter hole to shorten machining time and simplify tool management. The ADF’s unique balanced point form improves precision and minimizes the shifting of the hole position. Its sharp cutting edge geometry results in low cutting force to minimize burrs even in thin plates. With a wide chip room configuration, trouble-free chip evacuation can be achieved. Furthermore, with the addition of OSG’s proprietary EgiAs coating, tool life can be prolonged with excellent heat and wear resistance.
The ADF is a multi-purpose flat drill series engineered for machining inclined surfaces and counterboring applications. Unlike conventional drills, the ADF flat drill is capable of creating holes in inclined and contoured surfaces without requiring a start hole.
Upon a detail evaluation of the application, a 2-flute 10.5 mm (0.4134-inch) diameter ADFLS (EDP# 3333050) from OSG’s ADF flat drill series was put into the spindle. The ADFLS’s length of cut is 46 mm (1.811-inch) with an overall length of 160 mm (6.3-inch). With OSG’s ADF flat drill, Professional Bearing Service’s CNC department is able to run the 1020 steel application in their Southwestern Industries Trak Machine Tool machining center with greater efficiency. The tool is being used at a speed of 2,500 RPM (270 SFM), a feed rate of 10 IPM (0.002 IPT) and a peck cycle of every 0.050-inch.
The ADF series is suitable for materials such as carbon steel, alloy steel, hardened steel, cast iron and even stainless steel with its recently expanded oil hole type offering ADFO. Professional Bearing Service’s bearings vary in material, but are mostly made of 1020 steel, cast iron, or bronze, all of which can be cut by OSG’s ADF with ease. Professional Bearing hasn’t seen the full tool life of the ADF yet, but they are extremely positive with the result the tool has achieved so far. The ADF flat drill has thus far completed 140 parts (560 holes), which is nearly three times the tool life of the previous tooling choice, and is still being used in 1020 steel and bronze applications. Although the ADF drill is approximately 30 percent more expensive than the competitor tool, it provides more than twice the tool life, reduces 50 to 70 percent of the operation time, and also further enhances surface quality.
“We have been able to reduce our run time by 50 to 70 percent on this operation while also improving the surface finish on our product,” said Gonzalez. “Our goal at Professional Bearing Service is to provide the very best products for our customers, along with the shortest lead times. OSG has helped us at Professional Bearing Service to achieve our goals.”
For more information on OSG’s ADF carbide flat drill series and Professional Bearing Service Inc.
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