Mill turns out complete crank

[lovehamr]

This is cool.  Anyone know what engine this crank would be for?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81UjjSH2iFw&feature=player_detailpage

[machoneman]

This is cool.  Anyone know what engine this crank would be for?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=81UjjSH2iFw&feature=player_detailpage

Yes, it's a demo crank and not one used in any engine according to the Martech reps. post:

This is a "Demo" crank to illustrate the machines capabilities, so it really is a combination of design elements.  Recognition to all the people who know there crank designs and comment on this question. 

[jayb]

That is really cool.  It amazes me how much material (steel!) they are taking off, and how quickly they are doing it.  It looks like they are removing 1/4" or so at a time with a face mill!  I don't ever take off more than 0.010" at a time with the face mills I use.  There is so much to learn about tool selection, speeds and feeds, cutter inserts, etc. etc.

[philminotti]

Very interesting.  Is this how a company like Moldex does their billet cranks?

[ScotiaFE]

Very Kool!
If I only had an extra half million lying around.

That is really cool.  It amazes me how much material (steel!) they are taking off, and how quickly they are doing it.  It looks like they are removing 1/4" or so at a time with a face mill!  I don't ever take off more than 0.010" at a time with the face mills I use.  There is so much to learn about tool selection, speeds and feeds, cutter inserts, etc. etc.

You must mean 0.100" which is still a light cut for a good size chomper.
If it's not smoking it's not cutting.

[jayb]

Nope Howie, I mean 0.010".  If I try to take off more than that I end up with a really poor finish...

[ScotiaFE]

This is on your big mill?
The biggest issue is always getting a good grip on the item.

[jayb]

Yes, when using the face mill on my intake adapters.  I can cut a lot more off of course with a standard end mill, but the facing mill will leave a poor finish if I try to take off too much.  To get a good surface finish I want to make one pass with a 4" face mill, and the width of the cut is 3.5" or so.  I can take more off if I limit the cut to 2" or less, but the surface doesn't look as nice like that.

The castings are not perfectly rigid on the 4th axis either, which contributes to the problem...

[cjshaker]

That is really cool.  It amazes me how much material (steel!) they are taking off, and how quickly they are doing it.  It looks like they are removing 1/4" or so at a time with a face mill!  I don't ever take off more than 0.010" at a time with the face mills I use.  There is so much to learn about tool selection, speeds and feeds, cutter inserts, etc. etc.

Umm, go to the 1:00 mark and watch that cutter get cherry red!!   Me thinks that tool didn't last very long. Probably good for demonstration purposes....not so much for actual production unless they plan on changing a few tools after every crank. I've watched a few billet crank videos and none of them took off that much material, that fast.

Also, I think that machine is just a TAD bigger than your average CNC machine. The local shop has 4 of them, but that one is aimed more at heavy mass production. The factory stuff is HUGE.

[427Fastback]

I have watched that video before..I am very impressed by the amount of material they take off with a single cut but what really impresses me because I haven't a clue about it is the programing involved..We have a CNC Quick drill,horizontal boring machine and semi cnc Alpha lathe at work.If need be I can run them all if some one programs them or I can run the boring mill and lathe in manual mode...The programing involved is beyond my realm...

[lovehamr]

That's what dumbfounded me watching it.  The math involved seems like it would be tremendous.

[jayb]

The math is all done for you by the software.  For example, if you create a 3D CAD model in a program like Solidworks, you can use another program like Mastercam to generate the complete program.  Mastercam is set up for whatever machine you are running the program on; it knows the tools you have installed, the machine dimensions, etc. because you have to specify that in the setup.  You take your 3D CAD model, run the Mastercam software on it, and it generates all the code that runs the machine.

The software is expensive, but for a production shop probably well worth it...