Page 37 - MetalForming June 2013

easily holding tolerances on these weld-locating features to within 0.001 to 0.002 in. As a result, our welders rarely have to reference blueprints or measure and scribe guide lines. The process basically involves inserting key A into slot B and welding, which makes the process quick and practi- cally flawless.“
These fabrication features, notes McGehee, do not completely eliminate the need for welding fixtures. Some fixtures are required to keep parts square and plumb. However, custom fixturing is unnecessary, and most of the time the shop’s welders simply need only a flat table surface.
Cutting for Two Days Straight, Uninterrupted
As a critical tool in the shop’s man- ufacturing operations, the waterjet- cutting machine typically runs from 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m. six days per week in the WaneShear plant. It occasionally operates in continuous production for as long as 48 hours, uninterrupted.
According to McGehee, no one at the shop had previous experience run- ning an abrasive-waterjet machine. But with just a week’s worth of training from an Omax technician, the shop was able to get the machine up and running quickly. He adds that the Intel- li-Max Software Suite “is so user friend- ly that it took only about 5 hours of programming instruction to train our operator. If a person knows how to turn on a computer, they can run the Omax.”
From start to finish, it takes the shop about six months to build one Wane- Shear; annual build capacity is four systems. But as the shop ramps up pro- duction, it expects production time per unit to drop significantly. To shorten lead time, the firm has begun to struc- ture operations to allow simultaneous production of two WaneShear systems. As a result, the waterjet-cutting machine now cuts two of every part, with the extra parts used to build the next sys- tem. “The machine’s speed is what allows us to do this, without adding a significant amount of time to produc-
tion,” says McGehee.
With that said, the shop plans to
eventually inventory enough parts to simultaneously build three or four WaneShears. McGehee points out that doing so “would help reduce materials- purchasing costs and machine setup times. Plus, with our newer CNC machines, we’d increase our lights-out machining operations.”
McGehee sees the shop achieving,
within the next four years, an annual production level of six WaneShears. But to reach its ultimate goal of eight systems per year, the shop would have to double the size of its machining department. The waterjet-cutting machine, on the other hand, could eas- ily handle that increase in production, he says, by being run 24/7. MF
Article provided by Omax Corp., Kent, WA: 253/872-2300; www.omax.com.
Max O’Dee
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