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For a gear manufacturer, precision hole drilling was a standard operation but produced costs that were “out of control.”
Throughout its almost half-century of history, the company has reinvested much of its revenue into high tech gear-making equipment. Dalton Gear’s shop is an ultramodern CNC machine center comprised of manufacturing cells. Its high-precision equipment performs cutting, turning, milling, and finishing true to ten-thousandths of an inch. Dalton Gear offers manufacturers expertise beyond what its name indicates. In addition to helical, bevel, and worm gears, it also makes sprockets, stock-bore, taper lock and shear pin coupling, timing belt pulleys, right-angle gearboxes, and worm gear shaft-mounted and foot-mounted speed reducers. Dalton Gear markets its products in the United States, Canada, and Europe. Seeking to improve their globally competitive status, Dalton Gear analyzed its costs and discovered that from May 1999, to December 2002, it had purchased at least $13,000 in new drill bits. Additionally, it was sending drill bits out for sharpening. As is typical of many shops, no one person was responsible for the drill bits, so operators would just toss dull bits in a basket and pull newly purchased bits from stock. According to Scott Holler, Dalton Gears’ purchasing manager, they were “experiencing out-of-control costs” until they purchased a new XT3000 Xpandable Tool Sharpener from the Darex Corporation (Ashland, OR). Dalton Gear discovered the sharpener at the 2002 International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago, where it made its debut. The basic XT3000 unit sharpens standard and split point drill bits at angles from 118° to 150°. The XT3000 includes two adjustable rustproof stainless steel chucks that hold the entire range of drill bits from 1/8" to 13/16". An optional attachment increases the range to 1-3/16". With this sharpener, Dalton personnel can control each drill bits point configuration including the relief and design of the split point. Optional Darex fixtures sharpen other cutting tools, such as step drill bits, brad points, 90° points, large drill bits, Weldon, and single flute countersinks. All sharpener adjustments and attachment changes are done without tools. The XT3000 uses a lock-and-pin system to secure the attachments. The solid metal design features steel and bearing-grade bronze components in all critical places. Roller bearings are used where wear might occur. Tim Woods, president of Dalton Gear, remarked that times have changed in the world of manufacturing. “With the current trends and continued demands for tight tolerances that our customers place on us, precision tools are becoming more and more common.” The new sharpener, he notes, provides precision tools at a reasonable cost. The Darex Model XT3000 Xpandable Tool Sharpener is available with a choice of CBN Borazon, recommended for high-speed steel and cobalt tools, or with diamond wheels recommended for carbide tools. These super-abrasive wheels require no dressing, which helps keep the area free of grit. This sharpener is more than 90% enclosed and includes a vacuum port that the user can connect to a vacuum system, assuring a clean operation. Darex also sells two vacuum-powered grit removal systems to be used with its sharpeners. The powerful Emerson motor is a ¼ hp - 3450 rpm and rated for continuous duty. Now Dalton Gear controls the purchase of new stock by resharpening drills to like-new condition. Scott Holler reports that the company has recovered the initial outlay by sharpening years worth of dull bits that were collecting dust. Previously, when they sent bits out for re-sharpening they were not always happy with the results. Now they can control the result. “We have about two and half plastic bins (16"W ´ 23"L ´ 12"H) full of dull drills waiting to be sharpened. We converted a storage room in our shop just for sharpening drills with a workbench and shelving bins for the sharpened bits,” explains Holler. The types of drills that Dalton Gear uses are primarily jobber length. The sizes include all letters, numbers, and fractions. Most often used is a 118° drill point configuration. The drills are reshaped on the XT3000 as needed per job requirements. Dalton Gear runs a variety of machines in its drilling operations including CNC, Bridgeport mills, and drill presses. Its processes include, but are not limited to, drilling and tapping, bolt circles, and pinholes. Material includes 1045 (mild steels), alloy, brass, bronze (also Ampco18), aluminum, stainless steel, cast iron, and heat-treated steel. It maintains exacting hole dimension and tolerances, including pinholes at ±0.001". Their usual tolerance levels are the industry standards. The XT3000 sharpener is precise; it meets or exceeds National Aerospace Standards for lip height variation. The frequency of sharpening depends on material used. When a drill is resharpened to its original configuration, the life of the drill is the same as new. However, if the point is enhanced, for example re-sharpening an ordinary jobber drill into an high-performance split point drill, operators experience greatly improved drill-life. Dalton Gear staff remark that the resharpened drill bits are on size, and sharp and work equally as well as new ones. The company notes it has had no problems using the Darex sharpener. The sharpener is “transparent” in its functions. People in shop environment intuitively understand how to operate it. The XT3000 comes with an operations manual and a demonstration CD. Dalton Gear machine operators can custom-sharpen drills by changing point angles or styles for specific jobs, pull a resharpened bit from their resharpened stock, or delegate a person for sharpening as needed. Darex Corp. - May 2003 |
When it comes to modernization, Dalton Gear (Minneapolis, MN) steps up to the plate without hesitation.