CNC machining Archives - CNC Industries

A recent part for the B-1B bomber

We recently completed a first article part for the B-1 bomber. Once the fit and function are performed we will be producing several batches of this part.

Our understanding is that this component is part of the rudder assembly for the aircraft. This part was machined form solid 7000 series aluminum and presented several machining challenges which had to be managed. One of the main challenges is controlling the physical stresses that are created by the extrusion or forging processes. As material is removed the stresses can become unbalanced and create distortion in the part being produced. In this case, because of the thin walls involved the distortion could have become quite extreme.

Since we have a lot of experience machining 7000 series aluminum we were able to keep distortion under control. After going through several carefully planned roughing operations the final finishing operation was performed with a highly customized fixture designed to fully support the thin webbing. The finished parts that we produced are well within the required specifications.

Here are a few tidbits about the B-1B:

The B-1B is a multi-role, long-range bomber, capable of flying intercontinental missions without refueling, then penetrating present and predicted sophisticated enemy defenses. It can perform a variety of missions, including that of a conventional weapons carrier for theater operations.

The swing-wing design and turbofan engines not only provide greater range and high speed at low levels but they also enhance the bomber’s survivability. Wing sweep at the full-forward position allows a short takeoff roll and a fast base-escape profile for airfields under attack. Once airborne, the wings are repositioned for maximum cruise distance or high-speed penetration.

Numerous sustainment and upgrade modifications are ongoing or under study for the B-1B aircraft. A large portion of these modifications which are designed to increase the combat capability are known as the Conventional Mission Upgrade Program. The Air Force initiated to improve the B-1’s conventional war-fighting capabilities. The $2.7 billion CMUP program is intended to convert the B-1B from a primarily nuclear weapons carrier to a conventional weapons carrier.

November 18th, 2013|Tags: B-1B, CNC machining|

The community responds to our “Occupy A Job” sign

Since putting up a yard sign which says – Occupy A Job, We’re Hiring! – we have received a significant community response to it. We’re very pleased to say that most people accepted the sign in the spirit that we intended it – that we’re growing and we have several positions available for qualified people.

Although admittedly the sign is a play on the “Occupy” movement which is spreading around the country, we didn’t intend for this sign to be interpreted as an anti-Occupy Wall Street message. In fact, we agree with some of the issues that the OWS groups have. We just happen to believe that rather than Occupy public land in protest, the best thing we can do as a small business is to work at growing our business and create new jobs.

Kevin Leininger of the Fort Wayne News Sentinel newspaper was the first to pick up on the sign. He interviewed Steve Deam Sr. and Steve Deam Jr. and wrote

[this article]].

As you can tell by some of the comments on the article, some people take exception to the message on the sign. I’m not sure how a message that we have jobs available is a bad thing, but apparently to some people it is…

The following day WANE TV contacted us for an on-camera interview and aired [this piece] on the sign.

Exactly one week later Indiana News Center requested an interview and aired [this piece] as a follow-up to the story.

As a result of the unexpected media exposure, we were flooded with résumés and applications.

Reaction to the sign was overwhelmingly positive. We received numerous emails from people, as well as had people stop in, who wanted to let us know they loved the sign. We even received emails from people in Arizona and Utah who said they saw the story on their local news.

We also received positive reaction from many of our own employees, and in fact, it was a couple of our employees that suggested we add tents to draw more attention to the sign. Our office staff told me that out of the well over 100 applicants, not one person had anything negative to say about the sign. We even had at least one person from the “Occupy Fort Wayne” movement stop in to apply!

CNC Industries would like to thank all of those people who have applied for a position. Due to the strong response, we expect to be able to quickly fill the 5-7 positions currently available and will draw upon these applicants for future positions as they become available. We are in the process of reviewing each and every application, and will be contacting people very soon for an interview.

We wish we had jobs available for every applicant who truly wants a job, but unfortunately we don’t. We’re working on it though. Going forward we anticipate creating anywhere from 10 to 30 new jobs each year.

December 19th, 2011|Tags: CNC Industries, CNC machining, Lean Manufacturing, Occupy A Job, Occupy Wall Street, OWS, Precision Machining|

Steve Deam, Jr. is speaking at the JobshopLean 2011 Conference at Ohio State University

Because of the extensive work that CNC Industries has done in the area of using technology to support lean manufacturing, Steve Deam Jr. has been invited to speak at the JobshopLean 2011 Conference hosted by Ohio State.

The purpose of this conference is to explore the many ways that implementing Lean Manufacturing in a Jobshop is different than implementing it in Toyota. The primary difference, as quoted from the “Jobshoplean” web site, is: “A typical Jobshop is a HIGH-mix and VARIABLE-volume manufacturer of a large variety of components. Whereas, Toyota is a LOW-mix HIGH-volume manufacturer of a few assembled products. Consequently, while it is easy to recognize “Value Streams” at Toyota and many of their Tier 1 suppliers, this is a challenge in the case of a Jobshop where 100’s, if not 1000’s, of different routings need to be grouped into process families.”

Steve will be speaking on September 7, 2011 from 8:00am to 9:00am. He will discuss numerous ways that using technology can cut overhead expenses as well as facilitate Lean production in the shop.

Topics will include:

• Utilizing standard software and computers to a greater extent than the typical machine shop

• Document Management

• Corrective Actions Management

• Data Collection, Data Processing into Information for Decision Support and Information Transfer across the Shop

• Data Visualization

Click

[here] to see Steve’s presentation outline in PDF format. (Depending on your connection speed it may take a few minutes to load.)

Click [here] to see the bio’s of the various speakers.

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Steve Deam Jr. is V.P. of Finance as well as V.P. of I.S. at CNC Industries.

CNC Industries is a Fort Wayne, Indiana based Job-Shop specializing in precision CNC machining, fabrication and assembly of application-critical and custom machined parts for the Aerospace, Defense, Medical, Industrial and Transportation markets. The company presently employs approximately 50 people and is adding people on a continuous basis.

September 1st, 2011|Tags: CNC Industries, CNC machining, Lean Manufacturing|

Difficulties with Precision Aerospace Machining

Machine Shops that work on a variety of different types of parts will know that custom machined parts for one industry may have drastically different issues than those machined parts for another industry. Aerospace components tend to have similarities in what makes them difficult. A few of the issues that face include: extremely tight tolerances, large numbers of machined features, large amount of material removed during machining, and multiple quality specifications.

Let’s look at the tight tolerances. Airplanes are assembled from a huge numbers individually manufactured parts. Each of these parts needs to be manufactured to a precise tolerance in order to facilitate assembly. By themselves tight tolerances are merely a norm in the precision machine shop world. it is when combined with the other factors that the tight tolerances cause difficulties.

The second difficulty of custom aerospace parts is the large number of machined features. An individual aerospace component may potentially have several hundred individual features. When you will have hundreds of dimensional checkpoints, even a single feature that is at the edge of tolerance can cascade and cause future dimensions to be further off. The only way to ensure that a part is going to be good is to hold the earliest tolerances even tighter than what the prints call for.

Implied in the second point is the amount of material removed. Removing a large amount of material causes it’s own difficulties and stresses on the machinery. Additionally the material itself will change dramatically as it loses the tensile strength of it’s original form while being machined. The programming and fixturing of the custom machined part needs to account for the changing strength of the material while simultaneously ensuring that tolerances are kept throughout.

Finally, in addition to the other issues, aerospace parts tend to have many external quality standards in terms of fit and finish. The cosmetics need to be pristine and the painting or plating needs to be done exceptionally well.

The 2 parts pictured below exemplify some of the complexities of custom machined aerospace parts.

Here are some additional custom machined parts that we have made.

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CNC Industries is a Fort Wayne, Indiana based machine shop specializing in precision CNC machining, fabrication and assembly of application-critical and custom machined parts for the Aerospace, Defense, Medical, Industrial and Transportation markets. The company presently employs approximately 55 people.

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March 25th, 2010|Tags: Aerospace Machining, CNC machining, custom made parts, difficult parts|