A customer called who wanted to bore a number of holes from
1.500" to 2.250" in diameter in aluminum. He wanted to know if he
could run his boring head at 1,000 RPM. He has a number of Criterion 202 and
203 style boring heads and just wasn't sure what would be the best choice.
The size range of the bores made the 202 style the best choice
for the application. He would have been able to reach the desired RPM on most
of the bores and his parameters would have allowed him to produce them in about
30 seconds. I asked if he would be interested in producing the bores in 10
seconds or less which startled him because he had not thought about being able
to do it that fast.
We then discussed the balance kit for the 202 style boring heads
which gives it the capability of operating at speeds up to 5,00RPM. It uses a
chart, a series of 6 balancing shafts and 4 balancing weights. The benefit for
this customer was he could reducing the producing cost of this operation by 80%.
Some additional benefits gained were improved surface finish and longer tool
life from operating the carbide insert at the optimum SFPM. There will be less
pressure on the spindle from the imbalance for the off-set on the boring head.
These are not as easy to put a value on as the reduction in time but no less
important as a savings.
If you have any questions on how to possibly improve your boring
operations please contact us. We would very much enjoy working with you.
