The right tooling medicine

May 22, 2008
Micro tools, optimized for an application, can have a dramatic effect on product quality and productivity. For example, Stryker Orthopedics of Cork, Ireland, a manufacturer of orthopedic implants, uses tools from the Jabro unit of Seco Tools to ...

Micro tools, optimized for an application, can have a dramatic effect on product quality and productivity.

For example, Stryker Orthopedics of Cork, Ireland, a manufacturer of orthopedic implants, uses tools from the Jabro unit of Seco Tools to produce an artificial synovial cavity in a titanium artificial hip joint. In the past, machining operations were carried out in a lathe and a milling machine, and the machining time was 13.4 min per workpiece. Now, the 5-axis CNC machine used is equipped with the Jabro JH 910 040 R020 Mega milling cutter — a 4-mm three-flute end milling cutter in the Tornado series.

The machining operation now takes only 9 min.

Cutting speed was increased from 108 fpm to almost 450 fpm, and tool life has risen from 500 parts to 1,800 parts per cutting edge. In addition, the tolerances have become more stable. Compared with the earlier machining operations, the total savings are more than 30 percent, and throughput time has been cut from 16 days to only six days.