McSwain Manufacturing Corporation CHALLENGE:
- Machine Large Precise Parts for Power Generation, Aerospace, Contruction and Mininig Equipment
- up to 144" Diameter
- up to 160" Long
- Weighing 20 Tons
- Continually Adapting to Changing End Markets
THE ENGINEERING TECHNOLOGIES SOLUTION:
- Eleven Large Olympia VTLs and Two HBMs including: V60s, V80s and HT120-80 HBMs
- Machines Equipped with Part Probes & Toolchangers to Automate Changeovers
- Change from 2-axis Machine to 4-axis
- VTLs Constructed with 2 Rams Instead of 1
RESULT:
- Tolerances Within Tenths of Thousandths of an Inch
- Radial Surface Finishes (Ra) as fine as 125 microinch (3.2 micrometer)
- Total Runout Less than 10 microns
- Productivity Increases of 40% or Greater
Quantum Leaps...
In Machining Large Parts
McSwain Manufacturing Corporation of Cincinnati, Oh., serves customers in the power generation, heavy equipment, aerospace, and petroleum industries. The company manufactures both large and small parts, but it specializes in big jobs: components up to 144" in diameter, 160" long, and weighing as much as 20 tons. Workpiece materials include cast and ductile iron, aluminum, tough chromoly steels, and high performance alloys including titanium, Inconel and Hastalloy.
To make the large parts, McSwain employs 20 Engineering Technologies machines, including eight V-60 and four V-80 VTLs as well as two HT 120-80 HBMs. Engineering Technologies engineers collaborated with McSwain to develop unique machine configurations and special options to boost productivity. For example, considering the short-run, just-in-time nature of large part machining, all the machines feature part probes and toolchangers that expedite changeovers. A number of the VTLs have two rams instead of one, enabling two tools to cut simultaneously. McSwain says arrangement is equivalent to a change from a 2-axis machine to a 4-axis machine. In many cases productivity increased up to 40 percent; jobs that previously required 10 hours to complete were finished in six.
Although McSwain's end markets evolve and change, machining operations consistently require the ruggedness, precision and speed offered by Engineering Technologies machines. They enable the company to meet tolerances in the tenths of thousandths of inches, maintain surface finishes as fine 32 rms, and restrict total run out to less than 10 microns, despite the large size of the components being processed.
The goal of McSwain Manufacturing, as well as virtually every other parts producer, is to find customers who are growing and then determine the best way to fulfill their needs. Rugged, individually-engineered machining systems from Engineering Technologies make that goal a reality.
