One Snowflake Too Many Leads Shop to Advanced EDMs

That's how Henry Kalkman describes the snow on the roof of his shop, JK Machining Inc., the day it collapsed in February 2014. Kalkman can make light of the incident now, but without proper insurance and good industry connections, the calamity could have shut down the Kalamazoo, MI, mold-and-die shop permanently. Instead, JK Machining weathered a long year of rebuilding and continued to meet customer delivery dates with help from neighboring shops.

Launched by Kalkman's father John in a garage in 1980, the company gradually transitioned from general machining to mold-and-die work for customers in the automotive, medical and consumer products industries. Business continued to grow, and the company moved to a new space-the shop where the roof would eventually collapse-in 1990, the same year the shop bought its first EDM.

The day his shop's roof collapsed is one Kalkman won't soon forget. The event began with a loud crack at about 4 pm, when many of JK's 16 employees were in the shop. Fortunately, everyone had time to escape before the roof covering the company's 5000 ft2 (464 m2) shop area caved in completely.

Kalkman was able to salvage some of its manual machines, small tools and other items from the wrecked shop, and the company's office area was unscathed. Fortunately, he had a good relationship with a long-time provider of business insurance. The policy not only covered full replacement value of machines wrecked in the roof collapse, it also included a year of fully paid business interruption insurance. "I didn't have to lay-off employees. Insurance paid the rent for our temporary facility, and It paid for all the services we needed to get up and running there."

JK Machining is a member of the Southwestern Michigan Tooling Coalition, so the company quickly moved all molds in process out of its ruined facility and into member shops in the regional alliance. As a result, JK didn't miss a delivery date. The company's business interruption insurance coverage was very important-it allowed the company to continue operations while its new facility was under construction. But the replacement value insurance on production machines might have been even more significant, because it enabled Kalkman to purchase the shop's current state-of-the-art EDM equipment.

"The machines we have now are here because our building was destroyed," Kalkman said. "We've always owned AgieCharmilles EDMs, and over the years we updated quite a few times to the latest technology." The company purchases its AgieCharmilles equipment from GF Machining Solutions (Lincolnshire, IL) through Kalamazoo-based distributor KM Industrial Machinery Co.

In addition to a stronger roof design, when JK reopened in its new 8500 ft2 (790 m2) shop, it featured significant Improvements in machining technology. Its new advanced AgieCharmilles EDM systems offer much easier programming as well as significantly faster speed, higher precision, and superior part-surface finishes. Rus the new machines help reduce the shop's EDM consumables costs.

Kalkman quickly discovered that more than a decade of advances in control and generator technology resulted in new levels of productivity and ease of use. JK Machining has three AgieCharmilles FORM 300 Sp sinker EDMs and an AgieCharmilles CUT 300 Sp wire EDM. The new FORM 300 Sp sinker EDMs feature robust construction, glass scales on all axes and 16-tool electrode changers.

"Our new sinker machines are easier to program, faster and more accurate than the old ones," Kalkman said. "The new generators run more efficiently and use fewer electrodes. We spend less time milling, use less graphite, and reduce polishing/benchwork time."

Machine Controls use AgieCharmilles' AC FORM and AC CUT human-machine interfaces (HMIs) that feature touchscreen interactive graphical assistance for all 2D and 3D EDM operations, positioning and measurement. A CAD/CAM link automatically integrates machining sequences to further speed programming. Plus, online help lets users find information relevant to the job at hand using a clearly organized navigation system that can be searched by keywords or other parameters.

Generators on the sinker machines use multiple technologies to maximize electrode life and productivity while producing fine surface finishes. AgieCharmilles' iQ technology, for example, regulates power adjustments to increase material removal rates while preserving electrode geometry. Machining is said to be 10 times faster than previously. Electrode consumption is down and the shop averages two or three electrodes per bum compared with the previous four to six.

The generators also feature AgieCharmilles' Power Control Expert technology, which controls each spark to allow real-time determination of machining discharges based on changes in the electrode. The result is minimal benchworking to achieve required surface finishes, and the technology gives JK the ability to use EDM to produce stipple-type Class "A" surface textures for automotive interior molds.

Regardless of geometric complexity or bum time, JK's new AgieCharmilles 300 Sp sinkers enable the company to use graphite electrodes almost exclusively. "We have experimented with copper electrodes," Kalkman said, "but they take longer to machine and typically involve longer burn times. We easily achieve finishes comparable to those of copper using graphite."

On the wire EDM side, JK's new AgieCharmilles CUT 300 Sp wire machine also offers significant performance upgrades compared with its predecessor. Like its sinker counterparts, the machine's improved CNC and generator technologies allow easier programming and faster, more accurate machining.

But more important to Kalkman are the machine's automation capabilities. Its optional large spool capacity allows loading of wire spools weighing up to 55 lb (25 kg) to enable untended operation for extended periods. "We can leave on Friday and not come back in until Monday and know there is plenty of wire to do the jobs we have scheduled," Kalkman said.

An even more significant advance for untended operation is AgieCharmilles' Pilot Expert 4 remote machine monitoring and control capability. Using a camera and Internet-based software, the system allows JK employees to remotely access the machine and programs using PCs and other mobile devices.

JK's wire EDM technician demonstrated the capability using his mobile phone. "I can change from screen to screen on the control,'' he said. "I can monitor operations, I can edit a program file. The package allows panning and zooming of the camera images, resulting in true remote machine monitoring and control capability all through a cell phone."

Kalkman recalled one job that ran completely untended on the CUT 300 Sp, a run of 60 lifter pockets with varying angles. 'Those parts had pretty specific tolerances, and from the first one to the last one there was less than 0.0001 " [0.003-mm] difference," he said. Another program ran untended for 130 hours nonstop." O

For more information from GF Machining Solutions, go to www.gfms.com/us, or phone 847-913-5300.