Their process of casting high quality aluminum castings with high quality surface finishes makes them a key supplier for current projects at Smiths Machine. Smith’s Machine plans to include Lettmetal in future projects and looks forward to utilizing their expertise.

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Smiths Machine’s Robert Taber explains: “We were running a slower tool that didn’t last long at all. So, we needed better tool life, but we also wanted better surface finish and reduced cycle time. With PH Horn we found all of that and more,” Taber said.

Tooling Specialist Wade Oglesby was one of the Smiths team members tasked with finding the solution.

“We tried a number of other options. High speed steel, and offerings from other vendors, but the PH Horn was ideally suited to our needs. For one thing, the time required to change the inserts was reduced dramatically. You can do it while the machine is running. Pull the insert and change it while the machine is still running, instead of remeasuring the tool,” Oglesby said.

And, as Group Leader Jeremy Seeley points out, PH Horn’s grooving tool offered higher spindle speeds.

“We found you could definitely crank up the spindle speed. 10,000 rpm is the maximum, which was a three-fold increase over the previous tool we were using,” Seeley said.

Another key factor was cost savings.

“We bought the entire system for what we had spent in eight months with the other tool, so you could say that in eight months it paid for itself by not having to change tools every 25 to 30 pieces. Now we get something on the order of 300 or more with the same tool,” Ogelsby said. “And that’s before you factor in that it’s easier and faster with the PH Horn solution.”

Taber said he foresees other PH Horn tools at the two state-of-the-art machine shop and manufacturing facilities Smiths operates.

“In the future, when we have grooving needs, PH Horn will be the first one we look at,” he said.

But when it came time recently to add a fourth CMM to Smiths in-house stable, there was no question in Schaffert’s mind which one it should be.

“When we saw we needed a new one, we knew it had to be Zeiss,” Schaffert said.

“Of course, Zeiss has a long-standing reputation for quality and consistency. They’ve built quite a reputation. I’d worked with other hardware and software, but when I started with Zeiss and their Calpyso software, I was immediately blown away with the quality. Once I had acclimated myself to it, I realized it surpasses everything else out there,” Schaffert said.

As a state-of-the-art machine shop and manufacturing facility with defense industry contracts, Smiths has a pressing need for equipment that can measure the kind of close tolerances it works within on a daily basis. Working with aluminum, stainless steel, plastic, bronze and cast iron on a daily or weekly basis, Smiths and Schaffert needed a versatile and highly accurate CMM to get the job done, with tolerances that range all the way down to 9 microns. For those of us who don’t work in the micrometer realm, that’s roughly 1/10th the diameter of the average human hair.

“With the kind of work we do, I am quite satisfied with Zeiss and feel there is no need to further explore other options,” Schaffert said.

Another key factor in the selection of Zeiss for the fourth CMM at Smiths: technical support.

“I really have to tout their tech support team. They are top-notch. I’ve called them several times for things that are off the beaten path, to the point I know them on a first-name basis. They are always very gracious. It makes learning the obscure corners of the software a pleasure,” Schaffert said.

Harmony Castings TPi Arcade, Inc., known for producing fine finishes and tight castings, will supply Smiths with high quality castings to be machined and ready for assembly for Smiths customers.

“We’re pleased to add this quality supplier to our network,” Mr. Smith said. “With 117,000 square feet of computer controlled facilities, Harmony can provide us with the castings we need at a quality that is highly regarded within the industry. And they share our commitment to remaining at the state-of the art,” he said.

To learn more about Harmony Castings TPi Arcade, Inc., visit their website.