Kaizen Foam is designed to help you achieve maximum organization and visual control in your workspace. Kaizen Foam separates between the layers creating a perfect fit for all your tools in drawers and on walls. Sizes come in 2′ x 4′ sheets. Use these links to get more details on thicknesses of .875“, 1.125” and 2.250“.  And don’t forget the long nosed marker and Kaizen Knife. Check out this video for a demonstration:

• Hourly Pay Rate = $15 ($0.25/minute)
• Time spent looking for a tool = 5 minutes
• Times per week looking for a tool = 3

With these numbers in place it costs nearly $200 a year in lost time and money simply searching for a tool ($0.25 x 5 mins x 3 times a week x 52 weeks = $195).  The math doesn’t lie so lets get some part numbers and links:

Amazon Industrial:

• Magnetic Mount – $24
• Allen Wrench Set – $14
• GOOD Scissors – $10
• Box Cutter – $15
• Screwdriver Set – $19

Spending about $80 will save time and $200.  Did we miss anything?

We tested multiple packages via free trials and have ranked the top 5 for best value in descending order:

1. ProEZNC – $139.00* – Great overall performance and ease of setup. – pronc.com
2. dnc4U – $149.00 – Good, real good. Might as well be a tie for the #1 spot. – dnc4U.com
3. kwikDNC – $89.00* – Good value and easy to setup but would be #1 if the user interface were a lot less clumsy. – kwikdnc.com
4. DNCv5 – $269.00 – Solid. Easily the best program in the group, but the highest price in this field threw off the performance to value ratio. – dncsoftware.com
5. ConnectCNC – $60.00 – Good option for older computers, but we just couldn’t get it to work with Windows Vista and above even after several support emails.  Archaic activation via email didn’t help either. – connectcnc-dnc.com

Prices marked with * are estimates converted from GBP to USD.

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In this photo you see three bars of extruded aluminum waiting to be sawed together.  Notice the different bars marked with a straight line, a squiggly line and no line.  Why?  Because not all extrusions arrive with the same exact width and this can create a big problem when holding multiple parts in a vise.  A narrow piece will be held with less force than a wide piece.  If it’s a big enough difference (0.004″ or more) an endmill might easily throw the part out of the vise and potentially break a tool(s).

To ensure you’re holding same-sized parts, simply draw different lines or colors on each bar before sawing.  One look at the markings on the saw cut pieces will tell you they came from the same bar.  Load similarly marked bars together for disaster-free milling.

In our previous review we mentioned that the cycle time cut in half, but we wanted to know if the tool lasted beyond our test.  Of course the financial bottom line is all that matters in production and in this case was the cost of the cutter worth it to produce parts faster?  The answer is an impressive YES!

The guys at Primary Cutter, makers of the TOMCAT 5, were kind enough to send us a fresh endmill to restart this longevity test with the right program running the right feeds and speeds that were dialed in after the first test.  Let’s let a chart do the talking:

It’s nice to see a company stand behind a product that performs like the TOMCAT 5. For more info visit www.supermill.com.

The phrase

A skateboard is a pretty simple device, but an easily overlooked component known as “grip tape” is extremely important when it comes to performance.  To the non-thrasher mind, grip tape is simply sandpaper adhered to the deck of the board that adds traction between the board and the rider.  So what’s this got to do with vacuum workholding?  Let’s dig deeper…

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All vacuum chucks work on the principle of removing the air that exists between a workpiece and the vacuum chuck.  It is actually the air pressure around us that pushes the workpiece down as it tries to fill in the vacuum gap.  Because of this, smaller workpieces are held with less force.  For example, a 12″ square workpiece will be held with over 2,000 lbs of pressure, but a 4″ square workpiece will only be held with just over 200 lbs.  That’s not nearly enough to hold a part securely and expect to mill the profile with normal feeds and speeds.  The part will most likely slide laterally from the cutting forces and eventually kick-flip off the chuck.

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Let’s get back to the grip tape.  Simply sandwich a piece of fine grit waterproof sandpaper (400 – 600 grit) between the workpiece and vacuum chuck face up and the traction between the two will be multiplied exponentially.  This greatly reduces any chance of lateral movement of the part.  Fine grit sandpaper also has a very consistent thickness of around 0.008″.  This means the part will be lifted just enough so you can finish the perimeter at full depth without cutting into your vacuum chuck.

Give this week’s tip a try and skate your way to more effective vacuum workholding.

Run Mode

• Does everthing, but the doors have to stay closed.

Setup Mode

• Rapids 25% max
• Spindle 750 RPM max
• Must hold “Cycle Start” to run the machine with the doors open

And here’s Haas’ video for a more polished explanation:

Primary Cutter, LLC introduced the SUPERMILL TOMCAT 5 flute carbide endmill line designed to run at high RPM and high feed rates providing rapid stock removal. Utilizing unique tool geometry design, TOMCATS are capable of feed rates of 200 IPM on Steels, Alloy Steels and Stainless Steels. We contacted them and they were kind enough to send us tool for testing.  The results are in… and we’re impressed.

Our test shop pulled up a program for a repeat job with an established program and baseline for our tests.  The old part program called for machining 1018 carbon steel using a 4 flute, 1/2″ coated carbide cutter at 3800 RPM, 30 IPM, .25″ Axial DoC and .25″ Radial DoC.  The operators were quite comfortable with these numbers and cycle times kept the front office happy.  When we began to tell them the suggested feeds and speeds for the SUPERMILL TOMCAT, we didn’t even get beyond mentioning 6000 RPM without hearing scoffs and chuckles.  The looks of doubt continued as we told them to start at 150 IPM, .500″ Axial and .050″ Radial.  These truly were feed and speeds reserved for cutting aluminum.

220 IPM finish on Top. 175 IPM finish on bottom. Click to Zoom.

With the new feeds and speeds plugged into the program, everyone took a step back and squinted their eyes as the operator hit start for the first time.  “BUTTER!!!” was the first comment that came 30 seconds into the program.  Yes, smooth as butter indeed.  The mill hummed with the sound of faster cycle times and greater profits.  “Bump it up”, came from someone in the group.  The operator glanced at the foreman, watching for a head nod to give him the green light.  Everyone squinted and leaned back each time the operator pressed the +10% feed override button, but the churning of the butter continued. We comfortably reached 220 IPM before the Haas MiniMill started nearing max HP.

We could have easily continued to run at 220 IPM but we started to see a little too much of the machining marks.  We brought it back down to 175 IPM and were satisfied with the finish.  Keep in mind that we also broke a machining rule and used the same tool to rough and finish the part… One less tool change to worry about.

Should have stayed with the suggested parameters

Our only hiccup came when we ran the tool using the old program that was meant for the older tooling.  We ended up with a few wear marks in a couple flutes.  We knew this came after seeing no wear with the test program.  That’s our fault and just goes to show that following directions leads to optimal results.

The results:

• RPM increased from 3800 to 6000
• Feedrate increased from 30 IPM to 175 IPM
• Axial Depth of Cut doubled from .250″ to .500″
• Radial Depth of Cut was cut down by 20% from .250″ to .050″ but…
• The overall cycle time was CUT IN HALF!!!!

Needless to say, our test shop was extremely pleased with the results.  The most difficult part of the test was getting the tool back from the shop for photos!  Buy one to see for yourself in a 3/4 LoC or 1-1/4 LoC or see more sizes here.

We tested a 160mm Lang fan from Big Kaiser.  This smallest model has a working range of 6000 to 12000 RPM.  Programming it was a breeze.  We had the best results by telling our machine we were running a 6″ shell mill with a 75% stepover.  Per Lang’s safety recommendations, we gave it an initial speed of 2000 RPM, let it spin for 1 second and then sped it up to 6000 RPM (We would have gone up to the 12000 RPM limit if our machine went that fast).  We fed it at 400 IPM, 3″ above the part.

A nice feature about these fans is their compatibility with thru-spindle coolant.  Say there’s a pocket or deep hole that needs to have chips flushed out.  Instead of an operator reaching in and blasting the debris out with an air gun, simply program the tool’s center in line with the hole and turn on the thru-spindle coolant.  Once the holes are flushed out, continue with the fan cycle.

Overall, we liked the construction and performance of the unit.  If your shop doesn’t have one, you might be spending extra labor and energy by using only an airgun.  Needless to say, we’re big fans.

Several states have already banned cell phone usage while driving.  Why would operating a piece of CNC machinery be any different?  Sure, operating a machine might become monotonous after awhile, but is that call or text message worth losing focus which might lead to broken tools, bad parts or even an injury?  We want to know… Is there a cell phone ban in your shop?  Should there be?

Got a shop tip of your own?  Let us know at shoptips@cncreport.com.