Super Precision & Productivity Magazine - Volume 2, Issue 2 - (Page 12)

A brief bAckground ing “cutting punches” for knives, roughed According to Bill Jones, Penn United Tech- and finished right on the Hauser. “In the nologies, Inc. has 11 different sites, seven past,” Jones says, “these parts would go to on the main campus and the rest within a a wire EDM, and the form would be finished five-mile radius. Their customer base covers there. Not now with the Hauser. There have electronics, automotive, medical, aerospace, been more than just a handful of jobs that fluid handling and others. They work in tool used to be done via EDM, but no more. The steel, stainless, carbide, cast iron, aluminum Hauser has moved those jobs out of the EDM picture. and brass. The company’s customers consider it a “precision manufacturer” in all its areas of expertise (of which there are many). “If you look over our equipment list, you can see why,” Jones says. Each facet of our business - die, stamping, plating, assembly and even our production work (about 25 percent of annual business volume) is very high end. We excel at working with the closest tolerances. I say this without exaggeration because we’ve always bought leading edge technology — not necessarily targeted at a job in particular, but because of what we might learn from acquiring it and how that might enhance our strategy in one or more of our existing areas of expertise.” Jones notes that in the case of which is better — grinding, EDM or high-speed milling — it’s not a case of one technology being superior. Each has its place, he says. The question isn’t which technology is better than the other; the question is which is the right one for the application? “As each new technology comes out,” Jones says, “we evaluate: Is it time to move this application from one type of operation or technology to another? Some we move, some we don’t. Obviously, the Hauser has introduced us to a more technologically advanced way of grinding.” As an example, Jones says that when they And thus it was with one of their latest acqui- purchased the Hauser they had one or two sitions, a Hauser S35-400 jig grinder whose jobs in particular in mind that they felt would parent company is Hardinge Inc. (Elmira, be most ideal for the machine. “However,” NY). Jones explains that even though they he says, “after learning more about the have an army of jig grinders (the company Hauser and seeing some of the jobs switch has nearly 30 jig grinders, and over 300 around, we realized that we could greatly grinders in total), this is the first Hauser ma- many jobs that we did in the jig grinding department. So much so, that the tedious chine they’ve invested in. jobs that nobody wants now end up on the “It used to be — and not too long ago — that Hauser.” we felt it cost too much to invest in a Hauser. But that’s all changed. Hauser has kept its setup/chAngeover, time/money technology moving forward very rapidly, and Jones reports that the Hauser is so unlike while other jig grinder manufacturers have other jig grinders that they’re learning someraised their prices without meaningfully in- thing new every day. “The machine has a creasing capabilities, Hauser is becoming 12-station ATC (automatic tool change), a more advanced and easier to use — without probe system and an electric spindle that’s raising prices. So, at IMTS ‘06 we deter- a breed of technology that we’d never seen mined the time was right to make the in- in jig grinding until the Hauser,” Jones says. vestment and purchase one.” Regarding the toolchanger, Jones says that right now they’re working on having enough Assumptions Aside tool holders to have wheels already mounted The Hauser is primarily used to grind carbide so they just place them in position — less and steel. On the carbide side we’re grind- 12 www.hardinge.com http://www.hardinge.com

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Super Precision & Productivity Magazine - Volume 2, Issue 2

Super Precision & Performance - Volume 2, Issue 2 Contents Corner View Worth Noting World View Jig Grinding From Farm Branson-Tooling Radical Sportscar Creating The Impression Hardinge QUEST GT 27 S Hardinge ELITE 27 MS Propelling Productivity Bridgeport FGC 2

Super Precision & Productivity Magazine - Volume 2, Issue 2

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