e-TAYLORED Tool Optimization Services

Engman-Taylor goes beyond "supplying products" by adding specialized service and support.

Most people will take your order but few will provide application assistance and technical support.  None offer the added value that our e-TAYLORED services provide.

Our e-TAYLORED services have been offered for some time now but not necessarily known.  When you order a tool assembly (or many assemblies) you can choose to add the additional services.  We can assemble, preset, and balance the tools and holders.  We go beyond basic assembly though; tools are preset to your specifications and shipped labeled and ready to run.  Balanced tools are balanced to your desired RPM.





The services that are included in this program are:

• Tool Shrink Fitting (also known as Heat Shrinking)
• Tool Assembly
• Tool Presetting
• Tool Balancing
• Complete Tool Package Kitting
• Failure Analysis
• Re-Processing of Existing Parts

Contact us today to learn more. - Send Email

Real-World Benefits to Balancing Tools

You wouldn't drive your car without balancing your tires and wheels would you?  In fact, every rotating part on your car is balanced before you buy it.

Reduce scrap, decrease cycle-time, and increase tool-life.  These are things every shop owner and machinist chase everyday.  Here are few real-world examples of how our balancing services helped our customers:

Case Study 1:

Problem: Extended length Straddle milling cutter chatter issues due to long overhang and assumed balance issues

Solution: Cutter was sent to Engman-Taylor for balancing; it was so far out of balance we had to balance it in multiple steps to be able to get the cutter to run true at the RPM the customer requested.

End Result: Customer was having a 30% rejection rate, these parts had to be reworked. Rejection on this feature is near zero due to the cutter being balanced. Customer cost savings is expected to be in the $30k range.

Case Study 2:

Problem: Using Anti-vibe Sandvik Boring head. Diameter is .906 boring 7.022 deep, tolerance was +/-.0005. Material is ductile iron. Customer was getting poor tool life because to get the boring head to run consistently and hold size they could only run it at 400 SFM. To  get the insert to last it needed to run at 1000 SFM.

Solution: We had the customer adjust the boring head to the size, and send the bar to Engman-Taylor for balance. Bob balanced it in two planes and returned the next day. The customer was able to run the tool at 1000 SFM and his tool life increased by a factor of ten, cycle time went down and size is being held to within .0004".

Case Study 3:

Problem: Padded reamers holding size but on the fringe

Solution: Tools were sent to Engman-Taylor for balance. After balancing they held the center 10% of the total tolerance instead of the entire tolerance range. This is a high precision aerospace part that is 100% inspected; every dimension is critical and if one is out the entire part is scrapped. (This part was previously 3D printed by Engman-Taylor.  The 3D model was used for programming the part and afforded the engineers the ability to see clearances and physical features not possible with a 2-dimensional print.)

Most tools can be balanced for around $150.  Most balanced tools can save thousands.  Why not let us show you the difference?  Contact Engman-Taylor today.

Composite Drill Selection Guide

Harvey Tool’s Miniature High Performance Drills for Composites are specifically designed with point geometry optimized for the unique properties of composite materials. Our Double Angle style is engineered to overcome common problems in layered composites and our Brad Point style is built to avoid the issues frequently experienced in fibrous composites.

Contact Engman-Taylor for more information on drilling, milling, and machining composites and plastics.

Identify your Problem
Drilling in composite materials is a unique challenge. There are a wide variety of regularly machined composites, each requiring different considerations and approaches. Overcome common composite holemaking problems by identifying and selecting the right drill for your job.

Delamination & Push-Out
What It Is: Delamination occurs when high drilling forces cause laminated layers to separate, yielding less structurally-sound parts. The more blunt a drill point is, the more force it will take to move through a part, increasing the chance of delamination.

What It Looks Like: The separation of layers may be difficult to identify through visible scrutiny. Closely inspecting and testing the hole quality is ideal when looking for delamination.

Ideal Drill Choice: Double Angle Composite Drills - Shop Now

Uncut Fibers
What It Is: Uncut fibers are largely caused by dull tooling. If a drill’s cutting edge is not sharp enough, fibers will remain uncut, frayed, or splintered, potentially ruining the part.

What It Looks Like: Uncut fibers should be easily noticed: look for splintered or frayed fibers around the edges of your hole.

Ideal Drill Choice: Brad Point Composite Drills - Shop Now

Tear-Out
What It Is: Rather than leaving uncut fibers hanging on to a workpiece, dull tools can also grab fibers and tear them out of the material altogether. This can leave voids in your material and cause damage to even greater areas of the workpiece.

What It Looks Like: Tear-out can be more difficult to spot than uncut fibers. However, it is often seen as an area of material completely removed around the edge of a hole.

Ideal Drill Choice: Brad Point Composite Drills - Shop Now

Choose Your Drill

Our new Composite Drills are engineered with point geometry optimized for fibrous and layered composite materials. Each design is specifically built to overcome common composite drilling challenges and achieve excellent results.

Double Angle

Avoid Delamination and Push-Out
Our Double Angle Composite Drills help combat delamination and push-out in layered composite materials with specialized point geometry. The primary 130° point angle allows the drill to efficiently engage laminated composites without lifting the top layer of material. The shallower secondary 60° point angle reduces the amount of force required to move the drill through the material, further reducing the probability of delamination. The higher shear angle also aids in reducing push-out at the back of the workpiece by more gradually breaking through the part.

Brad Point

Avoid Uncut Fibers and Tear Out
Our Brad Point Composite Drills are designed specifically for superior performance in fibrous composite materials. The trident-like brad point ensures that holes in fiber filled and reinforced materials come out clear and free of fraying. The outer points accurately score the outer diameter of drilled holes, eliminating uncut fibers, tear-out, and splintering.


Miniature High Performance Drills for Other Materials

Our Composite Drills are only our newest addition to our line of Miniature High Performance Drills. We also offer miniature drills specifically designed for Prehardened and Hardened Steels, Aluminum Alloys, and for Deep-Hole Drilling.
















Engman-Taylor is an authorized Harvey Tool distributor.  Since 1985, Harvey Tool Company has been providing specialty carbide end mills and cutting tools to the metalworking industry.

Information originally posted on Harvey Tool's website.  http://www.harveytool.com/cms/compositedrills_444.aspx

See also: Harvey Tool Plastic Cutter Selection Guide

Shop For End Mills for Plastics and Composites

Eliminate Flame Polishing of Acrylics!

Increase your productivity by eliminating flame polishing.  Profile and pocket with one tool!!

Produce a near optically clear edge on acrylic directly on your CNC machine with LMT Onsrud's PCD Polishing Tools.


Order Online Now

View the Onsrud PCD Polishing YouTube Video

Contact Engman-Taylor to learn more







Engman-Taylor carries hundreds of products for acrylic and composite milling and routing applications.  Contact one of our Application's Specialists for help with your project.

Shop All End Mills for Plastics and Composites

Engman-Taylor Wins 2017 American Eagle Excellence in Industry Award

Engman-Taylor of East Peoria, IL, with headquarters in Menomonee Falls, WI, won the American Eagle Excellence in Industry award at the annual Industrial Supply Association convention in Denver, CO on April 24, 2017. Engman-Taylor’s supplier partner Walter USA of Waukesha, WI was also recognized.

The American Eagle Excellence in Industry sculpture is the industrial supply community’s most coveted and prestigious award. Winners are selected from numerous North American submissions, which are based upon contributions to industry.

Accepting the award on behalf of Engman-Taylor was Jim Mueller, Engman-Taylor’s Vice President of Operations. Jim was accompanied on stage by Brian Yount (Sr. Account Manager), Cathy Hall (Customer Service Supervisor), Bob Martins (Applications Specialist), and Mike Schmeling (Applications Specialist).

Engman-Taylor and Walter were recognized for a major cost savings at their mutual customer, Mennie Machine Company (MMC). Engman-Taylor has been MMC’s tooling integrator since 2006, and Walter has been a supplier to Engman-Taylor since 2001. MMC is a large contract machining company that services several industries from its 250,000 sq. ft. production facility in Mark, IL. Difficulties with production and profitability goals on a critical part cast from 1722 steel included long cycle time, excessive deburring requirements, inconsistent tool life and varying costs.

Via Engman-Taylor’s Cost Circles® and Walter’s Multiply programs, analysis began with a blank slate. Tools, fixtures, programs, cut and non-cut times, and related technical manufacturing areas were analyzed for cost and productivity. Tool prices, procurement and inventory costs, lead times, and reconditioning were factored in. The resultant annual savings, including increased machine capacity, reduced labor costs, and decreased scrap rate, was over $1,400,000. The savings was verified after program implementation, and has now been in place for over a year.

Jake Cimei, MMC Purchasing Manager stated, "The quality of this part has markedly improved, and our relationship with our customer is much, much better. This is definitely a win-win situation."


Engman-Taylor is an industrial distributor laser‐focused on the implementation of cost reduction services that are packaged with globally sourced products from best in class suppliers. For more information, please see www.engman‐taylor.com or call 1-800-236-1975.

Realted posts:
Engman-Taylor's process improvement programs
Tool Balancing and other value-added services provided by Engman-Taylor
Tooling Consultants

Time is Money - Less Time is More Money

You make money when your machines are running.  You make maximum profit when they are running at peak efficiency.  Uptime and cycle time are important to you.  Need more capacity?

Even the simplest process can be improved by evaluating the components that make up "the system".  The tool, holder, machine, machining parameters, fixture, and coolant can all play a part in the efficiency of the process.  The tool path is another area for improvement.  We have become experts in helping you improve the overall process.

The cutting tool is only a small part of the system.  You don't want to spend a bunch of money experimenting but you know you need an improvement.  That's where we come in.  Our applications specialists will evaluate the current process and make recommendations.  The goal is to run as fast as each component will allow.

The faster you make parts - the faster you make money.  No complicated formulas here.

Are you running as "fast" as you can?  How do you know?  Need to reduce your cycle time?
Give us a shot.

Here is a real-world example:
In order to meet demand this customer needed to save at least 30 seconds per part.  We reviewed the operation, the g-code program, and the tooling.  We made a few recommendations, brought in a performance trial, and demonstrated that we can save 41 seconds per part.  41 seconds each - on thousands of parts - for a few hundred dollar investment.

Cycle time prior to ET review: 1m 46s
Cycle time after ET review: 1m 5s
















Got a tough job? Need cycle time improvements?
Not local? No problem; we have solved many problems over the phone or via the web.  You can even email your g-code program and we'll review it for you.
Contact Engman-Taylor

Bandsaw Blades - More Than You Need to Know

If you are production sawing you probably know that getting the right blade takes some time.  Often times trial and error is the "method" of choice.  Selecting the right blade doesn't have to be painful though and we are always here to help.

Feel free to comment below or contact us with your particular application, we would be happy to help.  Below we have compiled some basic information on bandsaw blades.

Let's start with some basic terminology:

• Blade Width: The dimension of the band saw blade from tooth tip to blade back.
• When looking at the blade form the side you might think this is height, but height is not used when defining a band saw blade.
• Thickness: The dimension from one side to the other (i.e. .045")
• Blade Back: The body of the blade not including tooth portion.
• Tooth Form: The shape of the tooth, which includes spacing, rake angle, and gullet capacity.
• Industry terms include variable, variable positive, standard, skip, and hook.
• Tooth Pitch: The distance (in inches) between tooth tips. (i.e. 4 TPI)
• Variable Pitch blades will often be expressed as 4/6, 10/14, etc.
• Tooth Set: The pattern in which teeth are offset from the blade. Industry terms include raker, vari-raker, alternate, and wavy.
• Width of Cut: The distance the saw tooth travels continuously “across the work.” The point where a tooth enters the work to the point where that same tooth exits the work.

Material and Width of Cut are two factors that determine most of the bandsaw blade requirements.  Machine horsepower, age, lubrication, and other factors also play a part.

Blade Material

Several blade materials are available including: Carbon, Bi-Metal, and Carbide tooth.  Blades come in a one piece design such as a carbon blades or two piece design such as carbide tooth (alloy steel backing with carbide teeth).

Carbide Blades
These products will cut faster and last longer than any other bandsaw blade in a wide variety of sawing applications. The blades are designed and produced for high efficiency cutting of difficult and abrasive materials as well as high performance cutting of large and difficult to cut work pieces.

Bi-metal Blades
High-speed steel tooth tips, combined with flexible alloy-steel backing material results in the most cost effective bandsaw blades for most metal sawing applications.
Bi-metal bandsaw blades cover most market requirements, including multi-purpose blades and contour cutting, cutting tubes and profiles, foundry cutting and production cutting.

Types of Set

The set is the tilt, or angle, given to the teeth of the saw blade to provide clearance for the blade body and the tooth edges.  Below are different types of set:

Raker Set
In the raker set, one tooth is set to the left, one tooth is set to the right, and one tooth (raker) is unset. This set type is used on most evenly pitched blades such as regular and hook. It is also used for contour and friction cutting blades on vertical bandsaw machines.

Combo Set
In the combo set, used on combo toothed blades, a raker (unset) tooth is followed by teeth in a left, right, left, right sequence. This pattern is repeated with each series of teeth starting and ending with the largest tooth in the pattern.

Other Types of Set are available including: Vari-Raker, Alternate, Wavy, Vari-set, and more.  Different blade manufacturers will use different terminology.

Tooth Form

The shape of the tooth’s cutting edge affects how efficiently the blade can cut through a piece of material while considering such factors as blade life, noise level, smoothness of cut and chip carrying
capacity.

Variable Positive: Variable tooth spacing and gullet capacity of this design reduces noise and vibration, while allowing faster cutting rates, long blade life and smooth cuts.
Variable: A design with benefits similar to the variable positive form for use at slower cutting rates.
Standard: A good general purpose blade design for a wide range of applications.
Skip: The wide gullet design makes this blade suited for non-metallic applications such as wood, cork, plastics and composition materials.
Hook: Similar in design to the Skip form, this high raker blade can be used for materials which produce a discontinuous chip (such as cast iron), as well as for non-metallic materials.

Tooth Selection Guide (teeth per inch)

Band saw tooth size (Teeth Per Inch) is determined by the size and type of material to be cut and the desired finish. To select T.P.I. using this chart, find the colored chart for the type of material you wish to cut. Move up to the correct material size next to the chart. Follow across to the chart for the appropriate T.P.I. for your blade.

The chart to the left is a good rule-of-thumb for selecting the correct TPI for the size and shape of your material.

Credit: Morse Cutting Tools











The number of teeth per inch (TPI) defines the pitch of the blade and can vary from less than 1 to 24.
Thin-walled work pieces like tubes, pipes and sheet require fine teeth, otherwise there is a risk of tooth damage or breakage.

Large cross sections should be cut with a coarse-pitched saw, i.e. fewer teeth per inch. The fewer teeth engaged in the workpiece the higher the cutting capacity. This is because the penetration capacity of each individual tooth is greater if the saw's feed pressure is distributed over a lower number of teeth. A coarse pitch (few TPI) therefore increases productivity and provides a desirable, large chip space.

Soft materials, such as aluminium and bronze require a large chip space. A coarse pitch prevents the chips from building up and packing together in the gullets, which can impair sawing and damage the blade.

Band Width

The band width is measured from the tip of the teeth to the back edge of the blade.

On horizontal machines, the band width is dependent upon the bandsaw machine being used. There is, however, some variation possible on vertical machines.

For contour sawing, the blade should be as wide as the machine permits, but still narrow enough so that it can cut the desired shape.

Feed Rate

It is important that each tooth of the bandsaw blade cuts a chip with the right thickness. This is determined by the selection of tooth pitch, band speed and feed rate. You can now set the correct feed rate by studying the chips which the bandsaw blade produces when cutting.

1. Thin or pulverised chips - increase feed rate or lower band speed
2. Loosely rolled chips - correct cutting data
3. Thick, heavy or blue chips - too high feed, lower feed rate or increase band speed

Credits:
Bahco (A Snap-On Industrial Tools Company)
Lenox Tools
Morse (the M.K. Morse Company)

Seeking Balance? The Benefits of Balanced Tools

We could all use a little balance in our lives - especially when talking about rotating tool assemblies in modern machine tools.  While it might not seem apparent, out of balance tools can wreak havoc on your operations.  Part finish, size, insert life and cycle time are all affected by the balance of the tool assembly.  Less obvious is what out-of-balance tools do to the machine tool, especially the spindle.

Higher production is often achieved with higher spindle speeds.  Machine tool spindle speeds have continued to increase over the past two decades.  These higher spindle speeds accentuate any out-of-balance conditions.  Think about your washing machine; when the laundry is somewhat balanced the machine runs smoothly.  When the laundry is out of balance the machine sounds like it is going to come apart.  The more out-of-balance or the higher the speed; the more apparent the condition is.

Most tool assemblies, applications, and machine tools can benefit from balancing.

The tool pictured here is a typical external threading tool.  This tool rotates around the part and cuts threads.  It has three identical inserts spaced equally around the "business end" of the tool.  You would think that this tool is "balanced" right out of the box. This tool made good parts but the customer was looking for ways to reduce cycle times - increase production.

Upon our initial inspection we found the tool to be 141.3 grams out of balance.  Initially tested at a speed of 176 RPMs.  Imagine this tool running at 8,500 RPMs!  With a quick check on our Haimer Tool Dynamic balancer and some re-balancing (adding or removing material as needed) we were able to significantly improve the balance of this assembly.

The tool now measures 2 grams at 8,500 RPMs.  The difference can be felt and heard.  The tool runs noticeably smoother and in-turn can be run faster.  The end result is a better part, made faster, with less wear on the machine tool.

Isn't that what we all want?

The provided screen shots show the actual before and after tool condition.  These reports can be provided with each tool balance we perform.

To summarize; balancing your tool assemblies can improve surface finish, allow for increased speeds & feeds, improve cutting edge life (indexable insert life), and reduce wear and tear on the machine tool.

To learn more about Haimer balancers or our balancing services contact us.

Free Tooling Consultations

"No such thing as free" you say?  Well, for more than 60 years we have been providing free tooling consultations.  No fees.  No add-ons.  No kidding.  Why would we do that?  It's simple; we want you to succeed and when you do we want you to come back to us again and again.

What is a tooling consultant?  First off, if you're one of those people that don't like "consultants" rest assured.  We are not trying to sell consultative services.  We are trying to sell tooling - but - we sell it at the same price as companies that don't provide the same level of tooling expertise.

Our tooling consultants are experienced, industry professionals.  Our diverse group of technical specialists all share the same goal: to assist you with your tooling needs.  Anyone in any department in any office can be called upon at any time - every member of Team ET is at your service.

No part number?  No problem.  Tell us what you are working on, or looking for, and we'll source the right tool for you.  Not getting the tooling life or cycle time you desire?  Reach out.  Advice is free.  Tooling up for a new part?  We provide complete tooling packages with balancing, presetting, heat shrinking, assembly, packaging and more.  Your new tools arrive ready to go in the spindle.  Tagged with machine, spindle number, length, and any other information you require.  Often for no additional charge.

No matter where you are located we can support you.  No job is too big or too small.  No project is too complicated or too simple.  Contact one of our tooling consultants for technical support, application recommendations, product sourcing, or a general question.  We are here to help.

Our consultative services are not limited to cutting tools. We have applications specialists in all product categories; abrasives, assembly tools, material handling, safety, and janitorial.

Call us or email us.
800-236-1975