The company that made the rock drills used to free the Chilean miners last year is exploring the right level of multitask machining. #workforcedevelopment
This lathe machines the company’s larger rock-drilling bits, including some that went into drills sent to rescue the miners in Chile. Center Rock’s role in the mine rescue in Chile is the subject of the latest episode of The Edge Factor. Watch it now at edgefactor.com. Step Drag Bits
Part of the Center Rock team.
A drill sometimes includes many bits for cutting the rock, as is the case with this one about to be welded in the company’s fabrication area.
A single bit is a machined part that begins as a forging.
This turning center features live tooling capability. Another turning center for still smaller bits features live tooling and a secondary spindle.
Steve Bungard demonstrates one of the machining operations for a drill bit part in GibbsCAM, which the shop uses to program both turning machines and machining centers. More about Center Rock’s machining process is documented in the new episode at edgefactor.com
The company developed its own process for drilling the deep blind hole in each bit. Key to the process is the Sandvik Coromant Corodrill tool that allows coolant and chips to be drawn through the tool and out of the hole.
Not many manufacturers can claim to have been cited in a State of the Union address. Center Rock Inc. of Berlin, Pennsylvania got nearly 200 words in President Obama’s speech to Congress on January 26. The maker of rock drilling tools produced the custom drills that were used to free the 33 trapped miners in Chile—the miners whose rescue was seen and celebrated around the world in October 2010.
Without an international standard for designating carbide grades or application ranges, users must rely on relative judgments and background knowledge for success.
Modern Machine Shop took an exclusive behind-the-scenes tour of an Amish-owned machine shop, where advanced machining technologies work alongside old-world traditions.
Single roller cone bit Horn USA has developed quick-change tooling systems to drastically reduce set-up and toolchange times for Swiss-type lathes, including those with through coolant.