MGW Ltd. proved the jaw system used in a workholding setup can make a huge difference in productivity. By making a shop-wide change to the Kurt DoveLock Quick Change jaw system with its machining operations, the company reduced job setup time by 75 percent, improved spindle time of at least 10 percent, and virtually eliminated scrapped parts.
“The improved productivity started immediately when we began using the DoveLock,” reported George J. Ciamillo, vice president of MGW, Ltd. “It’s a simple to use system for our machine operators. They improved setup time by 75 percent. We did that without compromising part accuracy because the Dovelock gives us jaw positioning repeatability up to ±0.001.
MGW Ltd. is a high-end automotive aftermarket manufacturer of short throw shifters for domestic sports cars including Corvette, Mustang, Viper, Camaro and others. MGW produces hundreds of shifter parts including shifter bodies, brackets, linkage arms and other machined components mostly machined from aluminum, operating an 8-hour, five-day workweek. Using the previous jaw setups, MGW would go through two to three runs per setup to get its first acceptable part. Now, with DoveLock, the jaws usually yield an acceptable part on the first operation, reports Mr. Camillio.
“One of our biggest challenges was to find an efficient way to switch from one shifter setup to another quickly to save on costly machine down time,” reported Mr. Ciamillo. “We needed accurate workholding that didn’t need to be indicated every time we setup for a repeat, short run job.”
“Prior to the DoveLock Quick Change Jaw System, we were using custom machined blank jaws. They required time consuming leveling, indicating and locating every time we set up a job,” reported Mr. Ciamillo. “It didn’t take rocket science to figure out with our many repeat shortruns that the DoveLock really was a workholding improvement.”
An additional DoveLock advantage allows milling into the changeable jaw plates using the full volume of jaw material. With previous jaw setups, it was necessary to avoid the two cap screws when machining a feature or pocket into the jaw plate. Utilizing that extra area of metal, the DoveLock allows designing workholding setups not possible before. And we were able to preserve and upgrade our workholding throughout our manufacturing operations at a reasonable small investment.”
DoveLock is available as a two-component system consisting of: (1) two master jaws with four, low head socket cap screws and a 5/32” hex “T” wrench and (2) a machinable jaw set consisting of two machinable aluminum jaw plates. The DoveLock Master Jaw System is available in both inch and metric sizes and is precision-machined from 6061 aluminum ensuring accuracy for highly precise and repeatable setups.
Kurt Manufacturing Co.
kurtworkholding.com
Filed Under: Flanges • supports • mounts • brackets • hinges
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