IT TAKES INTESTINAL FORTITUDE TO MAKE IT IN THIS MARKET!

By: Terry Kaller, President

Notthoff Engineering-L.A.Inc., Huntington Beach, California

To complete in the very competitive aerospace market these days one needs experienced personnel, leading edge NC programming capabilities and machine tools. The parts are complex and building a quality part at a competitive price and delivering it on time are prerequisites. However, it also takes guts to make the big investments to be in this business.

With large machining centers costing tens and even hundreds of thousands of dollars, one has to be certain that any new equipment will be productive as well as reliable and durable. With tight delivery schedules now present in aerospace manufacturing, any delays in part deliveries could become disastrous. The fact that a company makes an investment in more than one such machine from the same machining center manufacturer is a tesimonial to its faith in that manufacturer's product.

NOTTHOFF ENGINEERING

Established in 1941, Notthoff Engineering is a well-established machining and assembly company that specializes in CNC machining of small to medium sized structural air frame parts. Over the past three years the company has acquired 5 new NC machining centers, including two Mighty VIPER 3-axis bridge type vertical machining centers that the company just received. These new machines are just another example of the company's investment in its own future.

Both VIPERs are model B-4000 XT extended travel machines with a travel of 161" x 72" x 28". The column and base are made of Meehanite high grade iron that is specially heat-treated to relieve stress and to ensure the structure is free of distortion for its lifetime.

An innovative 30° slant beam evenly distributes 50% of the thrust from the Y-axis to the massive column, allowing the spindle centerline to be only 8" from the beam surface. The oversized slideways ensure maximum cutting stability. The overall design is excellent for heavy duty cutting operations. The spindle is upported with Class 7 precision bearings and an automatic lubricating system in the gearbox facilitates continuous cycling of the lubricant oil. Oil, which is cooled by the spindle chiller, circulates through the headstock casting and the spindle jacket to prevent heat generation inside the spindle bearing. In turn, these features ensure heavy-cutting capacity. Spindle drive is 30 HP.

LEADING EDGE ATC

The VIPER Bridge VMC features a high-speed chain-type 42 tool automatic tool changer that is the pacesetter for the industry. The ATC unit uses a quality hydraulic indexing motor to store and retrieve tools and completely avoids any spindle or bearing damage while changing tools. A program controlled door on the tool magazine ensures complete protection from chips and dust during the tool changing operation.

Once the first unit was up and running, we had its twin delivered. The large table size on the machines enables us to machine some fairly long pieces. Like the other B-4000GXT, it is built on a heavy duty Meehanite casting to ensure maximum rigidity. The column, bed and saddle are oversized, fully ribbed and can easily support heavy loads without table deflection. Both units are ideal for aircraft profiling machining and feature large box ways.

Both machines also use square slideways instead of linear motion guides. Hardened to above HS 65 (HRC 50), all slideways are coated with Turcite-B to minimize stick-slip. Stick-slip, or stiction, happens when an element does not move immediately, and force has to build up to break the inertia and friction holding the slide in place.

Also, both machines feature the Mitsubishi Meldas 530 CNC 3D graphic controller with a 32-bit CPU. Featuring multi-window capability, the controller utilizes user-freidnly interfacing and is a leader in establishing operator ease and performance.

Notthoff uses NCL (from NCCS, Irvine, California) for NC programming software. NCL is a powerful CAM system which generates simultaneous 2 through 5-axis NC tool parts and provides parametric modeling. It's ideal for situations like Notthoff's, since all geometric modeling and path functions are fully associative. NCL and its modules provide all necessary software tools required to program the VIPERs. Several other NCCS programs are used in conjunction with NCL, such as PostWorks and NCLIPV.

PostWorks is a universal postprocessor that allows all machines at Notthoff to be programmed in NCL.The NCLIPV program is a fully integrated verification module that can be accessed as tool pathe are being created. It simulates, verifies and displays the metal removal process. The Post Works program even has a verification function as it allows verification of the new postprocessor while automatically creating a solid model of the machining center and dynamically simulating the machine's movement.

Like most machining companies in the aerospace market, we take our inspection very seriously. In addition to using verification software before machining, we use a 5-axis coordinate measuring machine after machining. The combination of software, reliable machining centers, and high-tech inspection provide an unbeatable combination in creating high quality parts the first time around.

Doing business in the aerospace marketplace requires big investments. Our customers demand high-quality finished parts and want them delivered on time. Therefore the overall effect of our investment is to meet our customer's requirements while being cost effective and we expect some Mighty big dividends as a result.