We had a true 5 Axis job when we machined the tread detail in the inserts of a tire mold. The geometry of the tread pattern could not have been done on a 3 axis machine. The material for the job was hardened 420 stainless steel.

Model of tire mold

Machined insert in hardened stainless steel

This is half of a pattern for an aluminum foundry. This job didn't require 5 axis machining, but we were able to cut it quicker with a better finish by putting it on one of our 5 axis machines. We cut both sides of the pattern plus the core box.

In this project, we machined hydraulic components with many threaded holes on all six sides, made from aluminum billet. These parts were run overnight unattended using the pallet changer on our Mikron Vario machine tool.

Three parts loaded onto the pallet changer, two with the first operation complete

Finished part 7-1/2" x 7" x 2-3/8"

Details of holes

This is a prototype part, a large heat sink for stadium lighting. Finished part, 19.25" x 22.25" x 3.5"

An office furniture company needed custom parts for products to display at a trade show. They had planned to have them investment cast, but we saved them almost 30% on cost and a week of time on delivery by machining them from billet.

Several members of our Machining Staff have many years of experience in the forging die industry, so we can offer extensive expertise to our forging customers. For a local hand tool manufacturer, we worked from a 2D drawing and created a 3D part model. Next, we modeled the forging die, including the trimmer, punch and coin dies. Finally, we machined the dies on our CNC machines for a complete new tooling package.

Die model with trim tools

Finish machining the trim die on our vertical machining center

Finished forged chisel

Precision aerospace parts machined in our shop. Precision 5 axis equipment makes us very competitive for these types of parts:

Trunnions with multiple precise compound angle bores

Carriage with multiple high precision bores

Bracket with multiple compound angles machined with swarf cutting

We used 5 axis machining to make these prototype housings for an underwater video camera.

The two halves of the housing split apart

The inside details of the camera housing

"Lollipop" core for plastic injection mold. This job was hard milled in S-7 Rc 54-56.

For this job, we started with a 2D drawing and created a 3D model. Our customer gave us a rough casting of the cam, and we used our model to machine the grooves. This cam will be part of packaging machinery for the bottling industry.

Sitting on a fixture we made for the job, here's the whole cam on our big 5 axis machine tool. The part is 19-1/2" OD.

A close up of the cutter in the groove, showing the tilt of the 5 axis head. This job used all 5 axes simultaneously.

We can machine 5 axis parts in titanium. This job is a small high precision part for a medical application.

This penny-sized part will be a component of the mechanism that controls the blade in eye surgery.

This project was for a customer who wanted to make a plastic head cover for golf clubs. The first step was to machine a prototype for customer approval. Then we machined a pattern and sent the pattern to an aluminum foundry to have castings made. The castings came back to our shop for secondary machining, then sent to the customer who used them as dip molds to create the plastic cover.

This project was for a company in Louisiana. Directly affected by Hurricane Katrina, our customer found that lack of adequate housing and infrastructure did not allow their employees to return. They needed 280 cast steel valve bodies machined quickly, and found us on the web to do the job. Our five axis machines dropped their cycle time from 2 hrs. 52 min. to 1 hr. 43 mins.

Cast steel hydraulic valve body

These pieces of a clamp assembly were machined on our 5 axis machine

Here's the assembled clamp