Tooling Helps Race Shop Take the Fast Lane
Cutting tools and expertise from Sandvik Coromant help this drag racing organization stay ahead.
They’re called “funny cars,” but the engineering effort that goes into these dragsters’ success is no laughing matter. Behind every winning car is a team consisting not just of drivers and support staff, but also programmers and machinists tasked with producing top-quality parts on sophisticated manufacturing equipment. The recent experience of one racing organization, Don Schumacher Racing (DSR), demonstrates the value of having a supplier that can help get the most out of this equipment. Thanks to tooling and support from Sandvik Coromant (Fair Lawn, New Jersey), the company has re-vamped a troublesome cylinder head manufacturing process to improve part quality and reduce setup time, cycle time and tool costs.
overhang that caused vibration problems, and the tool often had to be sent out for resharpening. The tooling supplier recommended swapping that cutter for a 50-mm-diameter Coromill 790 router. It also brought in a Coromant Capto C5 shank to boost rigidity. Finally, the team modified the CNC program to incorporate circular interpolation techniques that reduced radial and axial cutting depth while increasing sfm and ipm. Altogether, these changes reduced the load on the spindle, reduced vibration, improved tool life and simplified tool changes, which are now a matter of changing two inserts, Mr. Keep says.
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