Part manufacturer seeks to oust weak machining link
Rotary broach that lasts for 1,000 parts helps company enable lights-out machining.
A part manufacturer must have confidence in its cutting tools to successfully perform lights-out machining. “When we can’t trust a tool, we can’t do it, so we lose production,” said Ben Sacco, operation manager for Radax Industries Inc.
Unfortunately, the Webster, New York-based fastener manufacturer and provider of machining services didn’t have enough confidence in the rotary broaches it was applying to allow long, unattended production runs. For example, Radax averaged 500 pieces per broach, which cost $100 each, when machining 17-4 PH stainless steel before the tool would chip and need replacement, Sacco said.
A Rayco #7 rotary broach (left) set up on a machine at Radax Industries. Image courtesy of Radax Industries
“I just couldn’t swallow that cost much longer. It was getting ridiculous,” he said, noting that Radax doesn’t typically run low-volume jobs at its 50,000-sq.-ft. facility. “We have long, ongoing jobs that never come off the machine.”
Of course, reaching that level didn’t happen overnight. Sacco’s grandfather Rocco founded the company in 1967, operating three Davenport screw machines in a rented barn in rural upstate New York. The “office” was a pay phone in a bar across the street, Sacco said. “The bartender would run across the street when the phone started ringing and say, ‘Hey, Rock, you’ve got a phone call.'”
With Radax doing more business than ever in the present day, it couldn’t afford to have a weak machining link, Sacco said. He previously found that a rotary broach that lasted for 500 pieces when cutting 17-4 PH stainless, which tends to workharden and dull edges, was the best available. Then, he learned about the rotary broaches from Rayco Tools Inc., Warsaw, Indiana. Sacco read testimonials about Rayco’s broaches on LinkedIn and contacted Chris Rooney, the toolmaker’s owner and president, who sent three free broaches to test. Of those, Rayco #7 proved most
effective, Sacco said, and Radax immediately ordered more.
Rayco #7 rotary broaches are for broaching materials with tensile strengths exceeding 190 ksi and a hardness up to 50 HRC, including cobalt-chrome, strain-hardened 316 stainless, titanium, Inconel and Monel. Image courtesy of Rayco Tools
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