Series 137V5R end mill cuts cost by 43% at Red Winches.

Specialist winch manufacturer, Red Winches, has reduced product cycle times and cut costs by switching its tooling to M.A. Ford Europe’s 16mm diameter 137V5R end mill for roughing operations on the aluminium housings for its new King Cobra winch.

Following extensive trials and comparisons against its previous methods, the company found that they saved 47% on component cycle times, which equated to a total cost saving of 43% for the complete batch of 40 components.

Although the 137V5R is the same diameter and was run at the same speed as Red Winches’ existing tooling, of around 11,500rev/min, the productivity advantages experienced came from the tool’s five flutes, compared to the previous tools’ three flutes, alongside increases of 33% for the depth of cut and over 45% in the feed rate.

The King Cobra winch housings are manufactured from 6082-T6 and 7075-T6 aluminium alloys on Doosan vertical machining centres to support the required speeds & feeds, while also providing the necessary precision and spindle rigidity to optimise the 137V5R in this application.

Red Winches’ Rob MacCready commented: “Productivity is an important consideration for us as it is with all manufacturers, but it must never be achieved by compromising our reputation for quality, consistency and precision, which is why the M.A. Ford tooling has proven to be the perfect solution for us.

“Another key benefit of working with M.A. Ford, is the support we receive from their technical team and their distributor, West Country Tools. This helps ensure the tooling is tuned to our precise manufacturing requirements and machinery, so we’re always delivering the best products and outcomes for our customers and ourselves,” he concluded.

The Series 137V5R is part of M.A. Ford Europe’s TuffCut® X-AL family of high performance aluminium tooling and is available in diameters of 12mm and 16mm with HA and HB Weldon shank options, plus 3xD and 5xD necked flute lengths.

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Series 137V5R end mill cuts cost by 43% at Red Winches.

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