CNC the Easy Way!
How a 47-Year-Old Manufacturer Finally Switched to CNC Production.Story and photos by C. H. Bush, editor
What’s so unusual about the company is that until recently all of its in house manufacturing was done on manual machining equipment, the same kind of equipment that uses its products—manual mills and lathes.
“A few years ago, we started subbing a lot of our production to a nearby CNC job shop,” says shop manager Jose Valencia. Valencia, who joined J.F.K. in 1984, started out slotting collets on a manual machine, and over the years worked his way up to his current position. “We did that because of demand and the need to cut our costs. We brought in the parts and did all the finish work here, including slotting, deburring and assembly, that sort of things. We maintain a good inventory, so that worked out pretty well for us for a long time. We always have a 100-piece inventory on hand, so our deliveries were never impacted.
One-Man Show
When the company began subcontracting much of its volume production work, it soon discovered that it was feasible to reduce it’s shop force to one person (Valencia), and yet still maintain production, product quality and delivery.
“I knew how to do everything on those products,” says Valencia. “Mr. Jack Kindoll founded the company, and he designed most of the products we have. But, over the years, I learned how to modify and improve the designs, until now, I’m able to create new designs, too. As a result, we’re now able to offer fully customized products, along with our standard, off-the-shelf products. People can call us and give us the exact specifications for a collet or a closer and we’ll produce whatever they need.”
Going In House
Subcontracting production had worked well for quite a while, Valencia says, but the need to further cut costs was still there.
“About 8 months ago, we sat down and decided we had to bring the CNC production work in house,” says Valencia. “But there was really two main problems. First, we didn’t have anyone here who knew anything about CNC machining. I’m a good manual machinist, but to be honest, those CNC intimidated me.”
The second problem was money, of course.
“We have good products and lots of good customers,” Valencia says, “but we couldn’t afford to throw money away. We needed CNC turning and CNC milling, if we wanted to handle the whole product line in house. Most of our products are turned, but we also need the mill for drilling and slotting and adding other features.”
Valencia had been looking at different CNC equipment for years, he says.
“We wanted to improve our profits,” he says, “but we didn’t want to take years to pay off the equipment, either. What we needed was reliable machines that would deliver the quality we needed, but didn’t cost a fortune.”
Valencia was very methodical in studying the different machines available to him in the price range he needed
“I looked at a lot of machines,” he says. “I visited other companies to see their equipment and how they used it. I needed machines that were reliable, rigid, with good power, the ability to deliver high precision, and since we didn’t know anything about CNC machining, I needed to have great support. This was going to be big adventure for me to learn CNC machining after all my years on manual machines, so basically, what I needed was for someone to hold my hand until I could the hang of it.”
Valencia finally decided on two machines: an Akira Seiki SL25 turning center and an Akira Seiki Performa V3 vertical mill with a rotary table to gain a 4th axis capability.
“These machines had everything we needed to do our work,” he says. “But most important was the support. We bought the machines from Travis Janes at Renegade Machine Tools, and he had a package deal that was exactly what I needed. It had everything.”
CNC the Easy Way
The package that Valencia bought was the two machines, plus programming, set up and training for 20 products.
“Renegade offered us a guarantee,” he recalls. “If we had the power, the air, the plumbing ready when the machine arrived, they would have it up and running parts the first day.
We were a week late getting our shop set up for the machines, but he delivered on his promise anyway.”
Valencia surprised himself at how fast he learned to operate the machines
“I watched how the machines moved,” he says, “and I realized they were pretty similar to what I did on my manual equipment. The part that had me worried was the programming, but Travis so far has done seventeen programs for us, and he taught me how to go in and modify them to handle
different sizes and variations on the parts. The programs are stored on USB memory sticks. The package we bought has really made the switch to CNC easy for me, and I’m sure that, if I need more help, we can add to the package.”
Valencia has signed up to study CNC programming during the summer.
“I’ve learned a lot from Renegade, but I want to know more,” he says. “I’m finding this very exciting.”
Benefits of the Switch Over
One of the main benefits Valencia discovered was that making his parts on CNC has freed a lot of his time.\
“I used to be so busy, I didn’t have much time for designing and improving our products,” he says. “I spent all my time drilling and slotting and deburring. Now the machines do so much, and their quality is so high, I have a lot more time. Right now I’m working on a new product, a collet closer for our CNC mill. Once I have that worked out, we’ll add it to our product line.”
Other benefits, of course, are typical of switching to CNC machining.
“Once you have the program right, you get the same quality out of the machine every time,” he says. “These machines are very rigid, very strong. They consistently deliver tolerances to a couple of tenths.”
The Performa has an X, Y, Z travel of 2.67’ 1.77’ x 1.84’ and a spindle speed of 11,000 rpm driven by a 30-hp motor. Rapids are 44 / 44 / 25 m/min.
“The SL 25 is really great, too,” Valencia say. “It gives us a lot of turning power with a 20-5,000-rpm spindle driven by a peak 30-hp motor.”
What’s Next?
“Right now we have two people in the shop,” Valencia says. “That’s me and John Redican who assists me in the shop. In the future, assuming these machines deliver the profitability we expect, we may add more people, but that’s not the big thing right now. The main thing is that we’re getting better quality parts than ever, faster and easier than ever. Plus, for me the main thing is, I’m now getting a chance to do the design work I love. These machines have freed my time so that I can add to our product line. That’s important to me.”
Jose Valencia at his new SL 25 turning center. The machine has a cartridge type spindle for higher accuracy. It also has state-of-theart “NR type” ways combined with “double mutted” ball screw. A high-speed turret allows adjacent O.D. or I.D. tools. Parts catcher, tool presetter and chip conveyor are offered as options.
J. F. K. shop manager, Jose Va-lencia, (right) and shop assistant John Redican discuss a setup to slot a collet on the new Akira Sei-ki Performa V3 vertical machining center. The mill has a rotary table to achieve 4-axis machining
