2018cnc2-3

24 www.CNC-West.com CNC WEST February/March 2018 defense type work, but it wasn’t our primary aim. Honeywell came to us with a missile defense program in 2002 or 2003 and that shifted our focus more towards those kinds of programs.” The Honeywell program required Wire Tech to EDM parts out of Rhenium. At the time EDM and grinding were the only way to process parts out of that material. Because of its super high melting point, super alloys like Rhenium are used in combus- tion chambers, turbine blades, and exhaust nozzles of jet en- gines and missile systems. “From there aerospace and defense work just kept rolling in,” continues Rick. “Once our foot was in the door others opened inside Honeywell and we became sup- plies to multiple programs.” Wire Tech’s milling and turning departments have expand- ed over the years. They still have the first Mikron HSM 700 they purchased. It runs every day without fail. When you buy a ma- chine that costs a little more you hope that with a higher price point comes higher quality. “Twenty years later and Mikron is still a go-to machine for us,” tells Rick. “It’s not called Mikron anymore, but GF Machine Solutions. It is the same great piece of equipment. We have three of them including a dedicated 5 axis vertical. The service has always been impeccable, and we The Hurco TM10i is the newest piece of equipment at Wire Tech. It was purchased through D&R Machinery with the primary purpose of turning ring after ring of shroud segments. A segment is 10” diameter piece of Inconel or Hastelloy. Wire Tech needed a machine with a large capacity and plenty of torque to machine the groves into these superalloys. GF Machine Solutions 5 axis high speed machining center makes quick work of complex aerospace parts. Wire Tech has 3, 4 and 5 axis mills to service their customers, and support the sinker EDMs.