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36 www.CNC-West.com CNC WEST June/July 2018 use in-house, in the field and rent out to other companies. “A company ten times my size might have only two, but we utilize them so much that we need more,” continues Luke. “To be a true tool builder and laser track operator you need to know how to run the CNC machines. We win a lot of jobs because all our guys are great machinists as well as inspectors. We inspect, see the problem, and then fix it. Lots of other companies inspect it, say these parts are bad and that’s it. Their service stops there. We fix it, then bring it back and install it. We do it all and the cus- tomers love that.” Mission critical tolerances start with quality people, machine tools that get the job done, and in an environ- ment conducive to precision. V & T Tooling has 10,000 sq.ft . total of manufacturing with 9 CNC milling centers that vary in size and brand. “Our 7500 sq.ft. climate- con- trolled manufacturing area has a lot going on,” details Luke. “We have a variety of brands on the floor, and all but one has been bought new in the last few years. With our continued growth we’ve been buying up new machines left and right. A climate-controlled ecosystem is crucial in our process. Our customers call out the temperature spec that we need to meet and every degree matters. A small thermal shift on a baseball sized part is one thing, but a few degrees on a 12 foot long part you need to hold .002 on is a lot harder to do with temperature changes.” Laser tracker inspection work is a big part of what V & T Tooling does. It is like a mobile CMM and they have seven of them. A company ten times their size might only have two. You have the ability to check an entire building with it. The tracker follows a laser beam and takes the measurements. V & T use them to set all their bigger fixtures and inspect parts too large for the arm/CMM. The trackers are portable and used onsite as well as in the shop. V & T even rents theirs out when not in use.