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34 www.CNC-West.com CNC WEST August/September 2018 base to start machining from. “The Fanuc 31i control was a big part of our decision to purchase the Robocut,” details Allen. “The training gave me hands on experience with the systems and menus that otherwise I would have had to figure out on my own. The machines are not difficult to learn compared to 5 axis milling so we picked up on it rather quickly. My two sons Justin and Conrad also work here and they went through the training when we added the second machine.” Fanuc controls are very popular among machine tools, but Fanuc only puts their top of the line control like the 31i on their own machines. It is rare to see as sophisticated a control on commodity level machines. That added value didn’t go unnoticed by Allen and the management team at Astro. “The 31i control has a friendly interface, a large touch screen and all the manuals are available on screen,” details Allen. “It is a Windows back end and can support a mouse, keyboard and connect to our network. It has external features like remote monitoring so I can check in on it from home and see how it is running or if there was a fault.” The Fanuc EDMs were originally purchased to support the Fadals by machining small features and slots not possible to do with a mill. The more they used the EDM the more ways they found to utilize the capabilities. “You remove metal differently with an EDM,” explains Allen. “Instead of using a ½” endmill to sneak up on a desired shape you can just cut a final path with the EDM. It seems silly, but waste is easier to handle when it comes off as a large chunk vs. thousands of chips.” Astro’s EDM machines have a work envelope of 400mm x 300mm x 255mm so they can get a variety of parts on the table at the same time. Prior to the EDMs, lights out manufacturing wasn’t much of a possibility due to the nature of the parts and material used. That changed when the first EDM came on line. “EDMs are as a whole very reliable, and the Fanuc is no exception,” explains Allen. “They don’t require a lot of attention during the day and can easily run unattended. We set up the machines to run for 8-10 hours at a time. My guys come in and load it up and it runs. At the end of the shift they load them again. We get 16-20 hours of run time every day out of each Fanuc Robocut with very little fuss. The machines are just so constant in what they do. On a milling machine running the exotic alloys you need to babysit it. You have to listen to the tools and be there to attend it. We only are staffed with one shift, but we get two shifts minimum out of our EDMs, every day. I’ve never needed a service call on either machine and I love that. I do all the basic maintenance and replace things like rollers. The nice thing is the manual is on the control so I pull up the part I need to replace and I get step-by-step instructions on screen with actual photos showing how to do it.” Astro Machine Co has 13 full time employees with 9 dedi- cated machinists. They run only a single shift 5 days a week but the shift is split between an early start time and a later start. Allen touts the skill of his machinists as the reason As- tro has been successful for so many years. “Our machinists are Fanuc puts their top of the line control on their own machines and the 31i was a big selling point. The 31i has a large touch screen display and friendly user interface.