CNC West Feb March 2019

58 www.CNC-West.com CNC WEST February/March 2019 fixtures, saving the company even more. “We can’t spend thousands of dollars making a fixture to make a $100 part. So we make what we call “quick and dirty fixtures” by tell- ing Mastercam where the things are to avoid.” A totally automated system shaves considerable time off the machining process and allows Miyamoto to focus on programming and delegate the set up and machining processes to his machinists. “Jobs just move along be- cause we can spit-out the tool lists and spit-out set-up sheets. My machine operator will come in and I’ll just hand everything to him. He leaves my desk and I go on to program the next part.” Before using the software’s Tool Library, Miyamoto said he would have to write down what tools were going to be needed. Now, the machine opera- tor gets an image with the tool or the tool nose radius and details of exactly when it’s going be used. Set-up time has been dramatically reduced. The ma- chinists typically run about three jobs per day on each of the three machines – one vertical mill, a 2-axis lathe, and a multiaxis lathe with live tooling, subspindle, and Y-axis. Miyamoto says it’s about 10 parts. “That’s an hour of set- up, 30 minutes of runtime, and you’re on to the next part. Sometimes, the programming can be just as long as the runtime. Or, it can take an hour to program a part and 15 minutes to run it.” “That cuts down on my need to be out there babysit- ting the machines. It’s more time I can spend program- ming. Plus, I use the Tool Library for the mill work, leav- ing 15 tools in the mill all the time. Obviously, it saves time just to know that, ‘OK, tool number 7 is a quarter 20 tap and tool number 8 is the tap drill for it, and that never changes.’” Miyamoto said now that he has the right equipment in place, he takes on jobs that, years ago, he would have passed on. Knowing how easy it is to use the software for surfacing radiuses on top of parts or machining tapered walls, Miyamoto can quote jobs without having to buy ex- pensive tools to get it done. “When I can easily quote a job and move on, everybody benefits.” Today, Moto Proto is working on prototype suspen- sion components for Agile Off-Road, a company that of- fers custom van suspension tuning and long travel 4×4 conversions. They are also making prototype parts for a variety of Jeep accessories including winches. “Off-road automotive aftermarket parts is a very high- ly specialized industry,” Jason said. “But … it’s a growing one!” “Int icate parts that have very intricate cuts or holes in the middle of the part are no problem, even with the igh speed toolpaths. We don’t have to worry about the air cuts or the tool coming up and down.” oto laid it out in SOLIDWORKS so it lined up over the T- “Intricate parts that have very intricate cuts or holes in the middle of the part are no problem, even with the high speed toolpaths. We don’t have to worry about the air cuts or the tool coming up and down.” To machine an automotive air cleaner assembly, M To machine an automotive air cleaner assembly, Myiamoto laid it out in SOLIDWORKS so it lined up over the T-slot holes. “Then we made custom T-slot nuts to offset the bolts to the outside of the T-slot so we could come around and machine within those bolts. Not only was I able to tell Mastercam the exact location of the bolts, but I programmed my ‘avoid here’ instructions so the machine would not hit the bolts.”