2019cnc4-5

34 www.CNC-West.com CNC WEST April/May 2019 fect science; each casting has a variance that is large in relationship to the machining process assigned to it. “You get five castings of the exact same part, made from the exact same wax tooling and they won’t be the same,” con- tinues Devon. “There might be a little more material on this face, or it is rotated slightly. You have a non-perfect casting that has to be perfect when you machine it, and perfect when it goes on the airplane. This is where our core competency in metrology comes in. We can see in space through inspection modeling how it fits, and how it will fit after we are done machining it.” Cascade takes in the casting and runs it though an ex- tensive intake process that begins with a trip across one of their 7 Zeiss CMMmachines. They inspect the piece of material and gather data on it. From there they are able to do an analysis and determine if it will yield a good part, and if so, how best to get that part. “We have created a methodology that allows us to verify component compli- ance at the raw material stage, before any chips are cut,” explains Devon. “From there, we define the exact path that will get us there. The result = no surprises. We call it “Starting with the end in mind.” We essentially have to find the statue of David in the marble. We know it is in there, but how do you physically adjust on the machine to match the perfect part inside the casting. That is where our 30 years of experience in metrology pays off.” Top - Cascade Engineering Technologies made their name in metrology. Their quality lab is world class with seven Zeiss CMMs. Cascade leverages probing more than most shops. Before a part even hits the CNC all the probing routine has been verified by Vericut. Bottom Left - Devon Ellis has been with the company since he was playing with Legos under his dad’s desk. Last July he was made director of engineering and oversees the engineering department, programming, fixturing, IT, document controls, CMM programming, estimating and quoting. Bottom Right - The shop is split into two work cells. The north cell is filled with Haas vertical machining centers including (3) 5 axis. The south cell has the larger 4 and 5 axis Makino and Matsuura horizontal milling centers along with the Toshiba TUE 150 vertical lathe.