Machining / Turning Centers

Mining for Business

Wisconsin shop expands business and cuts costs with Toolmex CNC lathes.

When Leaf Technology in Hartland, Wis., began shopping around for a larger long bed CNC lathe to support their expanding turning work in the mining industry, Vice President Kevan Leaf turned to a trusted supplier, Toolmex Machinery. Leaf Technology, a family-owned 10,000 sq.ft. machine shop specializing in print-to-prototype work, was no stranger to the Toolmex lathe product line — they already had two TUR630MN (25″ x 80″ bc, 25 hp) Manual Plus CNC lathes along with several TUR Manual lathes.

“We looked at the Toolmex product line again,” says Leaf, “because we wanted a European quality machine at an affordable cost and we knew from past experience that these lathes are just that and more. They are reliable, high quality lathes that can handle demanding workloads and tougher materials like high nickel alloy or high-end stainless steel. You go to a tradeshow like IMTS, and everyone has a piece of aluminum in their lathes, but anything can look good cutting aluminum. We knew that the this brand of lathes could do more than that — they can handle the day-to-day abuses of tougher materials, and they are substantially less than the German CNC lathe we purchased some years ago.”

Managing costs while maximizing productivity in short-run work, according to Leaf, is his company’s biggest challenge. “We also needed a control that was conversational, that we could build parts on the fly rather than having an engineer sit down, program a part and then run it. That wouldn’t be cost effective for us or get our customers’ parts done on time.”

The TUR-MN Siemens Manual Plus CNC package was able to do just that, offering exceptional flexibility for conversational 2-axis lathe programming including the full range of cycles and thread repair, useful and easy to understand graphics, CSS, reduced key strokes and spindle speed adjustments when threading. The semi-automatic thread repair cycle, allowing easy pick up of an old thread, auto sync and repair even for taper threads, is a much used TUR-MN feature. According to Leaf, his machinists have come to regard the Siemens package over the shop’s other controls due to its easy, user-friendly operation that requires minimal G-code knowledge and experience.

In 2008, Leaf Technology purchased a TUR930MN (37″ x 160″ bc, 45 hp) Manual Plus CNC from Toolmex to accommodate the needs of one of their customers, a leading mining equipment manufacturer in the U.S. In addition to the ease of operation and overall savings, the addition of the TUR930MN allowed Leaf Technology to increase their mining business upwards of 30 percent.

“About 5 percent of our business, prior to the purchase, was repair and/or new equipment parts for our customer within the mining industry. After we purchased our new lathe, we were able to boost that up to 35 percent. The customer liked what we were doing so much, they just kept giving us more and more.”

Due to the design of the TUR930MN, including its TRI-V bedways, high precision spindle, hp and overall rigidity, Leaf machinists have been able to take 25 percent fewer passes per part, saving both time and money in operating costs. “With the new lathes we have also been able to consistently hold tighter tolerances and get there quickly,” adds Leaf.

Less Scrap, Higher Profit

Leaf Technology has also been able to lessen waste and scrap materials. In the past, with the old technology, process and equipment, the busy Wisconsin shop scraped almost 6 percent of materials. “Now, however, we’ve been able to get that just under 2 percent with the TUR-MN CNC lathes,” said Leaf.

For a shop like his, says Leaf, there are always going to be challenges, but those challenges can be overcome when you have the right equipment and the right people performing the work. “Our niche is turning stuff for almost any kind of pump part from refineries to power plants and water treatment facilities, and we have a strict philosophy — get customers their parts on time, and insure that it’s the highest quality. When it leaves our shop, it leaves here correct.

“To our surprise, these lathes have performed as well as, if not better than, our CNC from Germany with far less operation costs, and that is why we continue to use them and will purchase more.”

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