After nearly 5 months of downtime our CNC Hydromat Epic is ready to cut chips again. The machine has spent the last 2 weeks being switched over from an aluminum fastener to a steel cam pin. The cam pin will be used in refrigerator door hinges.

The machine will be milling three flats on the part, a single flat on one end and two flats on the opposite end. The two flats will need to be parallel within .001" of an inch of each other. To machine these flats, we needed to purchase an additional 2 axis flange so the unit could move in the Z, X and Y axes.

We also needed to purchase a special CNC gripper inverter, which is pictured below. This was needed instead of the standard inverter to ensure that the part will turn with precision and slide into the collet after one flat has already been milled on to the part. We are the first to use this new inverting technology in the states and are excited to see its results.

The next step, as mentioned above, is cutting chips and proving out each station. This is expected to be a 2 to 3 week process of making a part in each station, making adjustments and then moving on to the next station. This will be need to be done for all 16 stations and then we plan to be ready for production. This can't happen soon enough as we have a 1,000,000 piece order waiting to be filled.