Since its inception in 1994,
Carlow Toolmaking Services Ltd has specialised in manufacturing components, jigs and fixtures for the medical device, oral health care, pharmaceutical and automotive industries.
As the Irish sub-contractor has grown over the years it has continually invested in Mitsubishi EDM technology supplied by the Wellesbourne-based
Engineering Technology Group (ETG).
John Whelan, design engineer at Carlow Toolmaking Services, said: “We make jigs and fixtures for the medical industry and we have a contract toolroom, so we do a little bit of everything. At present, we have parts here from an old steam engine that we are producing right through to high-end medical device equipment. 22 years ago we bought a Mitsubishi FX10 wire EDM machine — and it is still running every day.”
With the company enjoying steady growth, it added a second Mitsubishi EDM machine, an MV1200S five years ago, followed by a Mitsubishi MV2400R that was installed shortly before the Covid-19 pandemic struck. However, the global hiatus on much of the manufacturing industry hasn’t halted progress at Carlow Toolmaking and at the start of 2021, it added a second Mitsubishi MV1200S wire EDM.
Mr Whelan continued: “Obviously, the longevity has been proven with our first machine, plus the fact that we use the same software — the training curve was much easier by sticking with a Mitsubishi machine rather than switching to another brand.”
Pat Amond, Carlow Toolmaking Services director, said: “With an awful lot of the higher quantity parts we are making at the moment, we are using the Mitsubishi wire EDMs rather than our milling machines. Over the years we have discovered that we can stack parts and prepare them on the EDMs more efficiently. Additionally, the machines can run unmanned overnight which has given us an edge over our competitors and benefitted our customers.”
Looking at the evolution of the Mitsubishi machines since the company bought its first wire EDM 22 years ago, Mr Whelan said: “The interface has changed, it is a lot slicker and the speed has improved. The stainless steel tank on the newer machines are much easier to clean — but they do the same job as they always did.”
The two MV1200S wire EDM machines and the MV2400R incorporate Mitsubishi’s Tubular Shaft Motor technology that delivers extra-smooth axis movements with drives positioned right in the centre of the moving weight.
Maximum precisionHighlighting this smooth axis movement and ultimate level of precision, the machines have glass linear scales right next to the workspace to assure users of maximum precision right from the start.
In fact, Mitsubishi provides a 12-year positional warranty on all drives. Regarding the upgrade to the control interface, the new 19in touch screen control interface provides onboard CAD/CAM programming with complete import function for 2D, IGES and DXF files to streamline workflow.
This is complemented by onboard maintenance tracking that monitors the use of all consumables such as rollers, bearings and even multiple wire bobbin tracking that enables the operator to qualify how much wire remains on multiple bobbins.
When asked if the company is running the machines at their limits, Mr Whelan said: “We tend to run overnight when we have the right type of work to go on the machines. We also cut a wide range of materials here, and anything conductive can be wire eroded. So, we can cut anything from graphite right through to PCD.
“At the moment, we are cutting a bronze component that conventionally may have been milled, but it is much better to do this job on the wire EDM. We tend to do jobs slightly differently. We think around wire eroding rather than milling. As we design many jobs in-house, we design to suit our abilities. So, we very often design around wire erosion as it is more efficient.”
He added: “Over the last few years, our design department always has the Mitsubishi wire EDMs in mind from the very beginning when they are doing the initial design of components. This allows us the benefit of working overnight unmanned and our customers get the benefit because, from the very outset, there are no modifications. We provide a concept from the very beginning and then we supply a finished product that is ready to go.”
Scott Elsmere, ETG’s EDM expert, said: “Carlow Toolmaking has intelligently adapted its strategy whereby the profiling of multiple components can be undertaken on an EDM machine as opposed to a machining centre.
“By using an EDM to profile parts rather than rough milling, manufacturers like Carlow Toolmaking can reduce labour and costs by profiling parts overnight unmanned. This adds capacity to milling departments while reducing cutting tool costs, power consumption and even eradicating excessive swarf from the process.”
Looking closer at the component modelling and the difference between the oldest FX10 Mitsubishi and the new MV1200R and MV2400R machines, Mr Whelan concluded: “With the Mitsubishi FX10 machine, we had X, Y ad Z travels of 350 x 250 x 220mm. When we purchased the first MV1200S, we effectively had the same capacity — but it was a more efficient machine with a more modern control.
“Eventually, we needed extra Z-axis capacity so we moved up to the MV2400R. This machine has X, Y and Z travels of 600 x 400 x 305mm. The extra height in the Z-axis has opened up a lot of new doors for us.”