Customer Success Stories
Optimized cooling solutions for grinding success stories
Turbine Component Manufacturing : Chandler, Arizona
$18K investment results in $500,000 savings first year
- John, a senior manufacturing engineer at a gas turbine component manufacturer in Chandler, AZ, was faced with the prospect of buying a new filter system for $500K….
John could not run all of his turbine blade grinders in one cell at one time without the current filter system overflowing. Cool-Grind’s coolant application technology and strategy reduced the flowrate per machine by 67%! The innovative changes dramatically improved the grinding in all aspects of economics and quality, utilizing the existing coolant filtration system. The new filter system was not required and the investment by his company was around $18K in materials and engineering.
Automotive Component Manufacturing : Hamilton, Ontario
$6K investment results in $250,000 savings first year
- Shelldon, a project manager at an automotive component supplier close to Hamilton, ON, was achieving inconsistent wheel life in a groove grinding application…….
The OEM nozzles supplied by the machine builder were a general purpose design and ineffective, far lower than that needed for the application. The high-pressure cleaning nozzles, also supplied by the OEM, were equally ineffective either, and deflected due to the force of the jet. Cool-grind engineered and developed a manifold with integral HP cleaning jets and used coherent-jet nozzles to cool and lubricate the grinding zone. This strategy doubled the life of the grinding wheel, saving the company $250k per year.
Medical Implant Manufacturing : Warsaw, Indiana
$7K investment returns $2.7 million in first year savings
- Ken, a manufacturing engineer at an orthopedic implant manufacturer in Warsaw, IN, was experiencing inconsistent plated CBN grinding wheel life……….
He also had serious surface quality issues. Cool-Grind supplied a new manifold design, and coherent-jet nozzles, and solved these issues. The better coolant application allowed Ken to move to a brazed CBN product giving 10 times more abrasive life and greater productivity. The nozzle design and engineering investment of $700 per machine resulted in a return on investment of $2.7m a year cost savings from one cell of 10 machines.
Bearing Manufacturing : St. Thomas, Ontario
$2,500 investment reduces non-productive dressing cycle-time by 700%
- Mike, a manufacturing engineering analyst at a bearing manufacturer was having surface integrity issues grinding a flanged bearing with four features ground at once……
The current nozzle setup consisted of a single plastic nozzle design to cover all four features. Cool-Grind designed and built an engineered manifold, specially designed swivel nozzles, and a laser aiming system which allowed Mike to increase the dressing interval. Productivity jumped and grinding ratios went from 1 part = 1 dress to an astonishing 7 parts = 1 dress, and resulted in an excellent surface finish. The investment was just $2,500 for the engineering and hardware.
Motorcycle Engine Manufacturing : Milwaukee, Wisconsin
$11,000 investment saves company $300,000 annually in labor costs
- John, a manufacturing engineer at a motorcycle engine manufacturer in Milwaukee, needed to allocate two fulltime employees, for 2 shifts……
Prior to engine assembly, an inspection process was required to check the surface integrity of a major engine valve-train component after grinding. Cool-Grind evaluated the problem, and designed and built new tangential nozzles for two machines, plus supplied high-pressure cleaning jets and pumps. The new process eliminated the intermittent cracking problems and the company reassigned the two employees previously needed to perform that job. The company invested $11,000 and saved $300k per year by re-allocating the two people elsewhere.
Aircraft Rod-end- Bearing Manufacturer : Hartford, Connecticut
$1K investment results in $100,000 savings per year
- Rob, a manufacturing engineer at a bearing manufacturer in Connecticut, could not achieve the surface finish of the rod end ball…
Rob purchased a linear manifold with switchable nozzles for his cylindrical grinder, so he could select the number of active nozzles depending on wheel width used. The machine was originally supplied with plastic nozzles and very restrictive valves. In order to meet his surface finish requirements Rob needed to polish the balls using a separate operation. With the Cool-Grind nozzle system Rob met his surface finish just using the grinding process. With a polishing cycle time of 30s for each ball now removed, Rob’s company saves an estimated $100,000 a year.
Carbide Endmill Manufacturer : Ontario, Canada
A solid carbide end-mill manufacturer in Canada recently replaced the Loc-Line on a Walter Power grinder with a Grind-Loc gashing kit and fluting kit. Grinding a batch size of 99 pieces of ½” diameter and 1.25” length of cut, the size deviation within the batch reduced from a typical 0.003” to 0.0004”. This was primarily due to much lower wheel wear. The gashing nozzle increased wheel life and feed rate by around 30%, as compared to the baseline.
The same customer sets his machine overnight to grind 20 Weldon flats on 0.50” diameter end mills, before reaching the point where the wheel needs to be sticked. With the Grind-Loc nozzles they can now run 80 parts overnight.
Carbide Endmill Manufacturer : Western Massachussetts
Eric stated the following after several years of using Cool-Grind products:
“The rigidity of the Cool-Grind coherent jet system and the clearance away from the wheels is a key benefit for us as we do not need the nozzles nearly as close to the contact/grinding area as copper and plastic nozzles. Our experience shows that the wheel life, dressing frequency and surface finish are superior when using the coherent jet system over both copper and plastic nozzles. The ability to direct a precise jet to exactly the proper position allows us to actually use less coolant banks and nozzles as opposed to copper and plastic nozzles, while still increasing the wheel performance”