ITC Restores Lancaster
to Former Glory
Operating as part of the Wyko Eriks Group of companies, Revolvo
Limited is one of the World's leading manufacturers of specialist
bearings. Manufacturing a wide variety of bearing types for
numerous applications, the company was recently tasked with
producing rudder bearings for the Lancaster Aircraft - a project
that required cutting tools from Tamworth based ITC.
Working out of its Dudley headquarters, the ISO 9001 registered
company was commissioned to manufacture seven bearings for the
historical aircraft, five for testing and two for actual use.
The design of the self aligning deep groove ball bearings and
the aligning housing was potentially set to cause Revolvo difficulties
when machining - coincidentally ITC's Sales Engineer Mr Steve
Allmark looked at the drawings and offered a solution for the
situation.
To machine the spherical bearing housing a special cutter was
required. Within a matter of days ITC had delivered a special
6 flute, 6mm diameter solid carbide end mill cutter with a 45
degree chamfer and a radius. The cutter was a development of
the popular D517 finishing tool with TiAlN coating.
Revolvo Design Engineer Bal Rait comments: "When we first
received the Lancaster project there were a number of components
that needed some complex and intricate machining. This is made
more the task more problematic when machining materials that
are very difficult to cut."
As Revolvo Production Supervisor Mr Mark Pearson recalls: "The
ITC engineer has been working with us for little over a year
now and we have achieved some impressive results in this time.
When we have highlighted a problem or a potential area for productivity
improvement, Steve Allmark has been very supportive."
Another example of ITC's ability to support the specialist bearing
manufacturer arose when Revolvo encountered continual tool breakages
when machining steel cages. The ongoing project was a concern
to Revolvo as it manufactures batches of up to 200 cages per
month with each cage spending 2 hours on a machining centre.
The cages required drilling and milling with standard tooling
below 8mm diameter; this broke frequently. The breakages not
only reduced productivity and machining time, it proved costly
with cutting tools continually being replaced.
Reviewing the situation, Mr Allmark of ITC suggested the installation
of the ITC 4906 solid carbide ripper series with TiAlN coating.
This changeover immediately reaped rewards with production time
per cage being reduced from 2 hours to 1 ¼ hours - a
massive saving when considering the quantities involved. Not
only did the ITC 4906 series improve productivity, it improved
surface finish and eliminated the drilling process as the 4906
is now used to drill and machine the cages.
This multiple operation cutter gives Revolvo increased tooling
capacity, reduced tooling stock and significantly improved cutter
reliability. The tool life has been enhanced by 50% and this
gives Revolvo confidence to operate its machining centres without
continually reviewing cutting tools or being concerned with
machine down time caused by tool breakages.
"Since working with Revolvo we have introduced a number
of new cutting tools that have worked extremely well. The tooling
has improved productivity and tool life as well as giving the
customer confidence in the ITC product range. We will work to
improve upon the productivity gains we have already achieved
as well as looking for new opportunities to support the customers
cutting tool requirements," concludes Mr Allmark of ITC. |
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Within
a matter of days ITC had delivered a special 6 flute,
6mm diameter solid carbide end mill cutter with a 45°
chamfer and a radius |
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