Edging ahead

Edging ahead
Edging ahead

Product innovation and customer productivity gains were the foundation cornerstones of Cajero when it was established, and today they remain at the core of everything it does.


As a second generation family-owned business, Cajero says it has a strong and unwavering commitment to the development of its range of high performance solid carbide and PCD cutting tools for customers producing products from an ever changing mix of composites materials.

From its 15,000ft2 facility in Queenborough, Kent, Cajero designs and manufactures a range of standard and engineered cutting tool solutions for the tiered supply chain of the global civil and defence aerospace industry. Originally established in 1992 by managing director, Alex Harding's father, Phil, the company has always focused on providing cutting tool solutions for customers using composite materials to manufacture their products.

As Alex Harding explains: “Heavily involved in the development of cutting tools for the growing composites industry with a renowned manufacturer my father felt more could be done to address the needs of the customers. So, unsurprisingly, he set up the business with a technical bias, using the knowledge gained to develop cutting tool solutions for these demanding applications.” 

Having the know-how

Today, that original bias continues with 20% of the highly-skilled staff at the company forming the TEK (Technology, Engineering know-how, Knowledge sharing) Team. Supporting customer projects across the globe, the TEK Team has been assembled and trained to quickly uncover productivity insights, so customers can focus on the areas that need attention. They provide actionable data so production targets can be hit, and even surpassed.

With the TEK Team at the core of the business, all technical customer interactions emanate from this hub.
“Using the Cajero TEK Team customers can reallocate their valuable resources into other areas of their operation. The knowledge shared also allows them to become more prepared for any advanced projects. Further benefits uncovered include additional capacity gained from improved machining productivity allowing outsourced work to be brought back in-house and the possible delay of the investment in additional machine tool capacity. Finally, there is the opportunity to improve the quality of the finished parts by using a better set-up.”

A recent new business contract involving the re-servicing of a significant number of polycrystalline diamond (PCD) drilling/slotting router tools highlights how working in partnership with the customer often delivers a positive outcome.
Harding explains: “We had been running tests to prove to an aerospace OEM in North America that we could not only refresh the PCD tip on one of their high consumption tools, but also make design changes to improve its performance. We conducted numerous test cuts here in our test machining facility and extensive reports were presented to the customer.

“We eventually had the opportunity to test Cajero's upgraded tools on the customer's machine and initially the results did not reflect our test cuts. Following some head scratching here and at the customers facility we worked it out together, the tool was cutting so efficiently that the extraction system and fixturing was no longer up to the task. The machined composite materials – comprising of graphite, carbon fibre or high temperature glass – were producing a high volume of very fine debris that became trapped in the tight slots and pockets being cut. As the debris was not being effectively removed in this fully enclosed process, its recirculation and re-cutting was leading to overheating.”

Now the process has been improved to make the most of the cutting tools enhancements real productivity gains are being accessed. As the tool has to drill in and slot the PCD is in a fully loaded cutting condition for most of the machining cycle and previously only two or three composite panels could be produced per tool, so the customer was consuming around 250 tools per month.

Worn tools are sent to Cajero, where a full inspection is carried out to ensure the tool can be re-serviced. After the depleted PCD tip has been removed from the carbide body, remodelled features are precision ground on the body to ensure peak clearance behind the cutting edges. Next, new optimally sourced PCD is brazed in and the cutting edge geometry is created using the company's CNC tool and cutter grinding and erosion machines. These multi-axis machine tools not only apply the finished geometry to the diamond cutting edge, but also allow Cajero's engineers to alter the flute blend to improve the flow of cut raw material.

It's a team gain

Performance gains witnessed in the aerospace customer's facility have been dramatic as the tools can now produce up to 10 panels before requiring another refresh service from Cajero. The improved tool life is just the start, now the process has been improved with the extraction the customer is going to start to increase the cutting data (speeds and feeds) to establish just how much more productivity can be accessed.

“It is not unusual for a customer to achieve these sorts of benefits from our team combined with our product innovation,” Harding says. “A cutting tool solution is so much more than that; we have to consider all of the process parameters that impinge on the customer's composite material. A PCD tool might be the ideal solution, but its high hardness can be challenged if the fixturing allows the component to vibrate excessively, potentially compromising the edge prematurely. So, we might suggest a more robust tool even if the tool life is technically slightly shorter. It is an understanding of the whole situation and the creation of a tooling solution that will match the requirements.”

Of course this depth of knowledge comes from many years' experience and Cajero has had some involvement with many of the larger aerospace projects since the mid-90s.

“Every major project, from early Airbus and Boeing programmes, to the more recent Boeing 787 Dreamliner, Airbus A350 and F-35 Joint Strike Fighter, has thrown up challenges as the composite materials become stronger, lighter and often more difficult or demanding to machine,” concludes Harding. “To meet these challenges, we are pushing the performance boundaries of the solid carbide, diamond coated and PCD tools we design and manufacture. Engineering cutting tool solutions to meet our customer's demands is a constant development process.”

www.cajero.co.uk

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