Customer Showcase

COMPANY: Performance Tool & Die
LOCATION: Detroit Lakes, MN / Lakeville, MN
WEBSITE: www.ptdmn.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: May, 2010
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Performance Tool & Die is a leading tooling provider for the automotive, agriculture and recreation industries. They provide blank, form and progressive stamping dies; press brake tooling; tube bend tooling; and weld and machining fixturing.

PART DESCRIPTION:
This pedestal punch is used in Performance Tool & Die’s metal stamping dies and is just one example of where GibbsCAM, with the integrated VoluMill option, has increased tool life, run time and workholding capabilities. Performance Tool & Die uses the VoluMill option for GibbsCAM on 40 percent of the components that they run through their CNC mills. On this particular part, they were able to reduce their run time for the milling operations by 72 percent and the number of tools used by 60 percent and to obtain a better overall tool life for the completed part.

COMPANY: Precise Products Corporation
LOCATION: Minneapolis, MN
WEBSITE: www.preciseproducts.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: October, 2009
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Precise Products Corporation, owned through an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP) with almost 100 employees, has been machining parts since its founding in 1956, while retaining several original customers throughout its history, including Rosemount Aerospace and several divisions of Rockwell Collins. Today, almost 100 percent of its work is for multiple aerospace manufacturers.

PART DESCRIPTION:
This featured part is called a shaft, connector extension, and is used in the aerospace industry. Precise Products produces about 50 shaft, connector extensions per year. This part is 11.5 inches long with most of it having a small diameter of .125 machined out of stainless steel. Productivity cycle-time gains were immediately realized using GibbsCAM MTM to drive the Citizen Swiss.

COMPANY: Nash Community College
LOCATION: Rocky Mount, NC
WEBSITE: www.nashcc.edu
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: November, 2002
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Founded in 1967, Nash Community College is a public two-year post secondary educational institution. The Machining Technology program, established in 1989, has but one mission: to provide students with the highest quality of manual and CNC machining in Eastern North Carolina. Currently the machining program enrolls 55 students throughout the curriculum. Students can obtain a degree, diploma or certificate in Machining Technology, as well as a certificate in CNC Machining. From manual to 5-Axis simultaneous machining, NCC provides students with an educational opportunity that is second to none.

PART DESCRIPTION:
Although this brass air nozzle part has no industrial use, it’s used to teach students the advantage of 5-Axis simultaneous machining. Making 10 parts a year for the MEC 232 (Computer Aided Manufacturing II), the brass air nozzle incorporates both 5-Axis positioning as well as 5-Axis simultaneous machining in one part.

COMPANY: Bucyrus International, Inc.
LOCATION: South Milwaukee, MI
WEBSITE: www.bucyrus.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: March, 2000
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Bucyrus is a world leader in the design and manufacture of high productivity mining equipment for the surface and underground mining industries. Bucyrus’ surface mining equipment is used for mining coal, copper, iron ore, oil sands and other minerals. Bucyrus’ underground mining equipment is used primarily for mining coal and also used in mining minerals such as Potash and Trona. In addition to machine manufacturing, Bucyrus manufactures high quality OE parts and provides world-class support services for their machines. Bucyrus’ corporate headquarters is located in South Milwaukee, Wisconsin, USA.

PART DESCRIPTION:
This featured part is called a shovel truck frame. It weighs 200,000 pounds and sits atop the machine’s crawlers (tracks) to support the revolving frame on a 495 Shovel assembly. Bucyrus Shovels are used in the surface mining industry; Bucyrus will manufacture 24 Shovels in 2008. The old process of machining this part took a total of 5 operations and 5 days to complete. The current process using right angle heads with GibbsCAM requires only 3 operations and three days to complete.

COMPANY: Big Dog Garage
LOCATION: Burbank, CA
WEBSITE: www.jaylenosgarage.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: December, 2005
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Big Dog Garage, is The Tonight Show host Jay Leno’s passion and playground where his crew keeps vehicles roadworthy. The 77,000 square foot facility houses 200 machines, including vintage and modern cars and motorcycles, two stationary steam engines, and a 17,000 square foot shop that includes a full kitchen where the owner occasionally cooks for the staff. The garage also serves as experimental proving ground for environmentally friendly products and practices, testing biodiesel, generating electricity from solar cells and wind turbines, and selling excess power to the grid.

PART DESCRIPTION:
This part is a governor from an 1831 stationary steam engine which incorporates two 15-pound steel balls as flyweights which hang, diametrically opposed, off the lower sleeve. The lower sleeve had been repaired several times but kept breaking. Using GibbsCAM Solid Modeling allowed Big Dog Garage to create a replacement part and make modifications to improve aesthetics. The part operates in plain sight of the steam engine, keeping their oldest machine running.

COMPANY: Cobalt Enterprises, Inc.
LOCATION: Granite Falls, WA
WEBSITE: www.cobaltent.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: March, 2006
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Cobalt’s way of doing business leverages standardization – everyone uses the same equipment, software and process. All machines are equipped with the same controls, technology is kept current and maintained, and good people are trained in-house. This approach allows Cobalt to do short-run work and avoid turning away work for lack of ability or capacity.

PART DESCRIPTION:
Cobalt uses two halves of the heat jacket for a transfer press that applies approximately 1,000 graphics to coffee mugs/year. After turning and milling work on the Mori Seiki NV5000 lathe, the cylindrical part is transferred to a machining center for parting into halves and edge finishing.

COMPANY: Star Metal Products
LOCATION: Westlake, OH
WEBSITE: www.starmetal.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: December, 1996
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Star Metal Products is an ISO 9001:2000 Certified manufacturer of complex machined components and products for diverse industrial market sectors. Highly recognized as a leader in the cold-forming industry, Star Metal has expanded its machining capabilities to include products for aerospace, medical, electrical, automotive and other precision machining industries.

PART DESCRIPTION:
This part is a Cold Nutformer Transfer Finger, used for high speed transfers in the fastener industry in thousands of different configurations; all of which are short run lots. Using GibbsCAM allows Star Metal Products to easily program all of the different angles for the transfer finger all in one setup. Last year, the 50 employee shop output more than 39,000 dif¬ferent products. GibbsCAM’s edit-free G-code output made this possible.

COMPANY: Ed Pink Racing Engines
LOCATION: Van Nuys, CA
WEBSITE: www.edpink.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: June, 2001
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Ed Pink Racing Engines (EPRE) is one of America’s premier racing companies. They have been building, testing, designing and developing racing and high per¬formance engines for over 45 years. EPRE currently is doing development work for Nissan and Toyota along with its normal customer base race engine business. EPRE has always been on the cutting edge of technology in the design of race engines.

PART DESCRIPTION:
This part is an oil pump pressure housing for a dry sump oil pump which supplies the oil to the engine. It’s made in various sizes depending on oil flow and pressure requirements. Approximately 300 are made annually and they are used in all forms of racing that use a dry sump oil system. With the use of GibbsCAM, it’s possible to machine a very close tolerance lightweight part out of aluminum and make it operate at high RPM without failure.

COMPANY: Prime Components LLC
LOCATION: Spring Green, WI
WEBSITE: www.prime-components.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: October, 2006
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Prime Components emerged in 2005, having partnered up with many customers varying from custom car builders to large corporations with a worldwide presence. Using GibbsCAM in unison with the latest solid modeling software and some of the best machining equipment available, has given them the ability to create product’s that meet and exceed our customer’s requirements.

PART DESCRIPTION:
This hood pin plate is a unique design that was created to help customers in the show car industry stand out from the crowd. It is machined from 6061-T65 aluminum, using high speed machining techniques. This part is made in limited quantities of approximately 20 to 25 sets annually. It is part of a hood pin kit available from the Ringbrothers used recently on a ‘67 Mustang named “Reactor” which was awarded the Goodguys 2007 Street Machine of the Year, one of the most coveted prizes in the hot-rod industry.

COMPANY: Blue Chip Engineering
LOCATION: Ramsey, MN
WEBSITE: www.bluechipeng.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: June, 2000
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Blue Chip Engineering, established in 1994, is a high precision machine shop that covers the full spectrum of machining. Their services include: Engineering, Tooling, 4 to 5-axis Machining, Rapid Prototyping and Production. They manufacture components for industries including medical, aerospace, computer and automotive.

PART DESCRIPTION:
The machining of such a large, thin-walled surface was a great challenge to overcome and this non-functional part has been produced purely for its aesthetic beauty and symbolic meaning behind its design. The three overlapping ripples represent the effects of the recipient’s good deeds. Produced for the arts industry, the prize is awarded by the Ted Community annually at the TED Conference. Each winner is awarded the commemorative sculpture designed by artist, Tom Shannon, featuring a sphere which hovers magnetically in mid-air above a wooden base. The TED prize winners selected are individuals who have used their specific talents to influence society for the better and included in 2007 President Bill Clinton, among others.

COMPANY: APEX CNC
LOCATION: Morgan City, LA
WEBSITE: www.apexcnc.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: December, 2004
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Apex CNC, established in 2003, develops highly specialized complex parts produced in single or limited quantities. Combining the latest in CAD software, solid modeling, GibbsCAM, and high precision 5-axis machining, Apex CNC serves a wide variety of industries including undersea exploration and salvage equipment, offshore oil drilling, specialized and custom motorcycle parts, and more.

PART DESCRIPTION:
Machined from Durbar, this cylinder for a Harley Davidson Knucklehead engine was reverse engineered from anoriginal cylinder which was more than 60 years old. Utilizing GibbsCAM, it was possible to modify the design for greater power and performance, while preserving the look and feel of the original. The cylinder is retrofitted to modified high performance Knucklehead motorcycles and is produced in limited volumes averaging less than 100 units per year.

COMPANY: Hickman Racing
LOCATION: Des Moines, IA
WEBSITE: www.hickmanracing.com
GibbsCAM USER SINCE: July, 1998
COMPANY DESCRIPTION:
Hickman Racing is an off-road motorcycle repair, manufacturing, and prototype machine shop. Hickman took a step up and purchased their first line of production equipment in 1997, and has been in business today for 25 years. To keep up with the changing needs of motorcycle racing, they recently added 4-stroke specialty equipment to their collection.

PART DESCRIPTION:
Hickman’s Reed Manifold is used for older CZ motorcycles. The Reed Manifold converts the bike’s Piston Port Engine to a Reed Valve Engine. Used in the industry of Vintage Motocross racing, Hickman uses GibbsCAM software to produce over 50 parts a year. Hickman has programmed GibbsCAM to perform a relief cut, which reduces the number of CS planes used, while producing a taper wall inside the shape of the part.