pic: Team 1538's Machined Parts (C)

[Guy Chriqui]

Originally Posted by jjack

I believe there were somewhere around 10 lathe operations and 1 CNC operation on a Fadal. Roughly 1.5-2 hours per wheel. Of the 10 lathe operations, 6 were to create the recesses on each side (3 per side), 2 were to true up up both sides (1 per side), 1 to take the diameter down to size and the last was to create the groove where the tread goes. The Fadal operation was used to break some of the edges and then cut out the pattern in the middle.

Seems a little excessive? I know we make our wheels in 2 ops. First we do all the pattern work and bolt circles (20 min per wheel) and then its a 5 minute CNC lathe op to hog out the back sides. Just reworked it to be under 20 minutes I hope (finding out tomorrow when i load up the new code) but otherwise I have to say that 10 lathe ops is a ton. Our big thing this year is making manufacturing processes more efficient and it has been a huge help since our time in the shop has been cut extensively. I am willing to bet that you could cut that 2 hours per wheel in half at least.
-Guy