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Proper service of your tooling can mean the difference
between making money and not making money.
In the past, tooling has often
been an afterthought in the woodworking industry. Machinery,
raw materials and other items have taken priority over tooling.
How many times have companies ordered a machine and forgotten
about tooling? How many jobs have been taken with consideration
given to the tooling required to perform the job economically?
Little or none.
Today, however, more and more shops
are taking a serious look at tooling with respect to tool life
and downtime. Tool servicing, on the other hand, is still the
least thought about aspect in the production of wood products.
It's not that no one cares about service of their tools. It's
just that the primary concern is getting the job completed on
time and out the door. But service plays a crucial role in this
area and has direct bearing on your profit margins.
Low price often begets low quality
Most
shops handle service through their maintenance department and,
in many cases, price is what determines who gets the service
business. Price, however, should not be the sole determining
factor in regard to service. An expensive tool sent out for servicing
to a "best price" shop may or may not be returned to
you restored to its original working condition. In some cases
the tool may perform adequately for a short time before requiring
service again. In other instances, tools sent to "best price"
shops are returned in a condition that may actually be worse
than when the tool was new. It is also not uncommon to see cases
of tools returned with a significant or even a total loss of
remaining service life.
The reasons why low price and low
quality so often go hand-in-hand relates mainly to the old adage
of getting what you pay for. A "best price" shop has
about the same overhead expenses as a quality shop. In order
for the "best price" shop to offer these lower prices
it must find other ways of keeping expenses to a minimum. And
that often entails taking shortcuts in the actual service work
being performed.
When you consider the investment
required to tool a first-rate production facility, or even a
small cabinet shop, the question of properly servicing those
tools should be viewed as insurance on that investment. To economize
in this area without first scrutinizing all of the factors involved
could be disastrous.
Put quality first
There are three factors to consider
with the service of woodworking tools. In order of importance,
they are: quality, time and price. Quality has many different
facets and in actuality is the only aspect of service which should
be scrutinized. Ask yourself the following questions; Do we get
18 or more sharpenings from our saw blades? Do our serviced tools
perform as well or better than when they were new? Are all of
our tools inspected before and after they are serviced? If you
don't know the answers to these questions, find out. The answers
may surprise you.
Let's look at the case of a large
manufacturer of panel products. This manufacturer was sending
a significant number of saw blades out each week for service.
After the serviceable life of the saws was exhausted, they would
have the blades re-tipped.
Immediately note that there is
a problem here. A properly serviced saw cannot be re-tipped economically.
To re-tip a properly serviced saw one must recut both the gullets
and the seat for the carbide teeth. This is due to the fact that
a properly serviced saw must have a certain amount of material
removed from both the top and the face of the tooth (Figure
1). This is done to maintain the same ratio of height and
thickness of the saw tooth throughout its serviceable life. If
any of the improper service grinds (Figure 2) appear on
your saw blades, you are reducing your tool's total service life
as well as reducing its performance level.
It was discovered that this particular
manufacturer was getting only 10 to 12 sharpenings from a saw
and then paying 75 percent of the price of a new saw to have
it re-tipped. Let's look at their most recent findings:
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This may seem like a small difference
in cost, however when you multiply this amount by the total number
of saw blades this manufacturer uses over the period of one year,
it adds up. Now take into account the fact that the performance
level of the re-tipped saws was only 75 percent that of the properly
serviced saws and their savings began to skyrocket.
Saw blades are not the only tools
which need to be serviced. Router bits, cutterheads, and drills
all need to be serviced at some point in time. Quality, again,
can make or break the performance level of these tools as well.
If these tools do not perform properly, you lose.
Get what you pay for
Make sure when your tools are serviced
that your service center is returning the tools to their original
manu- factured specifications. Don't allow your center to modify
or change these specifications just to suit its own service capabilities.
If it can't perform the service that is required, don't allow
it to do any service on that tool.
Manufacturers of cutting tools
have spent years of exhaustive research and testing to come up
with the proper tool geometry to satisfy certain applications.
When this tool geometry is changed, the tool becomes useless
for the application it was originally designed for. Many manufacturers
have a service facility within their plant. If there is a question
regarding the geometry of a tool, return it to the manufacturer
for service or ask them to supply you with the proper specifications
and tolerances they use in their manufacturing process. Most
will be glad to help, for they do not want a product with their
name on it performing poorly at any time during the tool's serviceable
life.
There is one thing you can do in
your shop to help. By properly packaging the tools before they
are sent out for service you can help insure the tools' service
life. Too many times boxes of router bits, drills, or saws have
been sent out for service without being protected from each other.
Cutting edges may be chipped or broken off entirely which can
end your tools service life prematurely.
There are many different components
that make up a quality service center. Some of these are: the
type of equipment that is used for service, the grinding wheels,
the inspection equipment, and the personnel. Do yourself a favor
and visit your service center. Are all of the machines clean
and in good working order? Do they have the necessary equipment
to inspect your tools? Are you satisfied with the production
time you are getting from your serviced tools? If not, you may
discover that the "best price" you've been getting
has actually been costing you money.
(Reprinted from Wood & Wood Products
Magazine) |
