In this video:
- Learn how Contour machines difficult, hard to hold castings.
- Learn how Contour has been a company known for solving customers problems and is able to machine their problem parts. Also check out our Success Stories!
TRANSCRIPTION:
Hello everybody. My name is Marty Farley. I am here at Contour Precision Milling and Machining, also known as Contour Tool. I am one of the quality engineers here, and I fill in wherever things need to be done. I set up some of the tooling for the CNC machines that we have, process improvements, and things like that. Now, over the coming weeks, you’re going to meet some of our team members. You’re going to see our machines. We want to share with you what we do and how we provide value. Before we head out there, though, today I want to take you on a little history tour. So fasten your seat belts, and here we go. Contour Tool was founded in 1986 by Paul and Donna Reichlin. The company was built around the screw machine industry, designing and manufacturing many inserts, platforms, and dovetail tools, whether it was something like this part here that is carbide tipped or if it was made from solid carbide or high-speed steel. You name it, we did it.
Uh, today, it is owned by Michelle Reichlin, who is Paul and Donna’s daughter, and we focus more on our CNC machine. We are capable of tighter tolerances and low to medium length production work, whether it’s something like this that’s machined from a solid piece of aluminum with tighter tolerances and smaller holes on the backside, or whether it’s something like this part that is machined from a casting. We do a lot of castings. We have four horizontal machining centers that we keep busy all the time. We have three Maki lathes and two Haas UMC 750s. Guys, those are impressive; it just sounds impressive. They are our five-axis machines, and you’ll see that as we create some of these videos. You’ll see some five-axis machining going on out there. That’s all I have for you on our history, so let’s head out there and meet Derrick and Bob.
All right, guys, here we are. We’re out here on the floor, and I’m going to introduce you to Derek. He’s one of our experienced CNC engineers here, and Bob is one of our experienced CNC machinists. So here’s Derek. Good afternoon, and here’s Bob over here. Good afternoon. So Derek, why don’t you share with us some of what’s going on?
Okay, well, we’ll get over this way, that way we can let Bob do what he does best. I’m also going to back up here a little bit so I can take off my mask, so you can hear me out here on the shop floor. As Marty stated, I’m one of the manufacturing engineers who just happens to be seasoned. I don’t know if that has to do with the gray hair or what. Talking about some of our capabilities here and some of our niches at Contour Tool, we specialize in machining complex, very difficult castings. What I mean by that is not because of the number of matches on a particular part, but because they are difficult to hold in the machining aspect. We work with very tight tolerances. This particular part here that we’re working on right now is kind of unique.
It’s for a customer who approached us with a problem, and typically we try to solve these issues for our customers. This part goes into a diesel generator projection system. This part was actually obsoleted many years ago, and they had a requirement from one of their customers for more of these parts. It has always been a difficult part for them to get manufactured. Here at Contours, we pride ourselves on going a step beyond and obtaining more information than just a blueprint. We want to understand the challenges they have faced in the past, and we always try to consider what we can do differently from any other shop to create a more productive and better part for them. By working with the customer, we were able to develop some design changes within the mold.
Uh, that’s going to allow us to control a lot of their data, a lot of their tight tolerances and requirements for this part. Uh, we’re currently working on the setups, but, uh, it’s starting to look a little bit like this. And I’m sure you’re going to see, uh, later in the videos. Uh, after this operation here, we’re going to go over to our five-axis machine and finish machine nest. Uh, that’s where the process begins for this part. As you can see, it’s not your typical part. We’re currently working on this part on this particular machine here. It’s, uh, one of our empty XS turning centers. We have a main spindle with a 10-inch capacity up front and a six-inch capacity in the back. We also have a turret with an assortment of tools. Now, this machine is very productive. It allows us to do front and back work all in the same setup.
That way, we can control our processes much better. We also have YIs capability on this machine as well. This is just one of them. We actually have one right across the aisle where Bob is currently working. Now, this is not anything new as far as equipment goes; every shop has one of these. However, what we have found here at Contour is that we get the most out of these machines. We also have a highly experienced staff, which always makes a difference in any company. That is why we are successful here at Contour: because of our diversity of experience levels throughout our shop. We take a team approach in tackling and conquering these very complex and difficult castings. Not only do we do casting, but we also handle your standard bar stock component parts, which can be challenging as well. I’m sure some of you are reviewing our website for the first time.
I welcome you to read all the notations in there. Take a look at our equipment and our certifications regarding quality. Also, take a look at pictures of our component parts, but that doesn’t necessarily tell the entire story of our capabilities. I encourage you to send us your quotes, especially for your highly complex castings that you have difficulty with. Let us take a look at them. The proof will be in the process, the product, and the partnership we can build with you. Marty, I thank you for your time. If you don’t mind, I’m going to go ahead and get back to work here. Everyone have a good day.
Alright, thank you Derek. Alright, that’s a little bit about Contour Tool. Thanks for joining.