Improving Control in Cable Drum Manufacturing

In modern times, we can hardly imagine production without CNC machines. Industry and technology are developing rapidly, as are new ** measuring tools** and ** measuring techniques. When everything was checked, he took very fine sandpaper and, with the lathe running, manually sanded or polished the surface of all small irregularities, so that the result was a beautiful, smooth and shiny surface that ensures smooth ** rotation of the steel cable on the drum.

Problem

In modern times, we can hardly imagine production without CNC machines.

Solution and Method

Industry and technology are developing rapidly, as are new measuring tools and ** measuring techniques. Together with already established techniques and standards, certain machining operations and workpiece requirements are often almost self-evident. Nevertheless, we sometimes still encounter various challenges, such as demanding ** workpiece shapes, extremely ** small tolerances, ** new types of materials – especially in workshops where ** individual products** are manufactured and there is no series production.

In such cases, it is necessary to find new approaches and methods of control and machining that require thinking outside some already assumed machining procedures and measuring methods. In his case, these were cable drums with a thread in the middle. With the presentation of two drums that had to have ** the same internal thread diameter**, the complexity of manufacturing increased significantly.

Until that moment, all cable drums were manufactured individually, as each cable drum came attached to its own electric motor that then drove it. Although in this case the drums would not have identical dimensions, the peripheral speed, which is extremely important, could be regulated in their case with a phase regulator, on which the rotation speed of the electric motor was set, and thus also the peripheral speed. In their case, if the drums did not have the same internal dimension, minor problems could occur, such as: ** cable jamming, ** slight skipping, slight ** pulling to the side**.

In the worst cases, it would also represent a mortal danger in the event of cable breakage. Because of this, the responsibility was all the greater. The only measuring tool with which he could measure the external diameter was a ** classic calliper**, which was not accurate enough, so he had to find a new way to literally 'copy' the second workpiece from the first.

With the fact that the thread height was not as important as the central depth, he came up with the idea that he could create a fixed reference point with the tool that produces the thread after the first thread is finished, by calibrating the tool in the lathe head. He then records this measurement and always starts from this measurement. This technique made the work incredibly easier.

Even if the cutting insert wore out or broke, he would simply replace it, touch the point he had chosen with the tool and calibrate the tool. This enabled the author to turn the insert close to the end of thread manufacturing and simply check if it was still in order. This also improved surface quality, as it enabled the author to replace the already worn part of the insert.

At the end of the machining process, all dimensions were measured, including thread depth and shape, which were also visually inspected with a self-made form gauge that represented the thickness of the steel cable that was to be mounted on the cable drum during assembly.

Results

When everything was checked, he took very fine sandpaper and, with the lathe running, manually sanded or polished the surface of all small irregularities, so that the result was a beautiful, smooth and shiny surface that ensures smooth rotation of the steel cable on the drum. In addition to all these advantages, one of the most important is: due to easier checking and without great concern in case of insert breakage, the ** machining time was reduced** by more than one hour compared to the previous method of cable drum machining, which also significantly ** improved productivity** achieved in his shift.

Now, together with a colleague, we are implementing this procedure in many other projects and workpieces where control is of extreme importance, but the actual measurement of workpieces is difficult due to their diameters or shapes. This proved the thesis that sometimes the simplest thing can also be the best. Despite many complications and headaches before this simple solution, he is glad to have experienced it.

I think it is sometimes interesting to think a little, develop and test some new things or machining and measuring techniques, especially if at first glance they are not too simple. This also gave him a lot of personal experience that will be very useful to the author in the future.