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An account emailed to me from one of our field guys--

We just did a test cut for a local Detroit company using HEAT. This was a HEAT Technology test cut, and I am very pleased with our results. This customer currently uses a competitor's machine to cut this part. We beat the other machine's roughing speed by about 30%...and the amazing thing is that this comparison is with the other machine using 0.012” brass wire and the Makino using 0.010” brass wire!

Our roughing feedrate was about 0.050” per minute, and the customer has told me that they typical rough at about 0.035” per minute. This customer visited us recently to see the cut, and our estimated time of 8hr 10min using .010 wire was about 20-30 minutes faster than the estimated time on his other machine using 0.012 wire. The estimated time on the SP43 with .012 brass wire came out to 6 hours 57 minutes.  Our actual time using 0.010” wire was 7hr 30min!

HEAT technology has only been developed for steel materials, which include: Tool Steels, Stainless Steel, High Alloy Steels, Titanium, and Exotics. Thicknesses ranging from 1.0” to 12.0” are available (25mm to 300mm).

No. HEAT technology only applies to poor flush conditions, and cannot be combined with the standard “High Speed” optimum flush condition technology. However, a very large majority of jobs do not allow for optimum flushing, so the HEAT technology is very attractive and can be used for a large number of jobs.

No!  HEAT technology greatly increases the machining speeds of poor flushing conditions, but it does not reflect the fastest machining speed. We have dedicated “High Speed” machining technology that reflects the fastest machining speeds…which requires and utilizes “optimum” flushing conditions, and uses higher flushing pressures of 1.2 - 1.6 Mpa (174 – 232 psi).

Tomorrow we'll be presenting a webcast on HEAT at www.makino.com/events (or click the icon on the home page).

Nick Casbar, our National Sales Manager, will be presenting the basic features. Then he'll turn it over to a shop owner using HEAT that is experiencing amazing results!

Register to attend at www.makino.com/events today. If you miss the live event, an archive will be posted next week.

The new HEAT nozzles are typically set to within 0.300” of the work piece, which can easily be an “eye-balled” operation. This makes setups easy and fast, and actually helps to make operation safer by eliminating the potential of machine crashes of the machining nozzles into the work piece or into clamping/fixturing.

Keep those questions coming to Jeff.Kiszonas@makino.com!

I just spoke with another HEAT customer, and he was VERY pleased with his test cut results...

He told me that he currently cuts this on a competitor's machine, and his cycle time is about 40 hours…compared to our 16 hours! So that’s a 60% reduction in cycle time! This customer also stated that he has cut these parts in a different model machine from the same competitor in about 36 hours. He wasn’t sure if there was something that he or his setup guy was doing wrong on his machines, but he did state that because the plates are not perfectly flat, they typically set the upper head to within 0.015” of the highest point on the plates. I also discussed with the customer that our HEAT technology does not require sealed off conditions, and that our heads (upper and lower) were set to about 0.300”  away from the plates. He seemed impressed with this, and he realized that this would make for easier setups within the machine. He also stated that a lot of their work (surgical instruments) has poor flushing conditions, so HEAT could possibly help him out in a very big way!

Competitor's machine: 40 hours
Another competitor's machine (same manufacturer with a newer, upgraded technology): 36 hours
Makino SP43 with HEAT: 16 hours…wow!!!

If you'd like to try HEAT, or have a testimonial to share, please email me at Jeff.Kiszonas@makino.com.

The HEAT modifications/upgrades for existing machines include 5 items:

1. New (special) nozzles
2. Pump/Plumbing modification
3. Replacement of mechanical filtration pressure sensor with a new digital sensor
4. New controller software
5. New machining conditions (power settings library)