The challenge with manufacturing highly accurate gear and thread grinding machines is measuring the parts they produce. The grinding machines built by Drake are so accurate the parts were getting beyond the company’s ability to measure during customer run-offs. That’s when they decided to purchase a Wenzel fully automatic CNC gear checker for their inspection lab.
“We knew we were producing good parts,” says Jim Vosmik, Drake’s president, “we just had a hard time measuring the improvements. When you are looking for microns on form and lead, you need sophisticated measurement tools. Now we can fully inspect and document the tolerances of spur and helical gears, ballscrews and nuts, worms, hobs, taps… just about anything the customer throws at us.”
The price of perfection isn’t cheap. “The investment in inspection equipment is not an easy financial decision, but it’s money well spent,” Vosmik adds. “If we want to continually improve, we have to be able to measure those improvements. It helps us produce better machines and better parts, which is why customers buy our grinders in the first place.”
Drake Manufacturing designs, builds, and services state-of-the-art precision CNC grinding, rack milling, and gear hobbing machines that help maximize productivity, improve quality, and reduce production costs for a wide variety of demanding applications.
For more information call Vosmik at (330) 847-7291 or go to [www.drakemfg.com].
