Milling Machines

Lean Machine has added a brand new machine, and in turn, a brand new process.  We are now able to machine long aluminum extrusions in a fraction of the time and with increased accuracy.  Our other milling machines are able to travel 30" to 60" distances which is great for small machined parts but not ideal for 144" long extrusions.  There are milling machines available with longer travel, but they are meant for very large parts and have trouble milling long, but short in height, parts.  We have purchased a new machine and are in the process of setting it up to meet our needs. 

This is a huge step for Lean Machine as we currently process many long parts, and this will be another way for us to create parts for customers with increased accuracy and reduced cycle times.

Here is an end view of a typical aluminum extrusion.  Both drilling and cutting operations need to be performed on the top and sides of the part which takes several set-ups on traditional milling machines but only one set-up on our new machine.

The new CR Onsrud Gantry Router with a 4th (C) axis right after it was unloaded by crane at our facility.

After bolting down a thick sheet of aluminum we put a 3" face mill in the machine and planed the sheet flat.  Being able to do this operation right on the machine means the machine will be perfectly square to itself.

This is the machine after the planing process.  It looks pretty cool with all the machining marks in the table!