Makino a61 Suited for Orthopedic Implant Manufacturing

All manufacturers strive for precision, but the word takes on new meaning for manufactured components of implantable medical devices. The slightest machining error or deviation from the design can have severe impacts, especially since errors in manufacturing medical components may not become evident until the device fails in-vivo. This can result in costly revision surgery or in the worst cases, public scrutiny and even litigation.

"That's why many manufacturers are relying on the Makino a61 horizontal machining center for orthopedic implant manufacturing," said a Makino spokesperson.

Knee Implant
For McMurray, PA, based FPD, a knee-implant made of cobalt chromium-molybdenum alloy required time-consuming and expensive hand finishing. The part was especially challenging due to tight tolerances, sweeping geometries and a very fine surface finish. Previous manufacturers of the part utilized grinding to complete the part, but often struggled with the complex features. FPD felt the parts had to be milled to be consistent.

After purchasing an a61, FPD was able to eliminate finishing the part by hand, thanks to the machine's ability to easily machine complex geometries and tight tolerances. With the a61, FPD was able to meet high production demands from its customer in this difficult part.

Aerospace Parts to Bone Plates
Another example is Huntsville, Alabama's Brown Precision. Brown was an aerospace, 5-axis part producer, but wanted to apply their skill to the medical industry, where they knew a 5-axis with accuracy in harder materials, such as 316 forged stainless steel, would be needed. To achieve these goals, Brown Precision decided to purchase a Makino a61.

Since installing the a61, parts like the forged stainless steel bone plate, which once took several setups to complete, can now be finished in single setup. With the a61, Brown Precision saw a 40 percent decrease in cycle time for the part. The company now owns several a61s, an a51, and many other Makino machines for medical device and instrument manufacturing.

a61 Features
T
he a61 has a work zone size of 32 x 36 inches, and a pallet size of 19.7 inches. The rapid traverse and the feedrate of the a61 are 1970 IPM (60 m/min.). A host of tool monitoring capabilities, all equipped as standard features, allows users to achieve extended machining hours with no labor costs.

"The a61 comes with a 40-taper, 14,000-RPM spindle standard, that has exceptional acceleration characteristics, minimal vibration and a high-powered spindle option. It also has a ring-type 40-tool magazine standard, with larger magazines from 60 to 313 tools optional," said a Makino spokesperson.

Makino's proprietary, next generation Geometric Intelligence (GI) servo control with Radical Mode is a standard feature on all 1-Series machines. "GI with Radical Mode helps provide the lowest cycle times achievable while maintaining superior accuracy and meeting the customer's Cpk requirements," said the spokesperson.

The a61 has an automatic pallet changer with safety guards and two pallets, for a fast pallet change time of 7 seconds. And, it offers a tool-to-tool change time of 0.9 seconds with a chip-to-chip time of 2.5 seconds.

Other features include a chip conveyor and filtration system, through spindle coolant (300 psi), a standard three-point support system, an ergonomic swing, operator control panel, a safety-designed four-layer protective operator door window and an overhead shower coolant.

For more information contact:

Mark Rentschler

Makino Inc.

7680 Innovation Way

Mason, OH 45040

800-552-3288

Fax: 513-573-7360

www.makino.com

 

Southwest

TX

Mike Johns

Andy R. Plassenthal

Wesley Davenport

Texas Machinery Company

11875 Forestgate Drive

Dallas, TX 75243

877-477-7340

Fax: 972-231-2815

 

OK

KOMT

9511 E. 55th Place

Tulsa, OK 74145

918-664-6064

Fax: 918-664-6014

Tulsa@komt.com

 

LA

Clinton Wenzel

c/o Oliver Van Horn Co.

4100 Euphrosine St.

New Orleans, LA 70125

504-210-3040

Fax: 504-822-2449

Clinton_Wenzel@jcwenzel.com

 

NM

Moncktons Machine Tools, Inc.

928 Canvas Back Rd.

Rio Rancho, NM 87144

505-891-8845

Fax: 505-994-3579

hmorrismmt@aol.com

 

AR

Bill Myers

Single Source Technologies (SST)

26762 Success Drive

P.O. Box 708

Madison, AL 35758

256-309-0404

bill.myers@singlesourcetech.com

 

Southeast

NC, SC, VA

Dan Beckman

President

Beckman Precision, Inc.

415 Brookshire Road

Greer, SC 29651

864-801-8181

Fax: 864-801-8180

www.beckmanprecision.com

 

Bill Price

Price Equipment (EDM only)

512 North Johnson Street

Monroe, NC 28112

704-289-8471

Fax: 704-289-8471

info@priceequipment.com

www.priceequipment.com

 

W. NC & SC

Chris Beckman

Beckman Precision, Inc.

415 Brookshire Road

Greer, SC 29651

877-510-6884

Cell: 864-346-9668

Fax: 864-801-8180

cbeckman@beckmanprecision.com

 

E. VA & Northeast NC

Bob Hodge

Beckman Precision, Inc.

1316 Elmwood Drive

Colonial Heights, VA 23834

804-520-4200

Cell: 804-720-2198

Fax: 804-520-0602

bhodge@beckmanprecision.com

 

E. SC & Southeast NC

Charlie Inderrieden

Beckman Precision, Inc.

396 Blue Stem Drive 58A

Pawleys Island, SC 29585

843-979-0576

Cell: 843-450-5991

Fax: 843-979-0582

cinderrieden@beckmanprecision.com

 

Central NC & VA

Dan Fredrickson

Area Sales Manager

Beckman Precision, Inc.

2936 Motsinger Rd.

Winston-Salem, NC 27107

864-801-8181

Cell: 336-831-4246

Fax: 864-801-8180

DFredrickson@beckmanprecision.com

 

AL, GA, MS, TN

Bill Myers

Single Source Technologies (SST)

26762 Success Drive

P.O. Box 708

Madison, AL 35758

256-309-0404

bill.myers@singlesourcetech.com

www.singlesourcetech.com

 

AL, Upper MS

Jack Nash

Single Source Technologies (SST)

2030 Vestavia Park Lane, Apt. B

Vestavia Hills, AL 35216

205-824-2899

Cell: 205-612-9371

Fax: 205-824-2899

jack.nash@singlesourcetech.com

 

GA

Bud Cowan

Single Source Technologies (SST)

4282 Marci Street

Snellville, GA 30039

770-267-9044

Cell: 678-227-2588

Fax: 770-267-9044

bud.cowan@singlesourcetech.com

 

TN

Hale Reider

Single Source Technologies (SST)

865-250-9344

hale.reider@singlesourcetech.com

 

FL

Bob Arthur

Arthur Machinery, Inc.

5903 Johns Rd.

Tampa, FL 33634

813-887-4455

Fax: 813-887-4456

sales@arthurmachinery.com

www.ArthurMachinery.com

 

Northeast

MA, CT, ME, NH, RI, VT

Able Machine Tool Sales

800 Silver St.

Agawam, MA 01001

413-786-4662

Fax: 413-786-5056

sales@ablemts.com

www.ablemts.com

 

NJ, MD, E. PA, Long Island

Automation Solutions, Inc.

2 Hagerty Blvd., Ste 300

West Chester, PA 19382-4956

610-430-3670

Fax: 610-430-3675

inquire@asi-pa.com

www.asi-pa.com

 

NY, CT, DE, DC, ME, MD, NJ (EDM)

Single Source Technologies (SST)

30 Chapin Road, Suite 1208

P.O. Box 655

Pine Brook, NJ 07058-0655

800-336-7283

973-227-6601

Fax: 973-227-6605

www.SingleSourceTech.com

 

NY

Meagley Machinery, Inc.

8384 Glen Eagle Dr.

P.O. Box 51

Manlius, NY 13104

315-952-8525

Fax: 315-682-5319

 

PA, WV

Perseo Erie Machine Sales, Inc.

2230 West 23rd St.

Erie, PA 16506

800-900-9117

Fax: 814-456-8447

info@perseoerie.com

 

NJ

Single Source Technologies (SST)

30 Chapin Road Suite 1208

P.O. Box 655

Pine Brook, NJ 07058-0655

800-336-7283

973-227-6601

Fax: 973-227-6605

www.SingleSourceTech.com

 

Midwest

KY

Technical Equipment Sales

P.O. Box 99793

Louisville, KY 40269

800-852-0582

Fax: 513-874-3340

 

IN

Technical Equipment Sales

3902 Hanna Circle

Indianapolis, IN 46241

800-852-0582

Fax: 513-874-3340

 

Technical Equipment Sales

4501 Earhart Lane

Ft. Wayne, IN 46809

800-852-0582

Fax: 513-874-3340

 

OH

Technical Equipment Sales

10165 International Blvd.

Cincinnati, OH 45246

Phone: 513-874-0160

Toll Free: 800-852-0582

Fax: 513-874-3340

 

Technical Equipment Sales

8200 Sweet Valley Dr. #106

Valley View, OH 44125

800-852-0582

Fax: 513-874-3340

 

MI

Single Source Technologies, (SST)

2600 Superior Court

Auburn Hills, MI 48326

248-232-6232

Fax: 248-232-6233

ctg@singlesourcetech.com

 

MN, ND, SD

Productivity, Inc.

15150 25th Ave. N

Minneapolis, MN 55447-1981

763-476-8600

Fax: 763-476-4092

productivity@productivity.com

 

WI

Preston Giles

Single Source Technologies (SST)

W229 N2510 Duplainville Rd. Unit 2

Waukesha, WI 53186

262-960-0844

Fax 262-574-7551

 

IL

Jeff Martin

Single Source Technologies (SST)

1135 Jansen Farm Dr.

Elgin, IL 60123

874-468-1295

 

NE

Productivity, Inc.

13435 A Street

Omaha, NE 68144

402-330-2323

Fax: 402-330-6901

prone@productivity.com

 

IA

Productivity, Inc.

9440 Atlantic Drive SW

Cedar Rapids, IA 52404

319-632-4288

Fax: 319-632-4289

proia@productivity.com