Runout, Balancing, Presetting: Why Micron Tolerance Here Isn't an Issue | Haimer USA

[00:00:00]I want to rip this thing. [laughter] I believe that I saw in Germany in a DMG Mory absolutely murder full slotting through solid steel like it was butter.

[00:00:09]Most machinists in ohheimer for shrink fit tool holders, maybe balancing, maybe even tool presetting. Your total switch out time there was seconds. But once you walk through their Chicago facility, you realize they're solving a much larger problem.

[00:00:23]>> Oh, that's the automation cube.

[00:00:24]>> Yes.

[00:00:24]>> These are actually in production out there these days. Correct. So, you guys actually have a huge inventory right here in Chicago?

[00:00:29]>> Yes, we have about $15 million worth of product here.

[00:00:34]>> Every machine shop is fighting the same battle. Vibration, runout, inconsistency, tool life, spindle wear, scrap. Hundreds [music] of tiny variables that quietly steal productivity every single day. What impressed me wasn't any one product. It was seeing how much engineering goes into controlling those variables before a tool [music] ever touches a piece of material.

[00:00:59]>> Well, Himer USA was uh founded back in uh 2002 by Brent Holden. He started basically in his garage selling tool holders and machines out of his garage with his wife and then shortly after we moved into this facility.

[00:01:12]>> And you guys just keep expanding and expanding and expanding.

[00:01:14]>> Correct. Yeah.

[00:01:15]>> I know you guys have a little bit of everything in here. Obviously, this is a bar.

[00:01:18]>> Yes, it's a bar. I mean, as you know, Himer is known for their hospitality. We like to entertain our customers, but in the same side, we also want to make sure that we show our customers our products while we entertain them.

[00:01:31]>> Of course, I know that this is not even close to everything that Himer does.

[00:01:34]>> Correct. So, Himer is known for shrink fit holders in in the industry, but that's not all we do, right? But obviously, it's still a big part of our business. This is a brand new hybrid chuck that we came out with at EMO. I think you saw it at EMO. We now have it in stock here ready to be sold. It's a great product to really get combine the advantages of a a hydraulic chuck and a shrink fit chuck together.

[00:01:58]>> This is the one that I believe that I saw in Germany in a DMG my absolutely murder full slotting through solid steel like it was butter. That's this one. I believe >> that's correct. Yes. And I know that you want to test it and we'll we'll get there.

[00:02:11]>> I want to rip this thing. [laughter] So, at the [music] end of our training room, we have our actual showroom.

[00:02:25]Tada.

[00:02:26]>> Oh, yeah.

[00:02:27]>> Oh, that's the automation queue.

[00:02:29]>> Yes, that's the automation queue. We brought it in here from IMTS 2024 and it's been here ever since.

[00:02:37]>> There is a bit of everything in here.

[00:02:39]>> Correct.

[00:02:39]>> Is this pretty much every machine that offers in North America?

[00:02:42]>> Almost.

[00:02:43]>> Just about. Just about. I mean, a lot of our shrink fit machines and presetters have a lot of different variations and configurations, but we try to cover pretty much everything we have to offer within our facility.

[00:02:54]>> So, whether you're looking at something like the basic or you're looking at something like the automation cube, >> you guys have it here that people can actually check out.

[00:03:00]>> And what a lot of people forget that Himer, we also offer complete solutions for your tool room, >> right?

[00:03:07]>> Like the hardware for tool management, but then also uh the soft on the software side, we inquired Wintool.

[00:03:13]>> Yep. U 25% of wind tool. So we also offer the software to keep your inventory managed and your tool room neat.

[00:03:21]>> So literally from bottom to top, no matter if it's tool holding, if it's tool room, >> yeah, >> it's with you guys.

[00:03:27]>> Now, one thing I think is really cool to point out too, we got to go to the Ingenous production facility.

[00:03:33]>> This little area here, I know it looks like a showroom. This is how their tool room looks.

[00:03:38]>> Exactly. I mean, we use all of our own uh products in our production. That's why when we say we're a machine shop, it's true because again, we know exactly what our customers face, the issues that they face, and we try to overcome them with them, >> right?

[00:03:53]>> So all the products that you see here, we use in our own production, and they they're tested before we even put it to market.

[00:03:59]>> Yeah. It's just it's it's incredible that, you know, you think something like this, you're like, there's no way. I wish it it looks like that in the production floor.

[00:04:06]This is kind of that wind tool um automation system for the back end is it not >> this is a tool base >> tool base. So it's kind of like a dispensing system and this can be connected with wind tool where again this is when we talk about the tool of the future we connect all the things this system the inventory of your tools with your machines with the software itself where you can create the tool assemblies it's all connected and that's the tool room of the future it's already here though because we use that in our production already >> and what do you find surprises people the most about you know the tool room of the future concept what are people not considering ing when they're talking about their tool rooms, >> how easy it can be. I mean, the ease of use of our equipment. Um, and it's not just the simple shrinker, even our presetting machines, how simple it is to to write a macro to to measure the tool and send it directly to the machine, >> right? It's not something you're going to take 10 years of training to get involved.

[00:05:03]>> Exactly. So we can use somebody that has minimal training, can get them trained up relatively quickly and operate our equipment and run the machine later on.

[00:05:13]>> Ah, makes sense.

[00:05:14]>> That's a big one, right? Especially right now with the workforce issues that we face.

[00:05:22]>> This is not a CNC machine, although it kind of looks like that.

[00:05:25]>> It kind of looks like a CNC machine.

[00:05:26]>> It's got a big casting. It's got ball screws. What does this thing do? This thing basically uh shrinks and presets tooling automatically. You have your carriers up here. You have a green and a red side. This holder is currently on the red side, meaning this tool is dull, it's broken, whatever. We need to replace it. The the tool itself is on the clean side. So that that's a new tool. It goes through the cycle. The robot scans the unique ID code on the holder, knows exactly what holder it is, which of those um shrink units to use, heats it up, measures there's several sensors and lasers in there to measure the height, and then puts the new tool in with the same uh length to make sure the the repeatability is there.

[00:06:15]>> These are actually in production out there these days, >> correct? Yes, we currently have two in production out there. There's certainly interest there. What we see obviously there are customers out there that don't just use shrink fit but again if there is a company out there that has the majority in shrink fit holders different sizes I mean you're not just limited to one size here or to one interface they can really uh automate their process quite a bit >> aerospace medical anything I mean one of the advantages of these that we've seen low run out so stuff you need really tight finishes um small drills all that goes into this and of course goes up to the big ones too correct In all my years with Heimer, this is probably one of my most favorite machines. NG coil, traditional electronics base units, and then it's got the Midatoyo height gauge on it.

[00:07:06]>> Oh, I see. So, that's one of my favorite units here. So, what I'll do is set our Zlength or zero on the chuck support. So that's going to represent my gauge line. Let's say I want to get seven inches from gauge line to the tip of my cutting tool or my drill. We can set it at 7 in. But with the thermal expansion or with the induction unit, the steel not only opens up for the bore >> Mhm.

[00:07:35]>> it also grows in Z.

[00:07:37]>> Oh, I didn't know that.

[00:07:38]>> And when it cools and then when it cools down, it retracts. So we actually have a chart that tells you based off the the shank diameter. So, if I want seven, we'll go to seven and six thou and then lock it in place. So, that'll just swivel out of the way. And then these, like all of our holders, they have that QR code, but they also have um an alpha numeric code. You can see on that one, they both have them. And then we just set the parameter off that.

[00:08:08]>> So, that's an A4 on that holder.

[00:08:09]>> Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

[00:08:10]>> Tells me what position to put the coil in. Position five. And it also reminds me that that's either 14 to 16 mm cutter. So what I'll do here is go ahead and run my cycle complete. When the cycle's finished, whether I remove my finger from the button or not, it automatically cuts off. Right? [snorts] So then we can insert our tool and then I'll hold that to the height gauge until it grabs. Release that and get it out of the way and then cool it down.

[00:08:41]And is that air or liquid or what's in those cooling coils?

[00:08:44]>> So that is a mixture of water and antifreeze. So that's got our chiller unit down there that's pumping the water and antifreeze mixture up into a manifold on the back of the machine and then in through each one of these cooling bodies and back to the chiller again.

[00:08:59]>> And could I run more than one cooling body?

[00:09:01]>> They're all They're all They're all >> Oh, so I could run two different I could have multiple things chilling here if I want.

[00:09:07]>> So that one will slide over. We know we set that. Let's say I want to shrink out the extension. So, we've got A6 for a holder. That's a 32 mil or 25 or 32 millimeter extension. Put the coil on position seven. So, another unique thing here is that's steel into steel.

[00:09:23]>> Yeah, that's true. That shouldn't work.

[00:09:25]>> It shouldn't work.

[00:09:26]>> Well, you can you can get it in, right?

[00:09:28]So, we always hear that, you know, we can't use extensions or we can't uh use high-speed steel tools because once we put it in there, >> it's there forever. is there forever because they're going to expand at the same rate, right? Well, with the Heimer technology and how efficient and quick the cycles are, the extension is not going to generate any heat.

[00:09:48]>> It's going to heat up that outside so quickly that the inside doesn't have time to grow with it like that. I always wondered how that happened. And that is cool, >> right?

[00:10:00][music] This is kind of the big dog.

[00:10:06]>> This is the big dog. So everything's the same as far as the shrinking process. We can go ahead scan the assembly that we want to shrink. So it comes up, the coil is motorized.

[00:10:20]Puts me in position two or position five automatically for this one.

[00:10:25]Bring it down.

[00:10:28]Push and hold the cycle.

[00:10:31]cutting tools out and then look at the blinking light. So now we have a visual identification of which cooling body to use. Watch what happens.

[00:10:46]>> So it automatically knows that it's hot.

[00:10:48]>> Yeah. There's uh thermostat or there's temperature sensors in each one of these cooling cups. So when we bring it down, instantly changes red. And like like all the other machines or most the other machines, while that's cooling down, we can do more, >> right?

[00:11:03]>> But it's not gonna let you know that you can handle it until it starts flashing red. When it flashing red, it's safe to handle and then once it's completely green, it's ready to go again.

[00:11:13]>> It's it's actually cold.

[00:11:14]>> What's kind of the the biggest stumbling block you see people that prevents them from getting into something like shrink fit?

[00:11:20]>> You know, it's an investment. you know, maybe I can't afford to get in the shrink technology, but that's where we need to educate him on, you know, the 30 configurations of machines we have, right? The the tool holders, we have, you know, different lines. We have standard, power, heavy duty, we have a basic shrink fit chuck, uh that, you know, helps with the the cost savings.

[00:11:43]So yes, an initial investment each holder is specific needs, you know, to the diameter of the cutting tool, but you got to look at your return on investment, >> right? Exactly. That makes sense.

[00:11:55]>> With the ability to ramp up your speeds and feeds or increase your metal removal rate, right? Reduce cycle times. And I find especially one thing so we run these a lot for very small diameter uh small diameter cutters because you know if that's a 50 thou end two flute and it's got a runout of 2 thou you are massively overloading that one flute.

[00:12:17]Putting one of these with low run out you're not going to get that.

[00:12:20]>> And what we did is a lot of tooling although we only have the 1/8 diameter uh holder a lot of them have a carbide 1/8 diameter shank right then the tool is all different size so it doesn't matter. Correct. you end up just switching your thinking on what you're putting in there, >> right?

[00:12:36]>> And when it comes to presetters, a lot of people may not know why they're so important for shops. What's the advantage to presetting tools like this as opposed to touching them off in your machine? When you're touching them off in your machine, what is your machine not doing? Making chips. Makes sense right there. So a presetter, you know, can support or even if you have lasers in the machines, um, every time you change a tool, you've got to stop the machining process, put the tool in the spindle and measure a length, right? The presetter, one unit can support 20, 30, 40 machine tools.

[00:13:09]>> And what kind of shops do you see these most utilized in where they're really getting the benefit out of it? Pretty much any shop, right, can utilize a presetter from a job shop with a couple machines all the way up to >> aerospace manufacturer where they have 100 machines, right? So, um, keeping the machine, you can have all your tools assembled, measured, ready to go, and you can quickly change them out, load the carousel as the machine's running.

[00:13:36]>> Less time between chip to chip, >> 100%.

[00:13:41]>> [music] >> Now, one of these things is not like the other. I see a bunch of presetting, heat shrink, balancing. This isn't one of those.

[00:13:52]>> This is not. No, but all this is used to make this. So, yeah. So, Rousades, shout out to them. It's a great partner of ours. They use our equipment to really make those engines as powerful and as fast as possible. And if you've been down there, which I'm sure you have, it's one of the craziest machine shops I've seen in my life.

[00:14:12]>> Pretty cool.

[00:14:13]>> So, we're going to be seeing more of this.

[00:14:14]>> Yep.

[00:14:16]>> All right, let's since now you've seen all the machines, um, talk to Rob about it. I want to show you a little bit more of our facility.

[00:14:24]>> So, we just expanded this last year to make room for a machine tool.

[00:14:31]>> It looks a little bit more like a machine shop here.

[00:14:33]>> Definitely. What we want to show is how we connect the presetter to the machine directly. But then also, as you know, we have our own line of cutting tools.

[00:14:42]>> Yes.

[00:14:43]>> So, we want to show the advantages of our cutting tools directly on the machine.

[00:14:47]>> And this is a very realistic scenario for when stuff like this might get used.

[00:14:51]>> Yeah. So, now we're going to walk through our warehouse. I show you where we store all of our holders, but then also machines and cutting tools.

[00:14:59]>> So, you guys actually have a huge inventory right here in Chicago. Yes, we have about $15 million worth of product here.

[00:15:06]>> What's in the giant box?

[00:15:07]>> The giant box is a machine. It should be I think it's a tool shrink machine that is ready to be shipped to a customer.

[00:15:14]>> That is nuts. How many of these would come through here in an average year?

[00:15:18]>> Um the tool shrink I want to say four or five.

[00:15:22]>> These massive machines coming through.

[00:15:23]Wow.

[00:15:24]>> And they come fully assembled.

[00:15:25]Obviously, we have to then install them at the customer, but as you see here, we want to make sure that they are shipped >> the right way.

[00:15:32]>> Cuz these come direct from Germany.

[00:15:34]>> Mhm.

[00:15:34]>> And you guys just have racks and racks and racks of tooling. Like look at this.

[00:15:38]You guys have holders of about just about every size you can think of.

[00:15:41]>> But that's the key, right? I mean, if a customer needs a holder or a tool, they want they need it now.

[00:15:46]>> They're not waiting on it.

[00:15:48]>> Correct.

[00:15:49]>> And yes, we are a Germanbased company.

[00:15:51]We manufacture everything in Germany, but we're also a US entity. And we we want to treat our customers just like if the stuff was made here.

[00:15:59]>> If it was in Bavaria or whether it's in Kentucky, you're going to get it next day.

[00:16:03]>> Yeah. Now we're moving into the original Himer, USA. This was not him. The other side was not Heimimer. It was really only this part here.

[00:16:12]>> Wow.

[00:16:13]>> You can see here we have more machines stored here. It looks a little bit uh messy because we're getting ready for IMTS. We just got back from uh the show in Canada. Um so yeah, it there's a lot going on here.

[00:16:25]>> This is nuts. Just the amount of machine. Like everywhere there's a big box, there's a machine. So even if you wanted a >> shrink fit premium with the coolant with whatever, there's probably one here ready to go.

[00:16:36]>> Yes.

[00:16:37]>> Wow.

[00:16:37]>> And we increased our inventory quite a bit. And we have another bay at the at the end of this building here um that is also ours, but we rented it out. But by the end of next year, hopefully it's empty. And then we're going to expand our warehouse even further.

[00:16:53]>> Keep You guys are running out of real estate.

[00:16:54]>> Yes. So, this is our tech area.

[00:16:57]>> Oh, cool.

[00:16:58]>> Um, you see here a machine that we brought back from a show. We're just going to overhaul it, make sure everything works. As I mentioned, they don't like to trans be transported as often. So, sometimes things break. We'll fix them up, send them to a next show or to a customer. And then behind that is our tech lab where we actually um chip and balance holders. So we offer that as a service to our customers. They can either buy the holders from here if they want to have a ball of chip or another RFID chip in there. We do that for them and then we also balance pre-balance the holder.

[00:17:33]>> So you guys actually do service right here. Correct. And you also do that end of the manufacturing right here. Yes.

[00:17:39]>> So in the past we we sent those holders back to Germany. It was done back there, but now we brought that in house.

[00:17:46]>> Shorter times, more getting done in the USA. Makes a lot of sense.

[00:17:49]>> Exactly. Yeah. I mean, we have even a small uh bridgeport back there >> to to take off material when there is an imbalance. Uh but I'll have Rafa walk you through the whole process.

[00:18:00]>> I want to see what that process is.

[00:18:02]>> Yeah. And Rafa, just real quick, I because workforce development is very important to us and I mentioned it earlier, we need to automate our processes because it's hard to find the people.

[00:18:10]>> It is. Rafa was somebody that uh started in our warehouse as a temp worker and um was very interested on the tech side and he's now one of our junior application technicians and he's on a great way to become one of our most valuable uh techs.

[00:18:34]We [music] get a bunch of orders coming in um just from customers like uh mentioned uh previously um talking about um either holders that are coming from us or customers themselves. And our first order of business we um all of our holders are pre-oiled. So we make sure we have them nice and clean and we do that with our tank here which is just degreaser and water. So, as you can see, we have a bunch of holders in here right now, and they're just cleaning off. Um, taking all that pre- oil that's just on them. After that, we have a little uh air blower here, which we just kind of dry them off. After we clean them off, and they're all nice and dry, we set them aside here. As you can see, we have a bunch laid out already. This order specifically, they want coolant tubes installed. So, from here, they're all nice and dry. We take one over and we come over inside of the actual tech lab where we have our coolant tubes as well as our um coolant tube wrench um specific for this kind of uh taper.

[00:19:38]So this coolant tube allows the um coolant to flow through the actual holder here through the bottom. It makes it more um concentric and makes it flow much nicer rather than having it all closed up in the inside. So once we um bring that coolant tube out. We grab our coolant tube wrench, insert it on the bottom of our holder just like so. Coolant tubes installed.

[00:20:06]All right. So, this is one of the services we offer. Then from here is onto the chipping processor. So, we have our pencil grinder here. So, we just twist it and then you'll see this start spinning. And then, like I said, we just go in that pocket and um go for around 30 to 40 revolutions.

[00:20:29]Just like that. This is the after. This is the before.

[00:20:34]>> So, you're essentially giving it more room to give adhering surfaces for that glue.

[00:20:39]>> Exactly. I understand. Yeah. It's just so that this the glue can really seep in there and actually pull the chip down.

[00:20:44]>> Cuz if it was flat on flat, then you know it's not as good. This gives it some space to go.

[00:20:48]>> Right. Cuz we don't want that chip flying out like >> No. Not at 30,000 RPM.

[00:20:52]>> Yeah. Exactly. So from here, obviously there's still going to be a little bit of chip residue in there. So we have some denatured alcohol and we just kind of clean that pocket out. And now it's ready for the actual chipping. So as you can see, we have a big bag here. Um so for this specific order, this is a BIS C uh 122-04.

[00:21:13]This is the most basic baift. Uh there's BIS M as well. The difference between these baiff chips is just how much um data is able to be stored in there.

[00:21:23]Right.

[00:21:23]>> So for those who don't know when we're talking about the chips, these are RFID.

[00:21:27]So they can be scanned by an RFID reader. And this actually carries information about the holder on it.

[00:21:32]>> Correct. Yeah. So it can talk about anything about tool life, um gauge length, anything specific to each individual holder.

[00:21:41]>> So this is almost a way to monitor. So if I have this in one of my holders, I can scan it on and off jobs. I can keep track of that specific holder. What machine is it in? How long has it been running? What's the maintenance life on it? All carried on this chip.

[00:21:54]>> Exactly. Yeah.

[00:21:54]>> Okay.

[00:21:55]>> So, after this, we get our Loctite 380.

[00:21:58]You drop two drops on the bottom. Make sure it seeps all around that chip pocket.

[00:22:05]>> Get full coverage.

[00:22:06]>> Yep. Once it's completely full, like I said, we stick the baift chip face up.

[00:22:12]Slots right in. And then we push it down with our razor blade. Push it down. Get remove all that air pockets from underneath. And that's the chipping process. So now it's chipped. Now from here we have to wait approximately 24 to 36 hours for the the glue to curate.

[00:22:28]After those 24 36 hours are done, we go over to the balancing process.

[00:22:32]>> Okay.

[00:22:33]>> We go ahead and clamp unclamp our machine. Clamp it down. So here we can see um how much we have to drill in there. So it says 6 mm. We have to drill two holes. And as we said earlier, it's where the chip is, right? So, like mentioned earlier, we see um where is that correction being made? It's made right here where the other corrections were made previously um to the holder being balanced, pre-balanced from Germany. Um so, it's telling us to go 6 mm two holes because we said 10 mm is the max. So, that's why we need both.

[00:23:08]What I like to do, we just go on each side of the bof, right? But we go right up here on top. So we bring it over to our Bridgeport that we have. The cleanest Bridgeport I've ever seen in my entire life.

[00:23:22]>> We set up our holder here and we see that the the drill goes straight in there. It's the correct size. And then we just make sure we zero out over here on the on the side.

[00:23:46]You see one on each side of the biff chip and then we take it over and check again. Right. So then we can see here after that correction made uh right above the the chip it is now good to go going to your machine and it's nice and balanced. Obviously this is without any tool in there. So, we do recommend to rebalance after the fact, but now we made that correction from the weight of the chip.

[00:24:12]>> Now, this is a far cry from originally working in the warehouse. This is very, very technical stuff. How did this happen for you? How did you make this for yourself?

[00:24:22]>> Yeah, so uh funny story, I was looking for a job. Um, I ended up applying here at the warehouse. Uh, started as a part-time gig. Then um at the time I was also going to college. I got an associates in mechatronics and coincidentally it was kind of in the same industry. So I was like hey once I finish if it's okay with you guys is there a way I can transfer my way into the tech team. And as of now they gave me the shot and I've been taking full advantage of it. I've been with Himer for 3 years. Two in the warehouse and now one with the tech team. [music] As I mentioned earlier, uh, when Himer [music] USA started, this was the original showroom.

[00:25:14]>> This was it.

[00:25:15]>> This was it. So, we had all our equipment set up here. This was Brent's office right here. I think u Brent's [music] wife Neo's office was right here. And that was the showroom.

[00:25:25]>> This was it.

[00:25:26]>> It was the main door.

[00:25:28]So, if you want to follow me, we have [music] our break room. So, this used to be the conference room and now it's a break room. So, sales operations. Wow. So, yeah. And then we're right back up where we we started the tour in our lobby.

[00:25:41]>> So, if people want to find out more about [music] Himer and what Himer does, where can they go?

[00:25:45]>> They can go onimer.com.

[00:25:47]We're also on all [music] the social media pages, LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram. We're somewhat active there.

[00:25:53]Um, and yeah, just [music] look for us and or at every trade show. We're pretty much at every trade show there is in North America [music] in our industry.

[00:26:01]We're going to be there >> cuz you want to come see some of this stuff for yourself. That's what I have to say.

[00:26:05]>> Thank you very much for having us.

[00:26:06]>> Thanks for [music] coming. Appreciate it.