Ways to Improve Your Environment

Ways to Improve Your Environment

Here are five simple steps to make sure your high precision manufacturing and engineering machines can produce consistent results.

I.               Separate the machines! – Keep all machines at least 10 feet apart from each other. Some machines can generate heat, and light which can negatively impact precision results to another machine in use.

II.              Leave the lights on! – Lights, even the bland florescent lights used in your engineering lab, produce energy. This energy is transformed into heat when it hits a surface. If you are turning a part overnight or over the course of several days shutting off the lights at the end of a workday will change the temperature inside your enclosure resulting in potential errors. Imagine having a bunch of microscopic errors on a 72-hour cut that could have been prevented by leaving the lights on.

III.            Don’t stand so close! – If you stand too close to an enclosure, even just to see how cool diamond turning in action is, keep in mind that your body produces infrared heat and this heat can transfer into the diamond turning unit. Remember to stand clear especially when the door is open. Your IR energy may go directly to the part and spindle. Remember, changing the energy and temperature just a bit = changing the result just a bit… Nobody wants that…

IV.            Use temperature control! – If you’re going to use temperature control only go with the best. Investing in any high precision temperature controller is almost always a must, but do not let machines that can only maintain 0.1 ºC gimmick you into thinking that is all you need. Praecis Inc. can control temperature down to ±0.002 ºC. This will effectively eliminate any errors produced from temperature variation during long cuts.

For best results in temperature control use Praecis.

V.             Set the HVAC system to one temperature! – When I mentioned temperature control above it did not include the HVAC system. Allowing the HVAC system to ‘shutdown’ after work hours or ‘lower it’s temperature’ can adversely effect the results from your precision manufacturing device. Even with a temperature control unit connected to your machine you want to keep the room temperature as stable as possible. Major temperature changes due to the HVAC system shutting down automatically can cause the temperature control system to work harder. “Work smarter, not harder!”  During long cuts simply remember to, “Set it and forget it!” on your HVAC system.

Don't subject your DTM part cuts to cold temperatures.