A medical client approached us with a very challenging part for a new valve that was in development. The component was a PTFE diaphragm which played a crucial role within the valve.
When PTFE is machined to a thin membrane it becomes too flexible for the tooling to cut as it deflects, and dimensions cannot be controlled. Our experience and determination to help our customers develop their products meant we pushed the boundaries to make their design a reality.
Engineering solutions come from being creative, thinking outside the box and investing time into trials to find new limits.
The shape of the diaphragm design complicated this project even more.
We used our design and CAM software to take a standard sub spindle collet for our swiss lathe and applied the contour of the diaphragm to it so we could fully support the delicate thin contour of the wall section. This allowed us to gently machine this wall and support it perfectly during machining. We produced our own bespoke collet in house for trials to create a unique work holding solution. We invest time into ideas and concepts and incorporate creativity into our development.
We have the skills and the equipment to execute them and a wide range of suppliers to support our needs. We made our own tooling on our cutter grinder which saved weeks on the project.
We then proved out the method & refined our machine program to run samples.
We sent our collet design out to be produced into a machine collet and the results were a complete success!
Our customer was excited to be able to test their new design of valve which also proved successful for them. Orders were placed.
Our disciplined 6 S and AS9100D processes mean we can reproduce the results over many more orders reliably and due to our capacity and staff dedication we were able to meet demands. Our inspection routines and checking methods also ensure quality is met every time.
Using a combined skill set from a strong team we feel we can achieve the best results and we don’t stop until we find our customers a solution. From our experience we talk to our customers and we give feedback and advise on their design highlighting any potential issues right at the start.
This input from our technical engineer means your project is progressed and preparations are in place to ensure the best possible outcome. We thrive on the challenge and look forward to it. And we are not afraid to invest in what it takes to find the machining solution to any design.
We hope you can challenge us soon!
