Kurt PinLock Story

Product catalog summary

Introduction
Kurt's new PinLock™ locating and clamping system significantly enhances productivity in machining centers. G & Z Industries, a precision parts manufacturer for the aerospace industry, has successfully implemented this system, reducing cycle and setup times while improving quality and reducing scrap.

Implementation and Benefits
G & Z Industries integrated the PinLock system into a Mazak HCN 4000 horizontal machining center. This allowed them to process 12 parts simultaneously, reducing cycle time by half and setup time from 7 hours to under 1 hour. The system's modular design facilitates adaptation across various machining centers.

Technical Specifications
The PinLock system uses high precision pins, bushings, and liners, providing locating repeatability up to ±0.0005 inch. It is compatible with Kurt tombstones, grid plates, and vise adaptor plates, making it ideal for a shop-wide modular workholding setup.

Quality and Efficiency Improvements
The system ensures first part accuracy and repeatability, significantly reducing scrap rates. The initial setup time is reduced to 12% of the original process, with consistent quality control results.

Future Plans
G & Z plans to expand the use of the PinLock system to other machining centers, including 5-axis machines, to further enhance productivity and competitiveness.

Conclusion
The PinLock system has proven to be a valuable addition to G & Z's operations, offering significant improvements in efficiency and quality. The company plans to continue leveraging this technology to maintain its competitive edge in the industry.

Catalog excerpts

The Kurt PinLock™ Is Ideal For Building A Shop-Wide Modular Workholding System WORKHOLDING TODAY New and existing machining centers get a big boost in productivity when they are equipped with Kurt’s new PinLock™ locating and clamping syst

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Improve cycle and SETUP timeS while reducing scrap. Gene Kline (r) director of G & Z operations and David Zaval (l) Kurt manufacturer’s representative, holding finished machined aerospace housing that is located and clamped in the company’s tombstone setup using the Kurt PinLock system. Setup time is reduced from 7 hours to under an hour using the new system. G & Z Industries Reduces Machining Center Cycle Time By Half, Setup Time From 7 Hours To Under An Hour Using Kurt’s New PinLock™ Locating And Clamping System New and existing machining centers get a big boost in productivity when they are...

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Custom machined aluminum mounting plates with three clamping stations per plate are clamped to standard 10" x 10" x 24" Kurt ToolBlox ductile iron tombstones using the PinLock system. This enables machining of 12 parts per pallet setup. This reduces cycle time by half over the previous method on the company's vertical machining centers. Parts are in the cut on one pallet while parts are loaded on the machine's second pallet. aerospace, electronics, medical and other leading industries, the company has steadily implemented new processes not always available from other machining companies. One...

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Quality Improvement And Scrap Reduction A Big Plus While the overall setup time with the PinLock system after the initial setup was just 12 percent of the first setup process, quality control requirements were also much less. First part quality with each initial setup in the PinLock system was consistently within tolerance requirements so no re-work, adjustments of the workholding or extra inspections were needed. “We were really impressed with the first part precision coming out of the PinLock setup,” reported Mr. Kline. “All of the parts are machined from 6061 aluminum in various size configurations...

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Kurt PinLock Story

Kurt PinLock Story

Catalog excerpts

All Kurt Manufacturing-Industrial Products Division catalogs and technical brochures