How WIPS Makes Our Precision Machine Shop Fast and Accurate
Imagine this: Your precision machine shop puts a workpiece in their CNC mill and presses the Easy button. The machining center calls out, “Hey! Workpiece! Where are you?” The workpiece responds, “I’m right here!”
There’s one problem with this scenario, and it’s a simple one. Precision machining doesn’t work that way.
When we place a part in a CNC machine, the machine needs to know where the part is—specifically, where its edges are located. Trained machinists are adept at using manual tools, like edge finders, to map out a part’s dimensions. But manual edge finding is a complicated, multi-step process rife with opportunities for human error.
For example, programming an incorrect spindle speed can leave an edge finder tool ripped to shreds!
Manual edge finding is also time-consuming—five TIMES slower than the method we’re actually here to discuss. We rely on a faster, more accurate edge finding process known as the Wireless Intuitive Probing System (WIPS). And it’s a game-changer.
Fast and Accurate Edge Finding and Tool Setting
Manufactured by Renishaw and distributed by Haas, WIPS enables fast, accurate edge finding and tool setting with two powerful probes:
OTS 3D touch-trigger tool setter. This compact tool setter detects broken tools and rapidly measures both tool length and diameter on a wide range of tools.
OMP40-2 optical transmission probe. This ultra-compact probe performs workpiece inspection and job setup. It’s even compatible with high-speed machines fitted with small HSK and spindle tapers.
WIPS measurements are accurate within one micron—that’s 0.000039” on both probes! But that’s not the only reason we’ve implemented this faster, more precise system on all three of our Haas Vertical Machining Centers.
Here’s why we use WIPS on every job that comes through our precision machine shop:
1. Reduced setup times
With WIPS, job setups that once took an hour or more to complete can be done in mere minutes—up to five times faster, in fact, than manual setup methods.
Using intuitive templates, WIPS guides the CNC machine operator through the setup steps. As the probes perform their work automatically, the operator is free to proceed with other tasks, making the setup both shorter and more efficient.
What do shorter, more efficient setups mean for you? You benefit from reduced lead times and lowered costs while gaining enhanced accuracy.
2. Ongoing quality checks
In addition to defining work offset coordinates and setting tool length offsets, WIPS performs ongoing inspections while a job is in process.
The program’s macros allow us to customize part verifications that run every time a part is cut, guaranteeing that the part is in tolerance from start to completion.
Error-free machining is low-waste machining, which is more cost-effective and efficient for everyone, including our planet.
3. Wear and breakdown detection
CNC operators stay busy ensuring that tools and parts maintain their tolerances throughout the precision machining process. WIPS automates that oversight with pre-programmed wear- and break-detection routines.
During production runs, we entrust WIPS with evaluating tools for wear or ensuring that a tap hasn’t broken. One real-life example highlighting the value of this capability occurred years ago when we were still running all-manual setups.
An apprentice machinist was running 12 parts at a time and didn’t notice the tap had broken off inside one of the parts. They ran five additional sets of 12 parts before realizing that the parts weren’t getting tapped. (Or, as we joked later, the machine was “tapping air.”)
This oversight was costly and time-consuming—and it’s one we never worry about anymore, thanks to WIPS’ ability to verify each tapped hole upon a part’s completion. The checks that WIPS performs add value by notifying us of problems before they become PROBLEMS.
Always Up to Speed
Even the most expensive devices are only as good as their calibration. We keep WIPS optimized with regular calibration checks—a practice many shops forgo aside from the annual inspection performed by their Haas rep. This extra step enables us to make and deliver parts that exceed your expectations.
With WIPS in our precision machine shop, you’re guaranteed top-quality parts every time. Send your next one-off part or production run to Accurate CNC Services, and see for yourself!
Or you can hang around for another few centuries until machines and parts, at last, talk directly to one another.