Parts Cleaning System Helps Screw Machine Shop Maintain Quality

Published by Job Shop Technology Online

Valencia, CA—Oil-free, completely clean parts are a critical quality requirement for many manufacturers, including machine shops that produce thousands of parts per day. For one high-volume precision machining firm, an environmentally safe parts washer has been instrumental in helping to meet these requirements. VMP, Inc., a family-owned and operated company known for precision manufacturing of threaded and non-threaded inserts and fasteners, attributes much of its cleaning success to the use of a Magnus 36 SWR parts cleaning system. While providing the correct amount of heat, chemical concentration, agitation, and rotation, the efficient washer has helped the firm produce high-quality parts while taking on a greater number of large-volume projects.

VMP produces both standard and custom parts in conformance with Mil-I-45208 specifications. Operating a variety of cam and CNC Swiss screw machines, the company turns out screw machine parts ranging in size from 0.032-inch-diameter stock, to 3.5-inch-diameter rounds. Many of its jobs require VMP to cut holes and threads measuring 0.08-inch to 3/8-inch in diameter with 3/4-10 threads. Deep, blind holes with 16, 18, and 20 threads and a pitch at the bottom of some of the parts are common, according to Bob Schreiner Jr., vice president and general manager at VMP.

As a result, VMP's cleaning requirements include the removal of chips and oil from such holes, a task that the Magnus 36 SWR is able to perform. According to Schreiner, the rotation and vertical immersion agitation capabilities of the washer permit the constant flushing needed to remove oil and chips from all the "nooks and crannies" of the parts. "With the rotation, the parts are constantly tumbling to loosen the chips," says Schreiner.

By heating the cleaning solution to the correct temperature, the parts washer breaks down the oils and makes it easier to eliminate them. The solution also contains a rust inhibitor to prevent oxidation and rusting of parts. "A lot of our competitors use solvent chemical cleaning, such as perchloroethylene, which requires the parts to be dipped in alcohol before use," Schreiner says. "Our parts can be taken right out of their shipping box and placed on the injector pin of a molding system without any additional cleaning."

More than 150,000 parts that are machined by VMP are likely to pass through the Magnus washer in a matter of two-and-a-half hours, a level of efficiency that contrasts sharply with that of a vapor degreaser formerly used by the firm. That machine "ran 24 hours a day and took two operators," Schreiner notes. "Today, the Magnus washer handles the same workload, starting at 7:00 a.m. and finishing by 9:30 a.m. That is a dramatic improvement in time and cost."

The above article is a consolidated and edited version of a story that first appeared in Metlfax magazine, March 2001.

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