b'Productive TimesDEVELOPING A MILLION-HOLE DRILLAbusiness opportunityEND USER SOLUTION PROVIDERmissed motivated West Ohio Tool Co. to develop a drill that can produceWest Ohio Tool Co. United Grinding North America up to a millionor moreholes937-842-6688 Inc.in die-cast aluminum without thewww.westohiotool.com937-859-1975need to refurbish the tool. or www.edgex4.com www.grinding.comThe development process, which took six years, began when a long- CHALLENGE Efficiently produce a PCD-tipped drill with PCD across time automotive OEM customerthe center.wanted to switch from solid-carbideUse a grinding machine that has both grinding and to PCD-edged tools to drill die-castSOLUTION EDMing capabilities.aluminum transmission cases, the Russells Point, Ohio-based tool-maker reported. At the time, Westrequireregrindingafteraboutmeans downtime, said owner and Ohio Tool didnt offer that type of20,000 to 25,000 holes, and the drillsfounder Kerry Buchenroth. PCD of-drill, so the customer went to an- become too short to use after aboutfered the possibility to minimize all other toolmaker. 10 regrinds. of that, but its expensive and noto-Even high-quality carbide drillsEach regrind costs money andriously hard to work with.West Ohio Tool produces EdgeX4 cross-center PCD-tipped drills on a Walter Helitronic Power Diamond 600 grinder.United Grindingctemag.com/cteguide.com49ProTimes.indd 49 6/17/21 4:20 PM'