To establish a process whereby pre-sintered carbide drill blanks processed in a hot isostatic press (HIP) can be pre-sized to produce straight rod stock for long blanks. The existing method of manufacture involves sintering the carbide rods in a hot isostatic press then grinding them to size in a hard state before the fluting operation is performed. This procedure requires multiple thrufeed grinding operations which is labor intensive and accelerates wear and tear to the grinding machine and tooling since the hard carbide usually has a non-uniform lumpy surface; furthermore several thrufeed passes are need post-sintering to size the carbide to its final diameter and to achieve the uniform diameter required.

Challenge: The customer wants to decrease cycle time while maintaining tight concentricity specifications for roughing a tungsten carbide pin.

Challenge: Satisfying the high volume finishing requirements for the complex form geometry on a hard carbide pin application. This compliments the PG-9DOD Carbide Pin Roughing Operation.

Challenge: To process carbide and polycrystalline diamond with complete automation, conserving grinding wheels and using little power, all on a machine within a small footprint 

Challenge: To end grind printed circuit board carbide drill blanks used by a major tool manufacturer to qualify the blank before fluting. The existing method relied on a batch process where parts were placed, a stack at a time, into a fixture and surface ground. Control over the length was highly dependent upon the setup of each batch in the machine, and length adjustment and perpendicularity were cumbersome to adjust for small diameter parts. Existing machines on the market were extremely large in comparison to the small diameter of the part to be processed, and were very expensive.