Everything done correctly

‍

“Did everything right! “, is how Stefan Radke, managing director of the WEST grinding center, describes his experience with WENZEL's LH65 Premium.

‍

Christian Klostermann from Klostermann engineering office‍ and sales company mbH visited Stefan Radke (SR), owner of the West Grinding Center, in Jülich. We find ourselves in a special environment, because his grinding center is located in an old courtyard in the middle of the countryside. Surrounded by meadows and fields, in the middle of a small village, the Radke family's estate smiles at us. From the outside, it's hard to guess what lies behind these red brick walls. In this warm atmosphere, Stefan Radke tells us about his experiences with WENZEL's LH 65.

Mr. Radke, tell us briefly what your company is doing.

SR. : We are mainly active in two areas: on the one hand with the production of special tools and prototypes; on the other hand with grinding technology — in many variations — of hardened workpieces. In this state, it is simply not possible to process the surfaces in a conventional way due to the hardness of the surfaces. The grinding technology is very demanding and highly precise. That is exactly what we have been doing for over three decades.

Which parts do you manufacture and in which end products are they used?

SR. : That is very different. Sometimes I don't even know what the parts will be used for later, because we have a lot of customers with whom we can only work through confidentiality agreements. Around 75% of our customers come from the areas of research & development and universities. The remaining approximately 25% comes from general mechanical engineering. We also produce tools for the pharmaceutical sector. So that can be very different.

Which measurement tasks need to be solved?

SR. : Our daily measurement tasks include recording very tight dimensional tolerances as well as all shape and dimensional tolerances.

‍

Which measurement inaccuracies are required?

SR. : The tightest tolerances that we process are well below a hundredth of a millimeter. The measuring machine is always calibrated before the most accurate measurements are made. The spans when calibrating the SP25 scanning probe are often less than one micrometer, which I think is very impressive.

We are standing here at a grinding machine and see a grinding wheel with an asymmetrical outline. What is it used for?

SR. : Profile grinding is one of our main competencies.

In addition to classic surface grinding (for processing flat surfaces), so-called profile grinding allows you to incorporate “technically realizable” geometry into grinding wheels in order to also process shapes other than flat and flat contours. This is what we call profile grinding, or full grinding. With an optimal grinding wheel design, this process can also be used to economically cut very delicate and very difficult to machine (due to high strength and low thermal conductivity), tough materials such as those found in engine construction (nickel, cobalt and titanium-based alloys, Nimonic, Inconel, Udimet).

Of course, this creates enormous temperatures, which must be prevented — because high temperatures also often lead to moving components. During deep or full grinding, we automatically switch on a second cooling pump, with an additional 40 bar supply pressure. On the one hand, the chips produced during grinding are removed, and on the other hand, the workpiece is cooled efficiently. With this enormous cooling capacity, we barely have temperatures above 23° Celsius for the workpieces. 1,700 liters of cooling water are available in a tank. In a circulatory system, the chips are filtered out and the cooling water is brought back into the process in a temperature-controlled manner.

Which typical components do you process? How big and how heavy are they?

SR. : 90% of the components we process are in a weight range of between five and ten kilograms. We can process components up to 1500mm in length.

Which location did you choose for WENZEL's LH6-12?

SR. : Back then, we built an extra new measuring room for the measuring machine, which is approximately 25 square meters in size and, of course, fully air-conditioned.

What criteria were used to select the new measurement system?

SR. : The problem back then was that we were no longer able to solve many tasks and could no longer answer some inquiries. I even had to turn down some work because there were contours that I couldn't measure.

We were impressed by the accuracy of the WENZEL measuring machine. With the standard accuracy class, this is already in a very attractive range. Nevertheless, we then opted for the “Premium” accuracy class in order to be even more precise here.

I also wanted the measurement results to be presented in a meaningful way. Especially when there are deviations in shape, it is important to recognize at first glance where they are located. I really liked the “overlapping display” of the measurement results on the CAD model in WM | Quartis.

However, it was mainly our customers who persuaded us to invest in a highly accurate measuring machine. For many years, we have been grinding the most complex contours into provided workpieces, but to date we have simply not been able to document the accuracy of these.

With the introduction of the measuring machine, we were finally able to comprehensively document the high precision of our subcontracting. On the one hand, this has brought us trust and opened up new customer groups.

It is impossible to describe what this machine has brought us. Unbelievable, truly amazing! We've always been able to do quality loops, but now we can prove it exactly - in black and white. And that with a very high level of accuracy. And when you finally see the result, how well you've sharpened, that makes me very happy.

Why did you choose a WENZEL machine?

SR. : One of my main customers has been using a large WENZEL portal measuring machine for more than 20 years. We have often talked about the reliability of this measuring machine. I also found impressive about WENZEL's granite-based mechanical engineering that all surfaces where precision is important are not only ground here, but also lapped by hand.

Of course, we looked at three different manufacturers during the investment phase. We felt that we were in particularly good hands with our responsible sales partner, Klostermann GmbH from Remscheid, and had the machine and software intensively demonstrated in two demonstrations of the components we had brought along.

The complete package of high-quality mechanical engineering and easy-to-use software, in addition to excellent customer service, finally convinced us.

Looking back at the investment — you received your new WENZEL measuring machine just over two years ago. How has the introduction of this measuring device affected your business?

SR. : Many new customers have actually been added, because with this machine, we can now also meaningfully document the quality that we produce. For us, having this machine is an absolute competitive advantage. Since the machine was moved in, our clientele has also changed somewhat. Away from the previous standard business towards somewhat more lucrative orders. When processing tasks for research and development departments, we always provide a measurement report for almost 100% of the orders. Complaints have almost reached zero.

With two employees, you are certainly one of the smallest companies, but have been operating very successfully for years. What is your “unique selling point”? What is your secret recipe?

SR. : I don't know (says Radke, with a smile on his lips). I began my apprenticeship as a toolmaker at the age of 15. For 45 years now, I've been doing nothing but working on work witnesses. You've actually seen everything once and yet you're constantly learning new things. Materials science is just my hobby horse.

Many companies ask me for advice regarding materials, hardening and annealing processes. I am quite experienced here and word is getting around. That is certainly also one of the components. And the fact that I always enjoy every new task is also one of my strengths. What's more, everyone who calls here gets me on the phone personally.

They are also a training company. We see some documents on the wall. Please correct your motivation for taking young people by the hand here.

SWR. : I always enjoy accompanying the young people and getting them excited about the fascination of high-precision metalworking.

In recent years, we have accompanied a total of 6 trainees. Three of them became chamber winners in the category of “Best apprentice in the training profession “toolmaker” and “cutting machine operator” in the Aachen district.

In 2017, we trained the best apprentice from NRW at state level. Mr Pinkwart congratulated us on this at the time. The WDR has also reported on this. That makes us proud.

There is still contact with all former trainees today. Some still visit regularly two or three times a year. Either for a delicious coffee and a chat. But often with one or the other question in the luggage.

One last question: We are completely impressed by the surrounding area. In the middle of the countryside, in a well-kept courtyard, high-end grinding technology takes place. Grinders and measuring machines are in fully air-conditioned environments. To be honest... we've never seen a WENZEL measuring machine in such a courtyard before. What does it all feel like to you and how did it come about?

SR. : (laughs) Yes, I've truly fulfilled a dream here with my wife. The world is still in order here with us. In addition to precision grinding, my second passion is horse breeding. This on a small scale, not only as far as horses are concerned, as they are “Icelanders”, but with all their hearts.

I can look out at the horse pasture from my production hall. Sometimes you have to hold your breath and pause for a moment because you can barely believe your luck.

The farm, which now stands in full splendor, was not quite “vivid” in less than 5 years. The previous owner was no longer particularly concerned. So it was a lucky coincidence that we became aware of this piece of jewelry. In addition to setting up the company, I and my wife have turned everything upside down once in the last 3 years. All the effort was more than worth it. I live and work where others go on vacation.