Case Study: Cornfield Crappie Gear cuts machining time and boosts tool life with Mastercam

Cornfield Crappie Gear - Customer Case Study

Production Tooling & Automation, operating as Cornfield Crappie Gear, faced significant challenges machining an extremely hard, proprietary material called CR7V for automotive die blocks. Their initial methods resulted in excessive tool breakage, high costs, and long cycle times of over 60 minutes per part, threatening the profitability of a major contract. To address this, the company turned to Mastercam's CAD/CAM software, specifically its Mill and Lathe products, seeking a solution.

By implementing Mastercam's Dynamic Motion toolpaths, the shop kept cutting tools constantly engaged with the material, which minimized breakage and allowed machines to run at full capacity. This solution dramatically reduced the part cycle time from over 60 minutes to just 38 minutes. Furthermore, tool life saw a massive improvement, with the shop now producing 16 parts per endmill on hard steels compared to only one or two parts previously. Mastercam was instrumental in achieving these efficiencies, which were pivotal for the shop's success and eventual expansion into a new consumer goods line.

Cornfield Crappie Gear

Mark Ridl

Owner and President