Steel Tool Company

Success Story:
Steel Tool Company
EDM I Milling I Laser Texturing I Tooling & Automation I Customer Service

Partnering for Problem Solving
Peter LaFond, owner of Steel Tool Engineering, acts as a
problem solver when it comes to manufacturing components
for jet engines. As a partner to his customers, their problems
are his problems, and the solutions often originate from advanced
technology and support from GF AgieCharmilles.
GF AgieCharmilles automation systems and electric discharge
and high-speed milling machines (EDM and HSM) give
LaFond the means to incorporate innovative techniques. With
a varied toolbox of cutting edge technologies, he routinely
overcomes manufacturing challenges, reduces part costs for
his customers, and adds to his company’s competitive advantage.
Through this, Steel Tool Engineering maintains a highly
regarded reputation as a leading supplier of flight-critical jet
engine components for commercial and military aircraft.
“I maintain a healthy fear of my competitors and keep up
with who is out there and if they are out-manufacturing us.
Whether they accomplish that by producing in low-cost labor
regions or by way of advanced technology, my strategy is one
of continuous improvement, and I’m going to always strive to
implement it before the competition does,” declared LaFond.
LaFond says continuous improvement at Steel Tool Engineering
isn’t based on stand-alone machines, but on highly complex,
automated manufacturing systems. He acquires many
of these turnkey systems from GF AgieCharmilles because,
like LaFond, the world’s technology leader in EDM and HSM
partners with customers to provide value through innovative
products and services and is relentless in its drive toward
continuous improvement.
Automation Is Key
LaFond operates under required yearly price reductions mandated
by his customers, and taking cost out of manufacturing
parts is a daily challenge. Automated part processing allows
him to work with less labor, increase output, and successfully
meet these stringent price reductions, while still turning out
high quality parts at a profit.
For one jet engine component known as the “honeycomb,” La-
Fond took a bold step and moved away from the traditional approach
of grinding the part. Honeycombs create seals around
the outside diameters of turbine blades inside a jet engine.
These seals prevent gases from flowing into certain areas of
the engine and causing engine failure.
To produce the honeycombs, LaFond incorporated automated
cells consisting of four EDMs, a high-speed milling machine,
and robotic workpiece handling. GF AgieCharmilles supplied
all of the equipment and technical support for this project. The
fully automated system successfully eliminated any need for
a grinding operation, saving LaFond the purchase of a highly
specialized, dedicated, and expensive piece of equipment.
Using high-speed machining and automated part loading,
a Mikron milling machine cuts electrodes that four GF
AgieCharmilles diesinking EDMs use to machine the honeycombs.
Electrodes and part blanks are loaded into a carousel,

where a robot transports them into the four EDMs to enable
over 17 hours of unmanned operation.
“It’s easy to give up on automation and fail to constantly use it
to its full potential,” warned LaFond. “I am a firm believer in
automation. Without it, shops will fall to the wayside. There is
always the potential for automation, even for processes that
other shops wouldn’t consider automating. The days of a man
at every machine are over, replaced by a few highly skilled
machinists tending multiple automated cells.”
LaFond loves what he does and views machine tools and the
products they produce as works of art, immensely appreciating
the amounts and levels of skill and technology that go
in to manufacturing a product. He thrives on the feeling of
accomplishment that comes with solving a particularly tough
manufacturing problem for one of his customers. And when
someone tells him “you’ll never be able to do it,” he takes the
phrase as a personal challenge to Steel Tool Engineering and
sets his mind to proving them wrong with advanced technology
and new manufacturing processes.
LaFond grows his talent from within and relies on GF
AgieCharmilles to help keep his people up to speed, both on
the systems they supply and with general process expertise
as well. He says that GF AgieCharmilles offers more than just
machine tools, instead supplying whole manufacturing systems
that today’s smaller manufacturers need to be competitive.
A Passion for Advanced Technology
LaFond walked into his first machine shop in 1965 and has
always considered himself a “shop guy.” He spends threequarters
of his time on the shop floor, observing manufacturing
operations to determine where processes can be improved
and streamlined through the incorporation of advanced
technology. Recently, such attention led to the acquisition of a
Mikron high-speed 5-axis mill to cut jet engine retainer clips.
Jet engine retainer clips must be machined to extremely close
tolerances so that they match up perfectly to other mating
parts during engine assembly. The clips are made from Rene
41, a high-temperature nickel-based alloy with tough machining
properties.
Traditionally, the clips start from 360-degree raw forged rings
three feet in diameter. In a six-hour process, the raw rings are
machined and then sawed into 60 or so separate pieces, each
of which becomes a retainer clip. LaFond knew there had to
be a better way to manufacture the hundreds of thousands of
retainer clips his customers needed on an annual basis.
The extremely high-speed cutting capability of the GF
AgieCharmilles Mikron machine allows LaFond to manufacture
retainer clips from individual, readily available pieces of
raw material, as opposed to whole forged rings. The machine’s
speed allows it to machine each retainer clip in just
25% of the cycle time of the old method. The Mikron machine’s
pallet loading system automates the process, boosting
productivity even further.
“There are many established, traditional ways of manufacturing
certain parts in the aerospace industry. And most shops
are skeptical of new machining techniques, such as one-off
single-piece milling using light, fast cuts,” explained La-
Fond. “Our best shot at sustaining and increasing business
is through the incorporation of new concepts and techniques
that are only possible with the advanced equipment developed
by GF AgieCharmilles.

GF Machining Solutions
GF Machining Solutions
560 Bond Street
Lincolnshire, IL, 60069
USA
Website: www.gfms.com/us
Email: info.gfms.us@georgfischer.com
Phone: 847-913-5300
© Machining Solutions, 2015
The technical data and illustrations are not binding.
They are not warranted characteristics and are
subject to change.
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