The Custom Workholding System Helping Lexair Valve It Up

Here’s a question. What happens if you have 300 different valve models for mission-critical naval applications, with sizes ranging from 2.5” to 16” in diameter, all made from difficult-to-machine materials, with production runs as low as five pieces to as many as one hundred?

It means you need a custom workholding system that can keep up.

It sounds like a major challenge, but this is just the type of project that the professionals at Lexair and SMW Autoblok are wired for. Since 1977, Lexair has made valves and compressors for the toughest applications, including those that meet MIL Specs and other stringent industry standards.  

To make these valves accurately, quickly and profitably, it takes more than just the right machine tool. Workholding plays a critical role, which is why Lexair partners with SMW Autoblok. “We had to determine the most efficient way to machine them, and needed the right workholding,” said Alex Allen, Director of Operations at Lexair. 

A trusted workholding partner

For its naval valve project, Lexair chose a Mazak HCN-5000 NEO horizontal machining center with pallet systems. But to really make the project a success, they knew they needed a quick-change workholding system that delivered flexibility and accuracy. Having a supplier they could trust wouldn’t hurt, either.

SMW Autoblok and Lexair have been working together for years. In fact, since 2015, Lexair has used our Civi modular system of vises throughout the shop. “The Civi is a reliable and proven vise for attended and unattended machining,” said Allen. “They’re great for square materials and we don’t have to invest in dedicated fixtures.”

Lexair also has SMW Autoblok aluminum tombstones on a Mazak Palletech system to produce commercial valves for the energy market. These weigh less than a traditional steel tombstone, helping to reduce the overall weight of the workholding system.

Flexibility, repeatability, stability

For the flexibility and ease of setup needed to make over three hundred different valve models spanning a wide size range, Lexair went with SMW Autoblok’s APS zero-point clamping system. 

APS (Automatic Positioning System) is a universal interface system that allows for quick changing of fixtures with repeatability of  less than 0.005 mm. It features a three-jaw clamping design, spring-actuated locking and TURBO-assisted pull-down forces up to 26 kN. Fixtures can be set up offline, reducing changeover times by up to 90%. 

SMW Autoblok worked with Lexair to design and build specialty two-, three- and four-sided tombstones that integrated the APS clamping modules. We also built custom fixture plates with APS clamping knobs that were delivered to Lexair’s chosen fixture manufacturer. 

“Utilizing SMW Autoblok’s APS system has given us flexibility and repeatability,” said Allen. “We use dedicated fixtures and can pull the plates off when we need to switch jobs. Offsets don’t have to be changed; they are stored in the APS systems.”

Two years in, how’s it going? 

The project has been online for almost two years now. According to Allen, “the APS system just works. We don’t have to think about it every day.”

Lexair has continued to add new APS plates and fixtures, and is in the process of configuring custom die carts to store the plates outside of the machine. 

“The real benefit of flexibility is that we have staff for four ten-hour days, but the machine runs through night into the early morning,” said Allen. “We set it up before we leave, and it’ll run unattended up to 3 or 4 in the morning.”

Talk to SMW Autoblok about your workholding system today.

Like Lexair, chances are you could use a workholding system that can keep up with you. Well, it’s your lucky day: it’s one of the specialties at SMW Autoblok. Tell us about your application and we’ll get to work on that fast, accurate and reliable workholding system.