CNC Grinding Machines

How to get started in CNC grinding

Rob Murnyack turned his professional life upside down in this quest to get into CNC machining. Rob had worked for his father for more than 20 years and was eager to get into CNC grinding when he launched his own business, Absolute Grinding (Mentor, OH).

"Maybe it was a long time coming, but we just couldn't find a solution that would work to get my father to move [into CNC]," Murnyack says. "And I can't blame him. At 65 years old, would you want to go into debt for $150,000 or $200,000?"

In May 1994, Murnyack took some employees, customers, and four manual grinding machines from his father's shop and began operations. Four months later, Murnyack found himself at the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) in Chicago, looking at CNC grinders.

"I wasn't even taking a paycheck at that point, and I was looking at machines that cost $200,000," Murnyack says. "I thought I was nuts, but I decided I needed one of those machines. I started saving money from day one to have a down payment."

Obviously, Murnyack had a lot riding on his plunge into CNC. He has not regretted his choice of an S35cnc from Studer Inc. (Brookfield, CT) for a minute.

Because none of Absolute's employees were familiar with CNCs, it was important that the machine be simple to operate. "We literally taught ourselves on this machine," Murnyack says. "It had the simplest form of conversational programming that I saw on the market. It teaches you as you go along. For all of my operators, it's still the easiest machine to set up, program, and run."

The machine still runs 24 hours a day at Absolute. Murnyack has also added a Studer S36cnc universal cylindrical grinding machine for medium-sized workpieces. The latter machine gives Absolute the ability to tackle more complicated assignments using complex wheel configurations.

The latest addition to Absolute's CNC lineup is Studer's S31cnc. Purchased in 2001, the newer machine is even more flexible than its predecessors. It's equipped with a Fanuc 16i CNC, and can grind IDs, ODs, and tapered IDs.

Time savings realized with the S31cnc are critical for Murnyack. "We do four or five setups a day here," Murnyack says. "This is a job shop. We can't spend four hours on a setup. My guys can switch over from an ID operation to an OD operation on a different part in an hour with the S31. With other machines, I heard from people out in the field that they might spend four hours just writing the program. It takes us just five minutes to write these programs on the Studers." Circle 223.

Copyright Society of Manufacturing Engineers Mar 2002
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