CANADIAN AUTOMOTIVE RADIATOR and affiliate plants

Canadian Automotive Radiator, and its operating divisions,
Canadian Automotive Plastics and Canadian Automotive Precision,
occupy three plants with adjoining administrative offices and warehouse
space. As you can see from the aerial photograph, all of our production
operations are close together. With the nature of production tooling being
what it is, whether it is a blanking or forming die or a plastic injection
mould, this proximity to one another facilitates tool development and, when
it occurs, tool repair.

Canadian Automotive Precision is the source of the vast majority
of our production tooling, and all of our repair work. When a press is
changing flat pieces of metal into formed parts, or parts are being made
from raw material at an injection moulding machine, it is easy to realize
productivity. That measure of productivity cannot be used in the realm of
precision machining, die work, and mould development. In most cases,
every piece of metal worked with is a "one off ", with unique dimensions
and tolerances; therefore, productivity must be measured by other means.
We at Canadian Automotive Precision Machining, believe this to be
promptly developed, effective tooling, meeting all the functional
requirements expected of it.

Where it all begins....

The reason for any piece of production tooling is the desired
product to be made. The product may be an inventor's "new idea",
or, as is the case in the radiator aftermarket, an existing product
to be reproduced. Designing of the tooling is the first step in the
process. The design stage, using the constraints of the part geometry,
and production methodology, develops the tooling drawings, and where
possible, the code used to shape the desired pieces of tooling.

The design process was historically done by a draftsman, with the
aid of an engineer, drawing a series of prints at a drafting table,
by hand. This process still takes place; only, in this age of "high
technology", with the aid of a computer and highly sophisticated
software.

It takes a highly skilled person to design quality precision tooling.

At CANADIAN, our investment in design technology is
substantial and on going. The CAD/CAM department comprises
four Hewlett Packard workstations and several PC's (from
486DX33 to Pentium Pro 200 workstations) networked together.
The cornerstone of our design software is Unigraphics, running
in a HP-Unix / WindowsNT environment. Other design tools used,
in lesser degrees, are CADKEY and SmartCAM. Communication
with CNC machines on the shop floor is made possible through
networking. We have seven designers on staff, each adding
knowledge and experience to the diverse manufacturing
methodologies accommodated.

A cylindrical grinder, an example of a conventional machine.

The manufacture of production tooling takes place on the shop floor.
The modern machine shop is a diverse mix of conventional tools and
and CNC machine centers. Machines use many different milling cutters,
drill bits, grinding wheels, and electrical current to remove metal
from developed production tooling parts.

Conventional machines are those controlled by the machinist. The use
of conventional machines is limited to simple, preparatory, and / or
machinist-controlled procedures.

At CANADIAN, our conventional machine tools range through stock metal cutters, drill presses, lathes, grinders, and milling machines. All these tools require skilled and proficient operators. We are proud of our dedicated tool and die personnel, and mould makers.
Precision tools require a skilled workforce.	A conventional drill press

Computer controlled machines can do the conventional processes as well,
but are better suited for more complex processes. There are two main
areas where these machines are best utilized. The first type of process
is a repeated production cycle, where uniformly machined parts are
produced. An example of this type of process is the production of brass
fittings on a computer controlled lathe, or screw machine.

A handful of PC-B-901 brass fittings

The second process best suited to the computer controlled machine is
in the development of tooling with complex geometric shapes. The more
complex, or precise these related machining processes are, the larger
the file of controller code necessary to perform these same processes.
In many cases, the code necessary to machine a part is larger than the
memory of the operating machine's controller. When this occurs, a link
to the computer network, or to a dedicated PC, allows for the code to be
sent to the controller by what is known as "drip feeding".

The code files used by computer controlled machines are created by the
design programmers using CAM (computer-aided machining) software
which processes machining functions on computer-generated geometry
which represents the machined part.

The various pieces of a plastic injection mould base await assembly on a work bench.

A computer-controlled EDM (electrical discharge machining) wire machine. This machine uses an electrical current applied to a strand of wire to cut precise edges into developed tooling.

This machine is a computer-controlled EDM sinker. An electrode shaped on a CNC milling machine is "sunk " into a piece of tooling (here, a mould base) This process actually speeds up the development of some precise tooling.

Before a precision tool is signed over to a production facility, it needs
to be proven in a production setting. Being close to the manufacturing
environments enable us to test the tooling in an economical fashion.
Not only must the tooling work as intended as far as its process is
concerned, but it must also produce the desired part. Most precision
tooling requires some adjustment at this stage to either work effectively,
or produce a part within the desired tolerances.

Mould makers examine the part produced from a mould to determine if it meets the dimensional tolerances and desired appearance required. Teamwork is an important ingredient in precision toolmaking.

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