Mini Mill Saves US Army Time and Money

How does the US Army save hundreds of man hours and thousands of dollars repairing its Jayhawk and Apache helicopters? It uses the DL Ricci Mini Mill from machining and bolting specialists Hydratight, that's how.

In a demonstration of the new, high-precision miniature milling machine to a small group of Army engineers at a Texas Army base recently, Hydratight's applications engineer, Andy Silva, showed how a complex operation on a vital bracket on the aircraft could be milled in the field, in a relatively short time, but with great precision.

Army engineers, who had previously used grinders to complete a necessary repair - sometimes damaging the bracket in the process - later calculated the same job would take upwards of 700 man hours to complete while the bracket was stripped out, returned to a workshop, milled and returned - grounding the helicopter in the process.

"The Army guys were so impressed they placed an order for the mini mill within two weeks of the demo - that's lightning speed for service procurement!" said Hydratight's key account manager, Adrian Steszewski.

The beauty of the air-powered mini mill is its extreme portability and versatility: weighing only a few pounds, the mill can work in three axes, with up to 3in of sideways (x) movement, 3.25in of fore-aft (y) travel and a useful 2in of up-down (z) travel. The arbor accommodates 0.75in-shank tools and is ideal for all kinds of small-scale milling operations - whether on aircraft or less exotic parts.

The Mini-Mill can be clamped or bolted directly on to the part being machined or fabricated. Setup jigs and parallel-mounting fixtures can be used to position it for difficult work area conditions.

"Any machinist familiar with machining practices will find the Mini-Mill simple to set up and operate - even upside down," said Adrian.

"Adjustable gibs provide smooth, accurate travel in all axis, and there are three major mounting brackets for secure, flexible mounting. The Mini-Mill can be specially-designed for a variety of applications. It's a superb piece of kit for precision jobs located away from the workshop."

Designed for rugged onsite work such as milling, drilling and boring, the Mini-Mill makes possible jobs previously thought impossible without extensive disassembly - as Army engineers discovered to their delight.

For further information about the new Mini-Mill, contact Adrian Steszewski at adrian.steszewski@hydratight.com