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Click here to return to this month's Article Index The Cutting Edge™October 2004Scholarship ProgramWMMA Member Companies Continue to Benefit from University Students WMMA® member Great Lakes Carbide Tool Mfg. Co. has tapped into an excellent resource to help the company on the road to success: Michigan Tech junior Joshua Lepinski. Joshua's overview below of his summer internship at Great Lakes Carbide demonstrates the skill of the next generation, and the benefits a sponsoring company can derive from the WMMA Scholarship Program. Members who wish to get involved should contact Jean Coney at jconey@fernley.com or visit http://www.wmma.org/members/edu_comm.cfm.  September 2004
For the first month I worked with the Design Engineers on AutoCAD software. They willingly described all the aspects of designing GLCT tools such as router bits, saw blades and raised panel cutters. I never realized all of the planning that went into a simple looking router bit to keep it from O^burning' the material and to get good balance and chip clean-out. While in this department, Great Lakes Carbide's exceptional communication skills became very obvious when shop machinists came in and talked right to the person who designed the part in question. Also, the high management would check in with us every morning, if nothing else, just to say "good morning." Next on GLCT's agenda for me was to start training in the shop. Over this month and a half, I experienced every process in the plant and got a chance to observe parts going from stock steel to a finished cutter. First on the list was the brazing department where I learned how both carbide and polycrystalline diamond cutting edges were installed. Being in only this first department on the production floor I already noticed GLCT's excellence in cleanliness, organization, and employee satisfaction. Next, in the saw department I learned how to retip, resharp, and relieve tension out of saw blades. I also learned how poor sharpenings can lead to reduced cutter performance by leaving tips under the cut or 'hanging' out the side. Manual grinding was after saws and here I learned even with today's modern machines it still takes an experienced hand to get a perfect polished grind. After manual grinding I trained on GLCT's CNC grinders which profiled inserts and backers for insert cutters and also manufactured some solid carbide and high speed steel bits. Post training on the grinders came machining the actual cutter bodies. Here I spent several weeks learning set up and programming of wire EDMs and CNC mills and lathes. The biggest portion of this section was the constant indicating and measuring parts to keep them within Great Lakes Carbide's strict tolerances. After learning how to make the cutter bodies and inserts, I then spent a week assembling cutters and giving them a final inspection, balancing, and cleaning before they were sent out to the customer. For my last week, GLCT partnered me with the Project Engineer to test some of the newly made tools on a Weinig moulder and a CNC Onsrud router. The WMMA Scholarship program has been a great learning experience and has definitely raised my interest and respect for the woodworking industry. This summer gave me very rewarding knowledge and experience. I can only imagine what next summer will contain, especially with GLCT starting a new department making tooling to cut metals. I would like to give a special thanks to everyone at Great Lakes Carbide for helping me learn and I look forward to returning there next summer. Again I would like to thank the WMMA and GLCT for honoring me with this awesome opportunity. Sincerely, Joshua J. Lepinski Table of Contents
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