K&E Small Plastic Parts Fabrication

There is a strong trend towards miniaturization in manufacturing and K&E Plastics will be able to meet the demands of its customers for tight-tolerance, precision plastic parts that require micro-milling and drilling. Our Micro-Machining Department is physically separate from the rest of the plant, temperature and humid-controlled and utilizes the latest in micro-machining equipment and the inspection instruments needed to confirm precision.

For these meticulous parts, like semiconductor test sockets, K&E machines such high-end plastics as Torlon™, Semitron™, Ultem™, Meldin™ 7000 Polyimides, Vespel™ and more. Through the maintenance of constant temperature and humidity in the work area, these materials will remain stable from storage through machining to shipping. The K&E Micro-Machining Department will maintain the same temperature and humidity settings as many of our electronics customers' clean room assembly areas

K&E purchased Datron® Excelsior™ EX Machining Centers for the production of very small plastic parts where tight tolerance and accuracy are of vital importance. For example, semiconductor test fixture manufacturers require test sockets for different ICs that must be precision machined from special grades of engineering plastics. K&E's new Micro-Machining Department, using the Datron® machines, can handle the needs of this burgeoning industry.

The Datron® Excelsior™ EX Machining Centers are manufactured with EXtra (thus the “EX”) low-pitch precision ball screws. The use of these ball screws results in a resolution of ±0.00008" an absolute accuracy of ±0.0005" and a relative accuracy of ±0.0002".

Some of the parts K&E makes with the Datron® Excelsior™ EX have hundreds of .010-inch holes. They handle this work with relative ease as they are optimized for tooling .250" and under. High-speed low force machining yields less heat and reduces tool deflection. The result is cooler machining, superior surface and edge quality and better accuracy. This proficiency is combined with rugged construction that yields outstanding industrial reliability.

While the extra low pitch precision ball screw produces superior machining above the work piece, the solid granite machining table provides rigidity beneath it.

The Excelsior™ EX Features:

Ample 20" x 20" granite machining table
60,000-RPM High-Frequency Spindle with speed control upgrade
15-tool Tool Changer (upgrade from base machine)
Tool-length sensor and tool database
Aged Cast-Steel Chassis
Ethanol-Mist Coolant System (for certain materials)
Full Enclosure with Safety Interlock
Z-correction Probe for surface scanning (upgrade)
Removable Chip Disposal Tray
C3 1GHz PC with 256 MB RAM and Ethernet, CD-ROM & USB ports
Smoothing/NURBS function for 3D molds
Windows®-based control software

To meet the stringent quality demands of the micro-circuit industry and other customers with small precision parts, K&E Plastics has added the Optical Gaging Products SmartScope® Flash™ 500 to its arsenal of inspection equipment in the Quality Control Department. This instrument provides high precision video measurement with outstanding software control. The Flash™ 500 features a bridge-type support structure for optical stability, a working area of 20 x 18 x 8 (xyz) inches, DC servo motors with 3-axis joystick control and superior “point and click” 3D software.

K&E has experience with the machining of most of the engineering and specialty plastics. Many of these plastics machine beautifully and are very easy to work with. Some require special tools due to additives or fillers, but we have developed a tool roster which can meet most demands.

This combination of high quality equipment, materials, and experience allows us to service a wide variety of industries. We regularly provide for the medical, electrical, mechanical, aerospace, chemical, computer, power and generation, instrumentation, and materials handling industries. Our goal is to be your single point of contact for all of your non-metallic machining requirements, regardless of the application.

We appreciate your interest in our company and look forward to serving you. Feel free to contact us with any requirement you may have and chances are excellent that we can take care of it. At K&E we fabricate parts, not promises!