Above: Fox Valley Tool & Die purchased two KASTOwin pro AC 5.6 band saws and a third one is being delivered during fourth quarter.

December, 2022- Founded in 1966, Fox Valley Tool & Die Inc. began as a tool and die shop producing progressive tooling, says President Brian Tetzlaff, noting that his father launched the shop. While the company still designs and builds progressive tooling, it has evolved into a precision machine shop, employing 187 workers at three facilities to serve a host of industries, including lawn and garden equipment, oil and gas, and consumer goods.

All three plants have mailing addresses in Kaukauna, Wisconsin, but Tetzlaff notes that the main plant, where the shop performs multiple-axis machining, jig grinding and wire and sinker EDMing, and plant No. 3, which houses the sawing department and receives delivery of raw material, are in nearby Little Chute. “They’re all within a mile of each other,” he says.

Fox Valley Tool & Die is in a growth mode, as its 68,000-sq.-ft. main plant is being expanded by 30,000 sq. ft .. Plant No. 2 has 67,000 sq. ft ., which is where stamping, tool and die making, fixture/specialty machining, waterjetting and design engineering occur. Plant No. 3 totals 15,000 sq. ft. The company initially wanted to add the third plant in 1999 because its other plants are landlocked. At the time, the property owners had a business there that they sold but were not willing to sell the land.

“Fast forward to 2016, now the owners are 76 years old and they’re willing to sell it,” Tetzlaff says. “We moved our saw department out of plant 1 so we could grow our machining.”

The addition to the machining department included 10 5-axis machining centers and three Mazak Integrex multitasking machines, Tetzlaff notes. “We’re doing a lot of 5-axis machining. That’s where a lot of this extra work is coming from.”

     The band saw is suitable for cutting with bimetal, bimetal plus, carbide and carbide plus blades.

    KASTO developed TrumGuides to allow the harmonics in the saw blade to get dampened and provide more aggressive cutting.

     Fox Valley Tool & Die primarily saws solids on its KASTOwin pro AC 5.6 band saws.

BAND SAW ACQUISITION

As part of that year’s transition, Tetzlaff says Fox Valley Tool & Die purchased two KASTOwin pro AC 5.6 band saws from Export, Pennsylvania-based Kasto Inc., and a third one is being delivered during fourth quarter. “They’re really good machines and that’s why I bought a third one.”

According to Kasto, an important feature is the saw’s feed system, which is controlled by two ballscrew spindles, each with a servo drive for infinitely variable control. In addition, the fully automatic saw provides easy order programming using the ProControl control unit with graphic display of the cutting geometry and calculated material amount per order.

Tetzlaff says he came across Kasto at a trade show and compared the machine tool builder’s band saws to other brands on display. “The ball-screw technology and the control were a big deal.” Because Fox Valley Tool & Die is a CNC job shop, Tetzlaff adds that he likes the ability to control the speeds and feeds on the saw with the ball-screw technology.

“We’re preparing for the future with the saw department,” he says. “I can’t have my saw department be a bottleneck to my machine shop. I can’t have people waiting for material to be cut. That’s why I went with the Kasto saws.”

He adds that 95 percent of the time, the Kasto band saws are cutting 9- to 18-in. square or round workpieces, with the list of workpiece materials including aluminum, ductile steel, A2 steel, D2 steel and 4140 steel that has a hardness from 35 to 40 HRC.

“We’re a job shop, so whatever we get through the door, that needs to be cut,” Tetzlaff says. “For the size of work we’re doing right now, these KA STOwin pro AC 5.6 saws really fit the bill.”

Kasto states that the band saw model the shop purchased is optimized for solid material, tubes and profiles, but Fox Valley Tool & Die primarily saws solids, as well as some thick-wall tubes, Tetzlaff says. “Then the sawed parts go to mills and lathes.”

MATERIAL MOVEMENT

To begin the sawing process, powered roller conveyors move material from the outside through 2 ft. by 2 ft. doors and into the machines, he explains. “We have a canopy, so the raw materials are all under cover outside.” That arrangement is going to keep it just in case. It still works. It’s just the Kasto is more productive.” 

     After each 10-hour shift, the band saws usually run unmanned for another two to four hours.

Once a new saw arrives, a Kasto technician installs the machine and then conducts two to three days of training to make sure operators can effectively saw the wide variety of materials that must be cut and properly inspect the cut workpieces, Tetzlaff says. “But you’re kind of training once you’re up and running,” too.

Fox Valley has software for scheduling preventive maintenance, and saw technicians perform general maintenance, change coolant, clean the machines and replace wear items, such as guides and brushes when needed.

Fox Valley Tool & Die hasn’t experienced any significant problems with the Kasto band saws, Tetzlaff says, and only minor issues, such as updating the control. “They pretty much were put in place and running. We weren’t new to sawing. We just have a lot better equipment to do it with.” -FFJ