AUTOMATIC RAIL SAW KEEPS SUPPLIERS 'ON TRACK'

For all suppliers of rail track and related components, a new automatic rail saw and handling system, engineered and built by Advanced Machine & Engineering (Rockford, IL), a longtime supplier of production carbide sawing systems, is now available. Known as the AMSAW® R-Series, this new rail saw system outperforms all conventional circular saws and band saws for this application.

Prior to the installation of this new system, one a rail supplier in the Southwest was cutting rail on a hand-operated circular saw. While effective in making the proper cuts, the productivity was simply not keeping pace with customer demand at this fast-growing company. Serving Class I, regional and short line railroads, the supplier must maintain an extensive inventory of new and relay rail, frogs, switches, turnouts, specialty trackwork and accessories.

As one official at the supplier explains, ?Our greatest concern was accuracy, as well as recognizing the speed and improvement in production possible with an automatic sawing system.? Advanced Machine sent an engineer to the job site to review their operation. After analyzing the process used at this fast-paced shop, Advanced Machine proposed the AMSAW® R300R automatic sawing system designed specifically for cutting rails.

Compared to the existing saw being used, which had a cutting time around three minutes, the clamp-to-unclamp time for a rail cut on the proposed machine was estimated at 32 seconds ? a speed that obviously caught the supplier?s attention. ?It was clear to us that, despite the capital investment required, this system had great potential,? remembered the official.

The cost-to-benefit scenario developed further as the saw blade consumption was examined. The supplier typically used 70 saw blades every month on their existing machine, incurring substantial replacement costs plus the attendant downtime for blade changeover. The new system would require far fewer blades and the Advanced Machine carbide cutting blades could accept five retips and up to 40 resharpenings before replacement.

As part of the proposed system, the machine being considered also included an integral rail hole drilling station for the bolted joints at the rail ends. The AMSAW® R300R would function in tandem with cross-transfer and power infeed/outfeed materials handling equipment provided by the supplier. The rail lengths would be clamped, cut and drilled, then the scrap would be discharged and the finished rail would exit. The long-term saving potential was not lost on the supplier, who made the decision to proceed with the purchase after consulting with senior management at the company.

Working with the supplier?s service technician, the Advanced Machine engineer supervised the installation of the new rail sawing system. It was running in full production mode within two working days. Currently, after many months in use, no service problems have been reported.

The AMSAW R300R system runs dry so there is no environmental impact. An onboard PLC monitors and maintains the production on the machine, as well as the infeed/outfeed material handling equipment. Pre-loaded ballscrews, along with three vertical and two horizontal hydraulic clamps on the workpiece, maintain machine rigidity and ensure an accurate 90 deg angle cut on the rail ends. A specially-designed saw blade guide and dampening device are mounted onboard the R300R to provide all the functionality required for this rail processing application. The hardened spindle gears are ground for minimum backlash, while an electronic overload device monitors cutting performance and stops the saw feed, when required.

?We?ve been extremely satisfied,? says the supplier. ?The results we?re getting, both in terms of the cut time reduction and the blade life costs, convince us we made the right choice in going with this cut/drill machine system.? The rail saw system is freestanding and is also available without a drilling station for those applications where rail is to be butt-welded or friction-welded.

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For more details on the application of this rail saw/drill system, contact Kris Drennen, Advanced Machine & Engineering Co., 2500 Latham Street, Rockford, IL 61103, 815-316-5277, Fax: 815-962-6483, www.ame.com, info@ame.com.