Dec18 Field Trip: Diamond Technologies Inc Now Sponsors Team 5295 & Team 4450

FIELD TRIP SUMMARY: DTI SPONSORS TEAM 5295
Team 5295 "Aldernating Current" and Team 4450 "Olympia Robotics Federation" toured Diamond Technologies Incorporated (DTI) manufacturing facility in north Olympia.  DTI is the only U.S. firm machining precision orifices from ruby, sapphires (second hardest material in the world), and primarily diamonds (the hardest material in the world) for use in industrial manufacturing.  A spectrometer on NASA's Mars Rover "Curiosity" contains a part made at DTI.  Wearing safety glasses brought from our home pits, we toured the lathe room and the diamond room. At the conclusion of the tour, DTI General Manager Perry Hanchey agreed to sponsor Aldernating Current. DTI will machine parts for the team. Students will prepare datasets to support this manufacturing effort. DTI sponsors Team 4450 starting in 2015.

ATTENDING
Jaeden H., Jonathan R., Kiery E., Tyler C., and mentors A.Walker and J.Wright attended for Team 5295. Eight students and four mentors (P.Cook, R.Corn, W.Murray, and M.Pelle) attended for Team 4450. Our host was DTI General Manager Perry Hanchey.  Students were very thankful for this opportunity.

WATER JET
Many aerospace companies use water jets to cut parts from graphite composites, aluminum, titanium, steel, and inconel.  In a water jet highly pressurized water is passed through an orifice which creates a vacuum for garnet, most commonly sand, which cuts the part.  The water jet is so fast (three times the speed of sound) that it can cut rolls of toilet paper without making the paper wet.  Machining graphite composites with metal cutters creates highly flammable dust; a water jet does not, making it much safer.

MACHINE LATHES
Machine lathes are used to create parts from blocks of metal.  Aerospace firms primarily use three-axis lathes (medium cost) and sometimes five axis lathes (high cost) to create detail parts.  DTI only uses seven axis lathes.  An "axis" is the ability to move back-and-forth in any one direction (X,Y,Z) or rotate around an axis (X,Y,Z).  DTI machines complex detail parts for customers using their high precision seven-axis lathes.  Mr. Perry Hanchey showed us a lathe making small O-rings from Delrin, a nylon family material.  The O-rings are used to hold diamond orifices in place. DTI also builds all their tools in shop.  Creative employees sketch an idea.  Together everyone improves on the basic idea, parts are machined, and assembled.  Improvements from use are incorporated in the second tool.

DIAMOND ROOM
One of the machines here had a camera so we humans could see the machining operation which occurs on such a very fine level. Typical aerospace tolerances (0.030) are measured in thousands of an inch.  DTI likely deals with tolerances in the hundred thousands of an inch (0.00001). There were employees with large microscopes setting diamond angles.  Other machines use diamonds to braze wire.  Due to frequency of failure, many customers using sapphire or ruby orifices switch to diamond orifice.  (A ruby is a sapphire with some chromium which makes it red.)

EDUCATION
Knowing the basics of trigonometry like the opposite, adjacent, and hypotenuse sides of 90 degree triangles makes cutting parts easier.  After high school, the Advanced Machining program at South Puget Sound Community College in Olympia leads to a Computer Numerical Control Technician Certificate.  Some graduates of this program now work at DTI.

MORE INFORMATION
Diamond Technologies
Team4450 Olympia Robotics Federation
Team5295 Aldernating Current
Mars Rover Spectrometer APXS 
Trigonometry
Advanced Manufacturing & CNC Technician Certificate