In this interview, Scott Mittl, the VP of Sales and Marketing at Insaco, talks to AZoM about Insaco and the importance of precision in ceramic machining and other hard materials. He explores why high tolerance machining is necessary for ceramics and other hard materials such as Alumina, Sapphire, and Silicon Carbide, to name a few, and the reasons behind the cost structures based upon the unique properties of these materials. Mittl also discusses Insaco’s broad machining capabilities, history, and future strategies, offering a detailed look into precision machining.
Why is ceramic machining necessary?
Maintaining high accuracy in size and form is often difficult when manufacturing ceramic parts. Consequently, machining the ceramic material becomes necessary to allow the ceramic parts to meet the form factor requirements of the end-use application.
Image Credit: INSACO Inc. - Machining of Hard Materials
Why are ceramics and machining other hard materials relatively costly?
Ceramic is an extremely hard material. This comes with many advantages and a few disadvantages. While these can be reasonable solutions in high-wear applications, they also make it difficult to machine them quickly. Machining costs depend on the time it takes to create a feature, with each feature requiring time. Therefore, for example, a part with multiple features that need grinding or polishing will typically take more time and, as a result, becomes more costly.
What are some similarities between alumina (sapphire) and silicon carbide (moissanite)?
Alumina and Silicon Carbide can be manufactured using various techniques, which result in very interesting material properties. Specifically, the single-crystal version of alumina is sapphire, and the single-crystal version of silicon carbide is sometimes called moissanite.
Two examples of these material properties are optical transmission and thermal conductivity. These single-crystal versions exhibit optical transmission at various wavelengths of interest and are also suitable for excellent thermal conductivity.
Image Credit: INSACO Inc. - Machining of Hard Materials
Is Insaco considered a high-capability vendor, and is it a domestic company?
I would certainly like to think so. We have the machining capability to accommodate just about any geometric feature necessary. Creating internal threads or “tapped” holes when the material is fully fired is an excellent example of our capability.
Insaco has only one facility, and it is in the United States. This facility has an extensive supply of machining, grinding, and polishing machines.
Image Credit: INSACO Inc. - Machining of Hard Materials
Is the name Insaco an acronym?
Insaco is an acronym for Industrial SApphire Company, which we initially called ourselves in 1947. However, we changed the name in 1963 to promote sapphire and many other ceramics, glasses, carbides, and nitrides, which we machine daily.
What niche does Insaco fulfill, and where is the business?
We are a specialized machining, grinding, and polishing facility that can and is generally willing to work on any ceramic, sapphire, or glass material suitable for an end-use application, regardless of its design.
Image Credit: INSACO Inc. - Machining of Hard Materials
Why is it “hard” for people to understand what Insaco does?
Once it is understood that a ceramic sapphire or glass material would be a good choice, it is often misunderstood what is required to machine the part to ensure it meets the geometric considerations of its end-use application.
What is Insaco’s strategy going forward?
We continually look for new opportunities and equipment to aid in machining, grinding, and polishing hard materials, and we are always open to new and unusual machining techniques. We continue to pursue high-accuracy equipment that allows us to achieve tolerances that continue to get smaller and require extreme tolerances.
About Scott D.Mittl
Scott D. Mittl, Vice President of Sales, has been an employee of Insaco since 1990 and is responsible for sales engineering activity including quotations and account management.
He takes an aggressive proactive approach to developing new customers and new product applications. This approach includes developing subcontractors to further enhance Insaco's machining capability in any non-metallic material.
Disclaimer: The views expressed here are those of the interviewee and do not necessarily represent the views of AZoM.com Limited (T/A) AZoNetwork, the owner and operator of this website. This disclaimer forms part of the Terms and Conditions of use of this website.