DATRON Medical Parts Home Page: Machines for Medical Part Prototyping, Machining & Manufacturing Small Medical Components

Why DATRON Machining Centers Are Superior for the Design & Production of Small Medical Components.

Plain and simply, medical parts and components are typically small. If you’ve perused our website, you’re probably aware that we are the only machine tool manufacturer dedicated solely to “efficiency with small tools”. We’re not a one-stop-shop, where you can order one machine for making tiny bone screws and another for routing out wheel rims for automobiles. But, we are the undisputed pioneer in the area of high-speed micro machining. Vanguard technology – like our 60,000 RPM spindles, ethanol-mist coolant, 3D probing, auto tool change and integrated workholding – position us as an ideal solution for medical part and medical component development and production.

Ethanol-Mist Coolant System: For other industries we usually wow them with our sheer speed. But, medical parts manufacturers seem more impressed with our unique coolant system because it can saves them time, money … and lots of law suits.

That’s because they know the headaches that oil-based coolants bring with them. Aside from the fact that they have to add a secondary operation to degrease parts, the incompatibility between oil and the human body is of paramount concern. After all, the body is 98% water and we’ve all heard about oil and water. No one knows about this better than the medical parts supplier whose batch of implanted parts failed to knit with the patients’ surrounding tissue – requiring removal and replacement. Analysis showed that microscopic amounts of cutting oil were present in the microstructure of the implanted part. This residue prevented the tissue from bonding to the component.

Well, ethanol is a form of alcohol that results naturally through the sugar fermentation process. It is ideal for high-speed, micro tooling of non-ferrous metals and some plastics due to a thinner-than-water viscosity that allows the ethanol to quickly cover and cool more of the surface area on fast-moving parts. The low evaporation point of ethanol makes it an efficient cooling and lubricating solution. Since the ethanol simply evaporates, disposal, recycling and their associated costs are a thing of the past. Plus, ethanol coolants leave no residue on machined parts, which makes costly secondary operations, like de-greasing, obsolete — maximizing throughput, increasing efficiency and ultimately improving a manufacturer’s bottom-line.

Note: We do have an oil-based coolant option for medical manufacturers working with stainless steel.