The F1 season begins in March each year; and in the summer of 2006, the Honda F1 team took the decision to machine, for the first time, a new gearbox maincase entirely in-house. It needed to be ready and fully tested before the 2007 season, not long after the decision was taken. So in October, Honda’s machine shop acquired a Matsuura MAM 22 63 V, a 5-axis vertical machining centre for manufacturing the gearboxes, the first point at which the production plans could undergo testing.

The components for Honda’s F1 cars are manufactured largely at the team’s headquarters in Brackley, UK, in a new machine shop equipped in 2006. The facility has a series of new machine tools from leading manufacturers, including 5-axis machining centres and multi-axis turn mills. An early initiative was to reduce machine set-up times and achieve compatibility, an objective met with the assistance of the Sandvik Coromant modular tool holding system, Coromant Capto. This delivered fewer and easier set-ups, and the additional advantage of compatibility amongst all machining centres and multi-task machines, a fact that delivered further benefits.

The machine shop operates a three-shift system, with 14 people per shift and a three man skeleton crew at night. As such, one of the criteria for selecting new tooling was the need for unmanned production, which was another benefit of standardising on the Capto system. Many of the cutting inserts in use are also from Sandvik Coromant, about 180 in total.

“The machine shop manufactured the first gearbox maincase far more easily than anyone could have expected,” commented Richard Smith, the machine shop’s machine and fabrication manager who pioneered the compatibility initiative.

None of the engineering team had much experience in the machining of gearbox maincases, so, as Mr Smith acknowledged, they had to start from scratch. As an expert in most forms of racing car production, he knew that his team’s, and his own, skills needed to be supplemented to meet this substantial challenge in the limited time available. Sandvik Coromant sales engineer, Graham Manning, was brought in to help.

Mr Manning set about detailed examination of the design drawings to plan the machining process for every element and shape of the gearbox casing. Most of the processes were milling deep within the casing using CoroMill 390. The geometry demanded long reach tooling, vibration resistance and balanced tooling, and a massive learning curve.

The first gearbox was ready for machining in November ’06; just one month after the new machine shop had been equipped. Final testing took place in January 2007, with many staff working through the Christmas break to achieve their goal. Mr Smith was pleased with the result, adding that very little reworking or revisiting of the process was needed.

During the build period of the new car, and beyond when required, the machine shop worked seven days a week, making the most of the 168 hours available from its working arrangements, machines and equipment – a testament to the reliability of the Coromant tooling and inserts.

Graham Manning and the shop floor team chose a range of tools that have changed very little in the light of production experience: Capto adaptors and extensions up to 200 mm for long reaches; long reach boring bars; CoroBore 825, damped version; TNS boring head; HydroGrip chucks; and a range of inserts. In total, the centre has seven 5-axis machining centres, three multi-axis turning centres, a small Mori Seiki turn mill, two 3-axis machines and some manual machines to equip with tooling and cutting tools.

Richard Smith continued: “With Sandvik Coromant, we can order new tools and have them delivered within 36 hours, which is a huge benefit.” He explained that, because of the tight deadlines that the machine shop operates to, Honda must production engineer the car’s components at the same time that it manufactures them. Nevertheless, the machine shop is still able to machine to tolerances between 10 microns and 20 microns, with 4 micron surface finish.

“We needed to take as many of the variables as we could out of the equation,” added Mr Smith. “We have now developed a very close relationship with Sandvik Coromant, Graham is always honest about what the tools can do and what they cannot, which is very important to us. He will tell us when we need to look elsewhere and where to go.”

For the 2008 F1 season Honda has redesigned its gearbox, but the success of the 2007 production project meant that the new design has been manufactured with only minimal changes to the tooling acquired to manufacture the previous model, reducing Honda’s inventory and purchasing costs.

www.HondaRacingF1.com

www.coromant.sandvik.com/uk