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with as many as 14 newbuilds going on at a time, the 230 plus employees at Hori- zon must look for every avenue to save time while exceeding customer expecta- tions. Oliver was investigating a better way to drill the holes for the VO mounts, and searching for a ?small skinny drill,? he eventually came across a low profile magnetic drill from Hougen Manufactur- ing called the HMD150. Intrigued by its small size and large hole capacity, he felt this might be just the ticket they needed to save time. Oliver contacted Fred Buish from Tooling Con- cepts in Mobile, Alabama and had him out to go over the Hougen drills. Together Fred and Roger pulled the prints to in-stalling the VO mounts and discovered they could raise the powertrain up just 10-in. while keeping it aligned on the guide posts. The HMD150 drill was only 7-13/16-in. high which would work per- fect for drilling the holes under the en-gine. The Hougen HMD150 is a low profile magnetic drill weighing 22.7 lbs. It has the capacity to drill holes up to 1-3/8-in. diameter and 1-in. deep using thetool-less RotaLoc Plus annular cutters. To achieve the low profile, the HMD150 drill uses a right angle Hougen motor, high power gearing and a quill feed arbor system which incorporates positive slug ejection. Roger was excited that the drill would work but the holes had to be 1.5- in. deep, and standard cutters for theHMD150 are 1-in. deep. Oliever put in a request and asked if Hougen could make custom RotaLoc Plus tools in the size of15/16-in. x 1.5-in. deep. Fortunately Hougen had a handful of 1.5-in. deep cut-ters already on the shelf and immediatelysent them to Horizon. When it came time to install the VO mounts, Roger and the crew at Horizon put their new method to the test. Once the holes were marked, they hoisted the en- gines 10-n. while they stayed aligned on the guide posts. An HMD150 was brought in to drill down to the max depth of 1-in. Then the crew put the 1.5-in. long RotaLoc Plus cutter in the drill, placedthe cutter back into the existing hole that had just been drilled and finished drilling out the last half inch. They did this to all 24 holes. Mounts were secured, the pow- ertrain was lowered back down, bolted into place and was ready to go into serv- ice. ?It?s much faster. We don?t have to pull the engine out. Once the alignmentis done it takes just four hours for the job,? said Oliver. As comparison, the job used to take three days. ?We like the HMD150 because of its small size but not only that, it drills quite well. For its size it packs quite a punch and will get righton through the material.? www.horizonshipbuilding.com www.hougen.com November 2012www.marinelink.com 111Magnetech is your source for lifting magnet sales, repair and rewind! Complete magnet systems and accessories. ? New Magnetech? brand lifting magnets for all applications ? Rebuilt, reconditioned and used magnets ? Magnet repair/rewind for all brands ? Operator training programs ? Magnet accessories ? controllers, generators, lifting beams, chains, hooks, battery backups ? Shipyard equipment maintenance and repair ? motors/generators, transformers, switchgear/circuit breakers, drives/controls, pumps. Keeping you productive is our business. Magnetech Industrial Services, Inc. Web site: www.magnetech.com Call us at 1-800-758-0941 or email [email protected]. Visit us at Workboat Show booth # 3846 MR#11 (106-113):MR Template 11/6/2012 10:51 AM Page 111