Tooling innovations in the spotlight

From stand H250 at Southern Manufacturing ITC will debut its diamond coated 2301 and 2302 Cyber series of square and ball nosed end mills. For micro- and small-part machining, ITC has now extended many of its existing product lines, including the 3081, 2161 and 3091 series, which are now available in diameters from 1 mm, in 0.5 mm increments.

Visitors to the ITC stand will also have the opportunity to view the Big Kaiser range of Mega micro-chucks. Continuing the theme of supporting small and micro-part manufacturers, the latest line of Mega micro-chucks incorporates a slim nut and taper design that prevents interference in applications requiring the use of micro-drills and end mills. Furthermore, the chuck design has a notch-free nut that prevents vibration and noise. Alongside the Mega micro-chuck will be the Big Kaiser EWN 04-7 series, which ITC says is the smallest boring head on the market.
For further information www.itc-ltd.co.uk

Industry 4.0 theme

On stand H190 at Southern Manufacturing, Heidenhain will present its Connected Machining system of production, in which all work steps from the design to the deliverable component are interlinked via one of the company’s TNC controls.

Two-way communication with a CAM system is facilitated by Remote Desktop Manager software, while using the Batch Process Manager function, the operator is able to monitor the NC program and tools, and schedule the execution of several production orders simultaneously. StateMonitor software captures data from machines, presenting a real-time view of their status and sending messages to computers and mobile devices throughout the company.
For further information www.heidenhain.co.uk

Two machines on Matsuura stand

Visitors to stand E260 at Southern Manufacturing will be able to see a Muratec Murata MT200 turning centre and the entry level Matsuura MX-520 five-axis machining centre.

The Muratec Murata MT200 twin-spindle turning centre offers three turrets and an optional CNC gantry loader. All configurations of the MT200 can accommodate bar, billet or chuck loaded operations. For customers looking to make the transition from three- to five-axis operations, the Matsuura MX-520 show machine will be configured with a Maxia 20,000 rpm spindle, 60 tools and a standard 300 mm diameter table with optional side tables.
For further information www.matsuura.co.uk

XYZ will show five-axis capability

XYZ Machine Tools will display its UMC-5X five-axis, gantry-style machining centre on stand E190 at Southern Manufacturing 2018.

Although the company says that the UMC-5X is available at a competitive price point, it comes with Traori/kinematic functionality for five-axis simultaneous machining, as well as integrated SMT (smart machining technology) and thermal growth compensation.
Of particular interest is that due to the table configuration and machine design, when the table is tilted 90° towards the rear (component facing forward), there remains 500 mm of Y-axis travel forward of the table surface. According to XYZ, this is much greater than many competitor machines, including those that quote the same axis travels as the UMC-5X, allowing larger workpieces to be machined.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Probing for benefits

On stand G210 at Southern Manufacturing, Renishaw will show its enhanced surface finish measurement probe (SFP2) for use on the company’s Revo-2 five-axis measurement system.

Combining surface finish measurement and dimensional inspection on the CMM presents advantages over traditional inspection methods requiring separate processes. The Renishaw Equator flexible gauge will also be demonstrated and is now offered with IPC (intelligent process control) software, providing the functionality to fully automate tool offset updates in CNC manufacturing processes.
For further information www.renishaw.com