Extra CNC axes boost VMC productivity

Compound tables for converting a three-axis VMC into a four-axis or five-axis machine are becoming increasingly popular.

Such tables boost output by reducing the number of component set-ups, often enabling one-hit production, and minimising tolerance build-up for higher accuracy machining. Fixture costs are lower, handling is less and smaller batches can be produced economically, reducing cost per part.
Provided that a rigid, high quality table is purchased, the metal-cutting configuration will be just as robust and accurate as the rotary axes on true five-axis machines.
Kitagawa, which is represented in the UK by sole agent 1st Machine Tool Accessories, manufactures the world’s largest range of NC rotary tables, covering single- and multiple-spindle, tilting, and waterproof models. The tables can be configured with the motor on the right, left, back or top. Table diameters range from as small as 100 mm, including some with built-in 5C spindles, up to 500 mm.
Most models can be supplied with a number of options – including integral ports in the faceplate to enable hydraulic fixture operation – allowing workpieces to be secured automatically.

The most popular tables can be configured for use in conjunction with the Kitagawa Quinte controller. Using a simple M code, a table can be operated from any CNC system, providing the versatility to swap work between three-axis VMCs with different controls. Another option is to operate the Quinte controller through an RS232 connection, which allows the rotary table to be controlled via the machine CNC, eliminating the need for two separate programs.
Through 1st Machine Tool Accessories, Kitagawa offers various options to complement its rotary tables, such as manual, pneumatic or hydraulic tailstocks, tail spindles with built-in clamping system, trunnion assemblies, rotary joints, air/hydraulic intensifiers, and manual, pneumatic and hydraulic
chuck systems.
For further information www.1mta.com

Mazak achieves record sales in 2018

Yamazaki Mazak celebrated a record year for machine sales in 2018, due to strong performance across a number of key market sectors, including automotive, oil and gas, and medical.

“The resurgence of the oil and gas market was much-welcomed, and we saw great success with the sales of machines from the larger section of our portfolio, such as the Integrex e-H range of multi-tasking machine tools, as well as our MegaTurn vertical turning centres,” says Alan Mucklow, managing director UK and Ireland sales division.
“A particularly pleasing aspect of our 2018 sales performance was the volume of commodity machines, including the UK-made, entry-level QT Compact turning centre range, and the Quick Turn series,” he continues. “The company has invested heavily in improving its European Manufacturing Centre in Worcester in recent years, and it is especially rewarding to see that investment translate into shorter lead times and strong
sales for UK-built machines.”
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

AWI achieves best month ever for sales

Alloy Wire International (AWI), which supplies more than 60 different nickel alloys, secured over £1.2m of sales in January.

In total, the company shipped 339 individual orders to customers in 27 different countries. This performance equated to AWI’s best ever month in 73 years of trading. Boosted by a new quoting system, the company has seen demand for its wire emanate from clients in the automotive, aerospace, oil and gas, and nuclear sectors, with many citing AWI’s three-week lead times as being crucial to their manufacturing operations. A significant proportion of new work has come from the EU.
For further information www.alloywire.com

Growth at galvanizing specialist

A Shropshire company is embarking on ambitious growth plans to boost its £11.4m annual sales by 15%, with the potential of creating 30 new jobs in 2019.

Corbetts the galvanizers, one of the UK’s longest established hot-dip galvanizers, is looking to build on significant investment in new equipment and a number of senior appointments to target opportunities in the agricultural, transport infrastructure, street furniture and utilities markets. Despite a challenging year due to rising zinc costs, the Halesfield-based firm has managed to secure a number of new contracts that are making the most of the larger galvanizing kettle it installed in late 2017.
For further information www.wcorbett.co.uk

Putting the brakes on inefficiency

Established in 1983 by engineer and sports car racer John Moore, Alcon Components initially made brakes for Audi Sport’s Group B Quattro rally cars.

Today, the Tamworth-based company provides braking solutions such as discs, callipers, cylinders, valves, balance bars, pedal boxes, clutches and much more for the top echelons of motorsport and specialist markets. It is this reputation in motorsport that has led the company to Open Mind and its HyperMill CAM software.
Alcon Components designs, manufactures and supplies braking solutions to some of the world’s most prestigious brands, including Audi, Bentley, Brabus and Jaguar Land Rover. The company has products that can be found in anything as diverse as the extreme 900 bhp/tonne Ariel Atom 500 and the 225 mph Noble M600, through to military vehicles, armoured SUVs and anything in-between. To cope with the capacity demands of up to 500 discs a week, Alcon has recently invested in three new Doosan vertical turning lathes (VTLs) for its disc machining line, which is yielding a 30 to 40% cycle time improvement. The Doosan VTLs follow a considerable investment in machining centres that include a Doosan Mynx 6500/50, a DMG Mori NHX 4000 and a Hermle C32U.
When it comes to machining brake callipers, a solid aluminium billet will go through a complete range of five-axis machining cycles with four individual operations. Commenting upon this process, production engineering manager Brian Cutler says: “The first operation will be a lot of roughing on a VMC, which is programmed with HyperMill. We’ll then hold the callipers on their side and machine all the internal features on a five-axis machine. We flip it over again to finish the top faces and it will be turned once more for the final operation, which is the machining of the precision piston bores.”

Whereas many callipers may be small volumes or bespoke specialist products, the company is also manufacturing over 100 callipers per week for a high-end sports car.
Referring particularly to the company’s investment in Open Mind’s HyperMill CAM system, Alcon’s Adam Saweczko says: “The reason we moved from another CAM system to HyperMill was the stability of the software. Since opting for HyperMill, there has been a huge improvement in performance and calculation times. It calculates the paths with greater speed and is far more reliable than the software we used before. Our previous CAM software was problematic, sometimes crashing up to six times a day.
“This crashing was due to the complexity and data requirements of the parts, and the respective programs that we generate here at Alcon,” he continues. “The HyperMill system is very flexible, it allows us to copy proven methods from one program to another, which saves significant time. We can work with a number of windows open at the same time and this also reduces our programming times.”
Referring to the HyperMill tool library, Saweczko adds: “We can store more detail than ever before. We can now store all the cutting data, tooling suppliers and even the product codes. It has become the one-stop solution for our tool management data.”
Commenting upon the five-axis credentials of HyperMill, he says: “The five-axis routines are very easy to use. You no longer have to go into hundreds of different settings to get the job done. The parts we are making are quite complex, but our new CAM software has given us the ability to take existing programs and copy them over to HyperMill. So, existing and proven cycles can be applied to the existing part.”

Alcon manufactures its automotive brakes in sets, with left and right hand parts. Commenting on this requirement, Saweczko states: “Typically, HyperMill can save 50% on programming times as it can be done instantly. This also saves time where we have parts that are symmetrical to other components we machine. We actually save a lot of time by programming one half of a part and performing a mirroring routine, so the next component is produced automatically. The cutting conditions are respected also, meaning that if the one half is climb-cutting, then the mirrored half would also climb cut.”
Confidently backing this statement, Cutler adds: “In terms of improvements with HyperMill, we’ve made some pretty big savings in programming times. I would say that a complex five-axis calliper previously took upwards of four weeks to program with our previous CAM system; this is now less than 2 weeks with HyperMill. Producing brake callipers, we typically do a left and right-hand calliper and the first side takes 3-4 weeks to program. Mirroring the first calliper would then take up to another week. The mirroring function in HyperMill is really impressive and enables us to produce the opposite mirrored part in less than half a day.”
The feature recognition package has also been a major benefit for this progressive brake manufacturer, as Saweczko states: “For example, we have an M4 tapped hole and, to conduct that operation, we will need a tapping cycle, a drill and maybe even a countersink operation. HyperMill’s feature recognition will automatically recognise the task in hand and apply the correct tools and machining procedure.”

Alluding to the benefits of purchasing HyperMill, Saweczko concludes: “We are very pleased that we have moved over to HyperMill from another CAM suite. It has not only improved our product quality and surface finishes, it has also improved the working environment because staff are not as frustrated as before. This is because the software is more reliable and easier to work with.”
For further information www.openmind-tech.com