Automotive firm hits landmark

A major engineering firm has strengthened its credentials in the automotive market after its sub-division reached £100m in orders in just eight years of trading.

The milestone, achieved by multi-disciplined company adi Group, has been secured through contracts with some of the biggest brands in the sector, including BMW Mini. Specifically, the £100m barrier was broken by the Birmingham-based adi Automotive Services arm of the business, which has secured permanent contracts at five major automotive sites across the country, including BMW’s Mini plant in Oxford.
For further information www.adiltd.co.uk

Guhring expands tooling offer for composites

The range of Guhring cutting tools for the machining of composite materials has been expanded with the innovations in a newly published brochure titled ‘High Performance Tools for Machining Modern Composite Materials’.

Available to download from the Guhring UK website or local representative, the 24-page publication includes the latest solid carbide and PCD drills, as well as end mills, taps, slot drills, and PCD compression milling cutters. The Guhring range has been specially adapted to the respective structures of composite materials to ensure optimum chip evacuation, as well as uniform hole diameters across all material types.
Guhring’s latest catalogue introduces new and extended product ranges that include solid-carbide stub drills and Kevlar drills from 2.5 to 10 mm, CR100 and FR100 geometry end mills for CFRP/GFRP, ISO metric machine taps, and 90° and 120° multi re-grindable PCD drills. Additional products include two, three and four cutting edge PCD slot drills and end mills with through-coolant. These tools are available in a variety of shank forms, tolerances, surface finishes, coatings, helix and rake angles, and cutting edges.
Diamond coating is a critical feature for optimising performance when cutting FRP. The Guhring diamond coating is called Cristal, and this is applied in-house to optimise performance, consistency and tool longevity for the end user.
Among the challenges of developing cutting tools for the composite industry are quality characteristics that are important for metallic cutting, but also the fraying of fibres, delamination, burr and thermal damage prevention during machining,
and the splintering of fibres. Guhring has invested significantly in its R&D efforts
to overcome these difficulties.
For further information www.guhring.co.uk

Latest face mill cuts interference issues

Tungaloy has introduced its DoQuad-Mill, a face-milling cutter that is designed to address interference between the tool and workpiece.

Standard face-milling tools generally prevent end users machining close to walls or fixture clamps due to inclined entry angles, says Tungaloy. In contrast, the DoQuad-Mill has been developed with a near 90° entry angle that ensures the cutter is interference-free and therefore capable of face milling extremely close to walls and other features.
The double-sided square insert incorporates a concave cutting edge profile with a large inclination angle. This design improves swarf evacuation and generates barrel-shaped chips, a feature that prevents swarf re-cutting. The inserts incorporate a large rake angle that generates low cutting forces and a smooth cutting action, thus reducing stress and force on both the machine spindle and cutting tool. This capability makes the cutter suitable for customers operating low-powered machine tools, or working with low rigidity or weak fixture settings.
DoQuad-Mill offers cutter diameters ranging from 50 to 100 mm diameter in either standard or close-pitch insert designation. The standard pitch variant is designed to ensure chatter-free milling, whereas the close-pitch cutter is suited to applications where high-feed and high-speed machining is essential. DoQuad-Mill inserts are available with corner radii of 0.8, 1.2 and 2.0 mm. For precision machining applications that require high-quality surface finishes, a wiper insert is also offered.
The DoQuad-Mill is available with a selection of insert grades and coatings to cater for the machining of various material types. This choice includes the AH3135 PVD grade, which has a high fracture resistance, making it the company’s first choice grade for machining steel and stainless steel.
For further information www.tungaloy.com/uk

CAM integrates turbomachinery design solution

A co-operative agreement has been struck between Open Mind and CFturbo that intends to provide a complete design-to-manufacture workflow process for turbomachines such as pumps, compressors, turbines, fans and blowers.

CFturbo’s software platform for interactive design enables the end user to start from scratch or redesign existing geometries like impellers, stators or volutes. Now, the collaboration with Open Mind will enable turbomachinery designers to take their design concept beyond the 3D model and through to complete CAM model for production.
For further information www.openmind-tech.com

Free automation event at MTC

The Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry is to hold a free event aimed at helping business leaders make the right decisions when it comes to automating their factories.

The ‘Open Lab’ robotics and automation networking forum at the MTC on 18 September is designed for decision makers and end users who appreciate the need for robotics and automation, but are unsure of the best equipment to use, how to integrate it into their production lines, or how to measure the benefits.
End users, technology providers and suppliers are invited to the event, held under the auspices of the European-funded ROBOTT-NET project, of which the MTC is a partner. It is the fifth in a series of such events at the MTC. Anyone interested in registering for the event can do so via the web address below.
For further information www.the-mtc.org/openlab