Tooling centre of excellence created

Lightweight engineering specialist Formaplex has strengthened its Design Engineering Services (DES) division with the creation of a ‘Tooling Centre of Excellence’.

The company’s specialist tooling teams and associated equipment are now together under one roof at its Portsmouth facility, where custom tools are assembled for customers, and where support is provided for other tooling needs. Creating such a facility will allow enhanced quality control, improved production processes and a lighter carbon footprint for the business, which supplies to manufacturers across multiple sectors.
For further information www.formaplex.com

Redesigned Kasto ‘tec’ bandsaw

The ‘tec’ range of top-end horizontal bandsaws from Kasto has comprehensively re-engineered. Newly developed features have been incorporated, enabling faster production; cutting cycles can be halved in some cases. At the same time, tool wear is reduced.

According to Kasto, the benefits are largely thanks to a pair of servo motor-driven ballscrews for steplessly adjusting the down-feed to optimise the management of blade chip load. The system is combined with the integration of KASTOrespond technology, which continuously monitors pressure on the blade so that down-feed force can be optimised, irrespective of whether solid material, tube or profile is being cut.
The saw-feed control, without the need for additional and often error-prone sensors, enables cutting parameters to be continuously adjusted, not only at blade entry and exit, but throughout the entire cut. By constantly detecting the changing engagement length when processing round stock, and sensing hard spots in any material, KASTOrespond converts the measured forces on the tool into digital signals for adapting the down-feed speed. Users need only to enter data such as cut lengths and number of pieces, together with the type of material to be sawn and its diameter, directly at the Kasto ProControl with colour touchscreen interface. Everything else is taken care of automatically.
There is an additional, environmental benefit of electrically actuated ball-screw feed, as only a much smaller, separate hydraulic unit is required for stock positioning and clamping, so there is a significant reduction in the amount of power needed to run these machines.
A steel and mineral cast base frame delivers damping and quiet running, even when cutting materials such as titanium, Hastelloy or Inconel, says Kasto.
For further information www.kasto.com

Mazak opens machine-tool museum

The Yamazaki Mazak Museum of Machine Tools in Minokamo, Japan, is now open to visitors. Displaying machines of the 18th century, right through to the modern age of connectivity and automation, among the highlights is an automatic production line that uses IoT technology to manufacture components.

The museum exhibits portray the status of machine tools as ‘mother machines’ that produce the parts required to keep vital equipment operational in highly important industries such as aerospace, medical and automotive. These educational exhibits include several traditional machine tools in working condition, as well as other objects of interest, such as cars, aircraft and a steam train. Each exhibit has been painstakingly restored in co-operation with manufacturers from all over the world.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

Exhibition breaks attendance record

Southern Manufacturing 2020, held at the Farnborough International Exhibition Centre last month, witnessed a 9% increase in attendance to set an all-time record.

A total of 9256 people visited the three-day show. Companies from all over the UK, continental Europe and further afield took part, showcasing a range of industrial products and technologies.
As one of the earliest major exhibitions of the year, Southern Manufacturing provides an interesting weather vane for the mood of UK industry, and particularly so this year, coming hard on the heels of Brexit. The show will return to Farnborough on 9-11 February 2021, and over 70% of stand space has already been reserved.
For further information www.industrysouth.co.uk

Collet-clamping head demonstrations

While known as a specialist in tools for sliding-head lathes, Floyd Automatic Tooling will be introducing newly developed tool-clamping technologies from Schaublin on Stand 472 in Hall 20.

To cater for manufacturers of cylindrical cutting tools, Floyd Automatic will be demonstrating the Schaublin range of products, and in particular, the SRS collet-clamping head with its precision runout adjustment system that give repeatability within 2 µm. At MACH, Floyd will demonstrate the Schaublin SRS system for tool-grinding machines using W or B type draw type collets. Also on show for manufacturers in the grinding arena will be the patent-pending PR25 quick-change collet system.
For further information www.floydautomatic.co.uk