Stelweld invests in shot-blast machine

When a Polish manufacturer of complex steel weldments was ready to invest in a new shot-blast machine, quality, capacity, high equipment uptime and integration into the manufacturing flow were key selection criteria. As an essential part of the pre-treatment operation for a cathodic painting line, the new shot-blast system had to produce optimal surface preparation results within an interlinked work flow in a three-shift operation. The company chose a Rösler RHBD 17/32-K continuous-feed spinner hanger blast machine because of its wear-resistant design and favourable operating costs.

The specialty of Stelweld is the production of complex steel weldments, including machining, laser and CNC cutting and bending processes, as well as painting and powder coating.

Danuta Dobrzynska, project manager at Stelweld, says: “Within the framework of a recent expansion we wanted to automate the shot-blasting operation and integrate it into the painting line. To date, the paint preparation process was predominantly manual.

“Rösler does not offer the lowest price, but with regard to quality and technical features this supplier offered many advantages,” continues Dobrzynska. “Compared with competitor products, all essential components of the Rösler shot -blast machine consist of wear-resistant materials, such as the blades of the turbines, which are made from forged tool steel.”

The Rösler RHBD 17/32-K continuous feed spinner hanger blast machine allows the blast cleaning of a wide spectrum of 3D weldments with dimensions of up to 2500 x 1200 x 3000 mm (L x W x H) and weight up to 1250 kg. At cycle times of 6 to 8 minutes, the automatic shot-blasting process produces a finishing quality of SA 2.5 on the entire surface of the steel weldments to ensure excellent paint adhesion.

For further information
www.rosler.com

New aerospace turning grade

For the finish-turning of HRSA materials, NTK Cutting Tools has introduced its JP0 Bidemics range of inserts. Suitable for machining HRSA materials at speeds up to 480 m/min, the JP0 is the latest addition to the NTK range of Bidemics, a material that the company says can greatly improve productivity for aerospace manufacturers which are regularly cutting challenging materials.

Capable of machining at cutting speeds up to 15 times faster than carbide and CBN alternatives, the NTK JP0 demonstrates high wear resistance and consistency. The new JP0 insert grade is suitable for running at cutting speeds from 180 to 500 m/min, with a feed rate of 0.05 to 0.2 mm/rev, and a depth of cut from 0.1 to 0.7 mm.

Currently, NTK has introduced the new high-performance finish turning grade in three different designations: the CNGA, DNGA and VNGA geometries. The 4.76 mm thick CNGA and DNGA inserts are available with a 0.4, 0.8 or 1.2 mm corner radius, and an IC of 12.7 mm. NTK’s VNGA insert designation is available with a 0.4 or 0.8 mm corner radius, and a 9.525 mm IC. The company says that all three designations demonstrate outstanding quality with the 0.04 mm honed edge preparation.

NTK recommends that when turning HRSAs and other extremely challenging material types, manufacturers should utilise button inserts from the Bidemics, Whisker and SiAlON series for heavy-duty roughing, followed by the NTK SiAlON range for semi-finish passes and the new JP0 for finishing with a constant depth of cut.

For further information
www.ntkcuttingtools.co.uk

Plan for growth at MACH 2022

With less than 200 days to go until the opening of MACH 2022, the first national gathering of the UK engineering community post-COVID-19, manufacturers are being urged to use the exhibition to plan their growth strategies and take advantage of booming market conditions.

Show organiser, the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA), says positive economic forecasts suggest there is a strong appetite among manufacturers to do business and, with investment incentives in place, there has never been a better time to acquire machinery that can facilitate growth.

The showpiece exhibition takes place at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham on 4-8 April 2022. Even with almost seven months until the doors open, the event is already three quarters sold, with more firms are signing up all the time. Recent MACH editions have seen over 20,000 visitors attend.

For further information www.machexhibition.com

Coborn relies on Kaydon bearings

Coborn Engineering, which designs and manufactures specialised CNC grinding, polishing and lapping machines for the diamond tooling and gemstone industries, is taking advantage of Kaydon bearings from RA Rodriguez to help boost the performance of its Planetary Grinding (PG) series machines. In this extremely high-precision application, Kaydon bearings are an essential element of the machine, allowing users to process diamond cutting tools to radius form waviness levels of 50 nm (0.00005 mm).

The latest version of the PG series, the PG6, is an automatic, ultra-high precision grinding machine for processing natural or synthetic SCD tools. Coborn’s PG6 is a world-first engineering solution that relies on high-quality bearings for the precision manufacture of controlled waviness and complex geometry tools.

To verify the performance of its PG6 machines, Coborn performs a TRC [tool radius check], which is essentially a microscope with image analysis software to measure tool radius and radius waviness.

“The system generates custom-designed QC graphical data sheets that we can then supply with the associated tool,” explains Bullman. “Our PG Series machines generate waviness values of sub 50 nm, which is market leading. The bearings are a key part of the machine, allowing users to process diamond tooling to these accuracies.”

RA Rodriguez supplies Coborn with Kaydon KD series high-precision, angular contact, preloaded bearings in duplex (back-to-back) configuration. Each Coborn PG machine requires a pair of these 7-inch diameter bearings. The company has been a customer of RA Rodriguez for the past 22 years and has been using Kaydon KD series bearings since 2013.

Concludes Bullman: “We are a very well established customer of RA Rodriguez and appreciate their high-quality products and the support offered over the years, which continues to this day.”

For further information
www.rarodriguez.co.uk

NMIS and Boeing open R&D facility

The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) and the world’s largest aerospace company, Boeing, have officially opened a new research and development (R&D) facility in Westway Park, Renfrewshire. At over 60,000 sq ft, the new NMIS facility incorporates the Metallics Research Centre with Boeing, which will see the delivery of the aerospace giant’s £11.8m R&D programme in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), part of the NMIS Group.

Aiming to reduce materials waste and identify opportunities that improve safety, productivity and the environmental impact of its aircraft, technical teams from Boeing and NMIS are exploring novel manufacturing technologies for metallic components, building on over a decade’s worth of R&D with the University of Strathclyde and the AFRC, where Boeing is a founding partner. The new R&D facility will house cutting-edge manufacturing equipment for use across NMIS projects.

For further information www.nmis.scot