Citizen machines prove ideal at Historic Threads

In 2006, entrepreneur David Swaffield started his own contract machining firm, DWS Engineering, in Crewkerne, after gaining a mechanical engineering apprenticeship at a nearby packaging machinery manufacturer. He started out using manual machine tools, progressing to CNC prismatic machining in 2009 and fixed-head CNC turning the year after.

Frustrated at not being able to find pre-war British Standard Whitworth threaded nuts, bolts and other components for the family-owned 1923 Aveling and Porter 8 tonne steamroller he was refurbishing, he decided to make them himself, leading to the inauguration in 2017 of another company, Historic Threads. It was then that Swaffield discovered the capabilities and production potential of CNC sliding-head lathes from Citizen Machinery.

In 2017, the first Cincom L32 purchased second-hand from Citizen Machinery was delivered to Crewkerne, while a second-hand Cincom M32 of a similar age (with live tools) arrived in March 2021. Then in March 2022, due to the steep rise in demand worldwide for legacy threaded components, a third sliding-head lathe took its place on the shop floor, this time a new Cincom L32-VIII LFV.

Shortly after the machine arrived, Swaffield received DWS Engineering’s biggest ever single order for the supply of brass, aluminium and stainless steel parts from 10 to 20 mm in diameter for use in the assembly of make-up brushes and pencils.

The latest Cincom is said to be ideal for fulfilling this contract. For example, the low frequency vibration (LFV) chip-breaking software built in to the control is able to avoid stringy swarf when drilling a 100 mm long, 8.5 mm diameter hole down the centre of a 10 mm diameter stainless steel pencil, even though the machine is not fitted with optional high-pressure coolant.
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

GUITAR MANUFACTURE IS TUNED INTO FIVE-AXIS PRODUCTIVITY WITH HYPERMILL FROM OPEN MIND

Rapidly approaching 20 years of business, Hi-Spec Precision Engineering has evolved from a start-up business to an established subcontract manufacturer that has fully embraced the latest automation and CNC technology with robots and multi-pallet three- to five-axis machining centres.

The Market Overton company has grown rapidly over the past decade, today offering everything from conventional and CNC machining to grinding, lapping, honing, welding, hydraulic pressure testing and assembly with 15 CNC machine tools now in-situ on the shop floor. Among the latest additions is a Matsuura MX330 10-pallet five-axis machining centre. To drive this investment, Hi-Spec invested in CAM software from Open Mind Technologies.

Hi-Spec’s journey of investing in the latest technology and automation now sees the 10-employee business deploy two machinists across eight CNC machining centres and another two machinists on six turning centres, with the remaining six employees deployed in non-production tasks such as fabrication, inspection, stores and assembly. This lean business model has grown turnover by more than 40% in recent years without increasing staff numbers due to its ongoing investments.

As part of the investment trail, the company, which already has a four-axis pallet loaded Kitamura Mycenter and Hurco three and five-axis machines, needed to increase its five-axis capabilities. This led to the arrival of the Matsuura machine in the first quarter of 2022. Hi-Spec was already utilising a well-known three-axis CAM system that was sufficient for many of its machine tools, as well as the four-axis Kitamura. Simultaneously, the easy-to-use conversational programming on the five-axis Hurco only required occasional five-axis CAM programming. However, the existing CAM system was unreliable.

Alluding to this, Hi-Spec founder and managing director Darren Grainger recalls: “Our CAM system had very poor support and, on occasions, would crash or fail to boot-up. We managed for a while but, when we knew the Matsuura machine was due to arrive, we had to up our game on CAM software. We looked at a couple of packages and had some very insightful demos, but HyperMill jumped out at both my brother and me. We instantly felt comfortable with HyperMill, the demo showed its user-friendliness and functionality – it just seemed to click into place.”

Hi-Spec is renowned in the music industry for manufacturing custom precision-crafted electric guitars. Other components include hydraulic valves and cylinders through to equipment for the quarry and aggregate industry, producing anything from prototypes and small batches up to production runs of more than 10,000. With diversity in both component types and volumes, a five-axis solution with a powerful CAM system was a necessity.

The manufacturer acquired one seat of HyperMill a couple of weeks before the arrival of the Matsuura machine and has not looked back since.

“We had our training and set up the post-processors for all of our other machines too,” says Grainger. “There was a learning curve, but the Open Mind support team were fantastic. Initially, we may have called them 3-4 times a day, but nothing was too much trouble. Both the product and support from Open Mind team compared with our previous supplier is like comparing a Ford Model T with a Bugatti.”

With the company rapidly gaining familiarity with HyperMill, Hi-Spec is gradually rolling out the CAM system on its other machine tools.

“The strategies in HyperMill have drastically improved our cycle times and surface finishes,” states Grainger. “In addition, the strategies have reduced our cutting tool consumption and costs, freed more positions in the tooling carousels and enabled us to look at how we program jobs differently.”

Looking at some of the strategies, he adds: “An example of how we are programming parts differently is our use of five-axis cycles where we wouldn’t have considered them previously. This highlights the ease of use, our confidence in HyperMill and the benefits of the different strategies. For example, we’re now using the five-axis ‘Swarf Cutting Strategy’, which utilises the edge of a standard end mill to apply chamfers and forms. This is far easier than using 3+2 machining and, by creating multi-function use for standard tools, it reduces both our tooling inventory and the need for special or additional tools in the tooling carousel.”

As a company that is keen to adopt the latest strategies to improve productivity, Hi-Spec is also utilising barrel cutters. Open Mind says it is a trailblazer for CAM strategies for this technology.

“We’ve started using barrel tools and they are massively improving our cycle times with the increased step-overs when compared with ball-nose tools,” explains Grainger. “On a wedge-type component for rock crushing machinery, we’ve applied barrel tools in place of ball-nose cutters. On one particular feature, the ball-nose tool had a cycle time of 12 minutes, but by changing to the barrel tool we reduced this to less than 4 minutes, a 75% saving. Furthermore, the surface finish is significantly better. We previously had a cycle time of 45 minutes per part and the application of barrel tools and other strategies within HyperMill have cut this to less than 30 minutes.”

This impressive time saving is magnified by the company recently producing a batch of 200 parts with an additional 100 components in the pipeline.

Identifying a further impressive strategy, Grainger says: “Another feature we’re using is the ‘5-axis Drilling Strategy’. This interpolates the job around a tool so we can use a standard end mill to drill holes of any diameter. By rotating the part around the end mill, there’s no need for large drills and the associated costs of multiple drill sizes, plus we don’t need to drill pilot holes. In addition, it removes the number of required tools in the tooling carousel, giving us more freedom to maximise our tooling positions. Another benefit is that it’s more forgiving on the machine tool, as we don’t need to draw a lot of torque from the machine whereas large drills draw a lot of power.”

Overall, HyperMill has drastically reduced cycle times and improved throughput at Hi-Spec, while improving surface finishes and component quality. Furthermore, intuitive cycles have streamlined programming tasks, provided a new outlook on programming strategies, and simultaneously improved tool life, performance and reduced inventory.

“HyperMill has been excellent and the service from Open Mind is outstanding,” concludes Grainger. “Even the collision avoidance is remarkable. It shows everything in the cutting zone, from the work holding to the tool configuration, which gives us astounding confidence. In some instances, it is almost ‘too good’. For example, if we program an 8.7 mm diameter for an 8.5 mm hole due to a customer error on the drawing or model, HyperMill collision avoidance will identify the error as a collision. We’re delighted that we opted for HyperMill.”
For further information www.openmind-tech.com

Machine tending system for larger lathes

Occupying a footprint of only 12.5 sq m, the new Robo2Go Max from DMG Mori allows the easy and flexible automation of large lathes and turn-mill centres. The robotic system handles workpieces from 40 to 400 mm in diameter and weighing up to 115 kg – the maximum payload including gripper being 210 kg.

Robo2Go Max is based on a six-axis industrial robot housed in a safety enclosure that also contains a workpiece storage module. In the basic version, it can be loaded and unloaded quickly with two Euro pallets via a roller shutter door, either by forklift truck or by a DMG Mori driverless PH-AGV automated guided vehicle. Alternatively, users can wheel workpieces in and out on trolleys.

A vision system is available to detect the position of raw material and finished parts on the pallets. The system offers space for additional options such as alignment and turnover stations, which means that users can produce even the most complex workpieces autonomously.

A modular gripper provides flexibility in terms of handling a wide diversity of components. Regardless of the Robo2Go Max configuration, the control system and tool magazine of the respective turning centre remain freely accessible.

As with the smaller Robo2Go Turning, no robot programming knowledge is required to set up and operate the larger system. For uniform control of Robo2Go variants, DMG Mori has developed its own app that enables the creation of a production process based on predefined program blocks. The app has a multi-job function to allow placement of different components on one pallet or tray, suitable for producing small and medium batch sizes.
For further information www.dmgmori.com

Dugard delivers productivity gains for Special Bolt

As a manufacturer of fasteners with over 150 years of experience, Coventry-based Special Bolt can produce more than 100,000 pieces in a single day shift. This capacity has been boosted by the arrival of a Hanwha XE20 sliding head-turning centre from Dugard.

Tim Bayliss, managing director of Special Bolt, says: “The main reason we bought this machine was for capacity. We also needed something that would fit into our limited space. The Hanwha XE20 machine is the opposite hand to existing sliding-head machines, so it fitted perfectly. Our new Hanwha XE20 has the same versatility as other machines, but seems a lot smaller with a lot more punch.”

Producing components in various materials and in standard and bespoke sizes from 6 to 24 mm diameter, Special Bolt manufactures everything from locating flange screws, conrod bolts, striker pins, serrated shoulder studs, dome nuts, shear bolts, nyloc nuts, full hex nuts and many more variations that can be produced to customer specifications.

Referring to the diversity of the machine’s workload, Bayliss says: “It has enough power to do all of our different jobs. Some are easy, some are not, but if you don’t have the power, you can’t make the parts that your customers require.”

Looking at the work going through the machine, he adds: “If we’re making short parts and only doing a turning operation, we could be making a part every 20 seconds. Then, we could be producing a longer part that may have a cycle time of 6 or 7 minutes. It all depends on part complexity. However, it’s more about the fact that this Hanwha machine does all of the parts in a batch exactly the same – each and every time.”
For further information www.dugard.com

CMZ rewards customers after sales milestone

In July 2022 CMZ reached the milestone of selling 2000 machines from its TA series, and the company could not let this opportunity for a big celebration pass by. The fact that the TA series has become the best seller from CMZ’s entire range of products is testament to the build quality and specification of these machines. Offering three different bed lengths and multiple configuration options, the company says that TA series machines offer power, precision and high-level technical characteristics at a competitive price.

All models have integrated spindles, while driven-tool machines feature turrets with an integrated fully oil-cooled 12,000 rpm motor facilitating increased precision and a reduction in cycle times. Moreover, by adding a gantry robot loaders, it is possible to automate long and short batch runs. The TA series has hundreds of different configuration options to suit many applications.

Clearly, 2000 machines sold from the TA series means things are going well, and CMZ wanted to reward the trust placed in the company. For this, it prepared a package that included what it describes as “a unique and unforgettable experience”: the CMZ Box.

This experience speaks about who the company is: its home, culture, cuisine, passion and city. At the end of the day, CMZ is a family business with an international character: there are already 2000 TAs spread all over the world thanks to subsidiaries in France, Germany, Italy and the UK, as well as distributors on both sides of the Atlantic.

CMZ wants everyone to know who is going to enjoy this fabulous prize. So, without further ado, the winner of the CMZ Box prize draw is Fabbrica d’Armi Pietro Beretta, a privately held Italian firearms manufacturing company operating in several countries.
For further information www.cmz.com