New face at XYZ Machine Tools

XYZ Machine Tools has announced the appointment of Mark Chappell to the role of mechanical engineering manager, where he will be responsible for process and product development involving internal procedures and working closely with XYZ’s network of suppliers. He will also work with machine suppliers to develop products and drive continuous improvement, which will lead to benefits for XYZ customers through cost-down initiatives.

Chappell brings with him experience gained working both in industry and academia, spending 11 years at Renishaw, where he held production engineering and customer training positions. He ultimately managed the Renishaw subsidiary in India, where he undertook sales and service related roles. Most recently Chappell worked at the University of Bath on aerospace engineering projects, acting as an interface between various academic and industrial partners.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Over 12,000 expected at Expo Manufactura 2018

The 22nd edition of the most important manufacturing event in Mexico, Expo Manufactura, is set to get underway on 6-8 February. Last year, over 330 exhibitors (91 from overseas) presented their products and services to around 12,400 visitors, and similar if not higher numbers are expected in 2018.

Taking place at the Cintermex venue in Monterrey, among the special areas at this year’s show are automation and robotics, additive manufacturing, medical manufacturing and plastics manufacturing. The LA Times recently reported that “Mexico is in the throes of a manufacturing boom”, with exports jumping 13% since 2012. The country has also climbed to become the world’s seventh largest producer of cars. MTI will once again be among the exhibitors at Expo Manufactura, where the team will be busy handing out copies of the show issue to all visitors interested in acquiring machine tools and associated equipment.
For further information www.expomanufactura.com.mx

High-accuracy mill-turning of forging dies

The need for Krenhof AG, an Austrian forgings manufacturer, to produce an increasing number of modular dies for the automotive industry has led to the purchase of two Alzmetall mill-turn centres equipped with Heidenhain TNC 640 controls. They are the first first-axis machining centres in the Köflach factory and were purchased along with a new CAM system.

Franz Krammer, toolmaking manager at Krenhof, says: “Customers in the automotive industry want the 10,000th forging to look exactly like the first, so quality as well as price is increasingly important. One factor helping us to maintain high standards is our use of modular carriers with replaceable die inserts, enabling optimum tools to be used in our forging process to guarantee precision. The universality of the Heidenhain TNC 640 CNC system is also important in achieving top quality standards, as it controls both milling and turning operations on the machining centres.
“Dynamic, precise motion control provided by the TNC 640 CNC exploits the potential of the machine to the full,” he continues. “The control is also convenient to use. Downloading the NC program from the CAM system, for example, is quick and easy via Heidenhain’s TNCremo Windows-based communication software.”
The TNC 640 simplifies the structuring of sub-routines, allowing complex programs to be assembled and run. Krenhof’s young team found no difficulty programming on the shop floor in Heidenhain’s Klartext conversational language. The operators are particularly keen on the availability of numerous canned cycles, such as those for drilling, which are simply and quickly parameterised.
For further information www.heidenhain.co.uk

CAM system saves time and money at Knarr

The 190-employee Knarr Group, located in Helmbrechts, Germany, is a tool and mould maker that manufactures standard parts through to complete mould bases using the HyperMill CAM system from Open Mind Technologies.

Head of department Marco Mergner highlights the importance of HyperMill to the business: “HyperMill not only meets our requirements but plays a decisive role in ensuring that we keep pace and continue to develop. The technical performance of the individual machining cycles with options for multi-axis and five-axis machining, deep-hole drilling, automation and measurement technology, is and remains a decisive factor. Another factor is the user-friendliness of the system, plus the service offered by Open Mind.”
Today, the Knarr Group has a double-digit number of HyperMill licences in various departments. Employees use the software to program mould plates, which can include complex features and freeform surfaces. The mould plates are often machined complete from six sides in two set-ups.
Knarr has demonstrated the significant benefits offered by the tangent machining strategies within HyperMill’s MAXX Machining package using conical barrel cutters at a number of recent invitation events. For this purpose, the company constructed a 96 mm-thick mould plate with a rectangular, conical breakthrough featuring a 1 mm corner radius. Mergner and his team used all three modules from the MAXX Machining package for complete processing on a five-axis DMG machining centre.
“Typically, line-by-line milling with a ball mill would have taken 12 hours, but using the CAM strategy and conical barrel cutter we were finished in just 60 minutes and still achieved optimum surface quality, even in the corners,” concludes Mergner.
For further information www.openmind-tech.com

Edgecam 2018 reduces regeneration time

Major enhancements to the 2018 R1 release of Edgecam from Vero Software include time saving updates to roughing cycles for milling, turning and mill-turn machining, and the prevention of unnecessary CAM regeneration. It is the latter update which is seen as being the most important for manufacturers. When a user makes an edit to an existing command, Edgecam 2018 R1 will not automatically regenerate the remaining instructions, so long as it does not affect the corresponding cycles with regard to factors such as coolant or speed.

Among the notable new items of functionality in Edgecam’s roughing cycle is ‘detect undercut stock’, which enhances the stock detection command by analysing previously undetected areas of stock. This option helps to avoid ‘fresh-air’ cutting, reducing machining time in some cases by up to half, says the company.
Furthermore, Edgecam’s Waveform Roughing Strategy has been updated to give machinists the ability to determine the radius size when using the helical approach option, simply by entering maximum and minimum values that aid the tool’s entry into the component.
Automatic collision detection is among other additions to the rough-turning cycle. In previous versions of the software it was necessary to manually apply profile extensions to avoid collisions. This new function can also be used to produce safer toolpaths in the software’s ‘Strategy Manager’.
The profiling cycle used in both milling and turning now has two new items of functionality. A ‘spring cuts’ field has been added to the multi-passes tab, which means tool deflection can be removed where necessary, by adding extra neutral passes, known as spring passes. This feature will be used typically when machining hard materials, as repeating the profile pass can result in improved accuracy and surface finish.
For further information www.edgecam.com