AFRC announces 100th member

The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) has welcomed its 100th member with international aerospace specialist ATI Inc joining the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC) as a tie-one member. It marks the start of a collaboration in advanced engineering and materials science that will support sustainable air travel.

Based in Dallas, Texas, ATI is a major producer of materials to global aircraft engine manufacturers. The company has over 100 years of experience in creating superalloys that withstand extreme heat, pressure and corrosion. Access to the AFRC’s FutureForge facility will support ATI with the development of next-generation materials and processes.

More information www.nmis.scot

Toolmaker invests in high-speed machining

Located on the Ballymote Business Park in County Sligo, Ireland, Mito Precision Engineering provides a toolroom service to manufacturers in the medical device and automotive industries, as well as jigs and fixtures to the medical and pharmaceutical sectors. Since the company’s establishment by Malachy Towey and Michael Taheny in 2010, manufacturing capacity has steadily expanded and now encompasses surface grinding and EDM, in addition to turning and milling. Mito Precision mainly sources the latter machines from preferred supplier Hurco.

In total, the company operates 11 Hurco CNC machining centres and two Hurco CNC lathes. They range from early models of the compact VM10 milling centre to a TM8i turning centre purchased last year and the latest investment, a VMX42HSi vertical machining centre with 20,000 rpm HSK63A spindle. The combination of straightforward programming, robustness and high power make Hurco machine tools suitable for manufacturing one-off, often complex parts in tool steel or stainless steel.

Mito now has three different model variations of the Hurco VMX42. This 1-m X-axis machine offers 610 mm of Y-axis travel and the same in Z plus a table load capacity of 1750 kg, allowing the company to produce large mould tools. Recent design enhancements mean that direct drives are provided in X, Y and Z, and roller guideways support all axes for precise, rigid dynamics. The machine cabinet has full washdown in addition to the spindle coolant ring, while chip evacuation is via a swarf conveyor.

Attention to detail in the tools it supplies and ongoing investment in new machinery and technology underpin success at Mito Precision.

More information www.hurco.co.uk

Maximum precision for future of manufacturing

The world premiere of the DMG Mori DMU 85 monoBLOCK 2 Generation at the recent AMB exhibition in Stuttgart combines the proven machine concept of the previous series with numerous optimisations incorporated directly from the practical experience of users.

The latest generation of the versatile five-axis simultaneous machining centre sees the introduction of improved cooling measures and direct-driven ball screws that ensure a positioning accuracy of 5 µm. Importantly, the 5 kW cooling unit is integrated in such a way that the footprint of the DMU 85 monoBLOCK 2 Generation is kept to a minimum. Further advances include the integration of additional machining processes, such as the optional mill-turn table and grinding functionality.

A wide range of automation options and CELOS X as the basis for digitised production make the new series suitable for companies in the mould and die, aerospace, semiconductor and other demanding industries.

In order to cover the wide range of requirements in the numerous target sectors, DMG Mori says that the DMU 85 monoBLOCK 2 Generation modular system includes the widest range of spindles on the market: speedMASTER spindles with speeds of 30,000 rpm for high surface finish or powerMASTER spindles offering up to 430 Nm torque for heavy-duty titanium machining. MASTER series spindles come with a 36-month warranty. The tool magazine of the DMU 85 monoBLOCK 2 Generation offers 30 pockets as standard, expandable to 180 pockets.

With more than 6000 monoBLOCK machines on the market, DMG Mori attached great importance to the unrestricted compatibility of the series.

More information www.dmgmori.com

Window plant sees clearly with Filtermist

Steel window manufacturer Crittall has adopted the FX series of compact oil mist collection systems from Filtermist within the busy machining department of its production plant in Witham, Essex.

When making the transition to CNC machining from older punching and stamping technology, the company encountered the problem of coolant mist and fumes from the machine tools.

“We rapidly found that the factory was starting to mist up, making for an unpleasant workplace environment,” explains production director Darren Joyce. “Additionally, there was far too much coolant on our parts, which was creating even more fumes during downstream welding operations.”

He continues: “We wanted to revise the way we work with coolant and cutting fluid. One of the biggest challenges was moving away from the paper-type filters used on our type of machine tools. We needed to find something that would take the oil out of the air and deliver a cleaner working environment.”

Alluding to how the company started working with Filtermist, Joyce recalls: “We did a lot of investigation and spoke to several machine tool manufacturers, which brought us to Filtermist. Filtermist manufactures what is effectively a drum that centrifugally spins and removes oil from the air. We’ve now installed them in all of our CNC machining centres. Although the Filtermist FX5002 unit is successful in spinning oil out of the air, we’ve taken it a step further. With modification, we’re now recycling the oil and using it on our flood-based coolant machines, extending the service life of the oil.”

Crittall has gone from not knowing Filtermist to having 12 of its FX5002 units installed on its machining centres in less than a year.

More information www.filtermist.co.uk

Danfoss UK invests in three-machine FMS

A flexible manufacturing system (FMS) comprising three Makino A61nx horizontal four-axis machining centres is now in place at the Warwickshire factory of Danfoss UK. The machines are served by an AGV (automated guided vehicle) running on a linear track along a storage and retrieval system housing 32 machine pallets that are loaded and unloaded at two workstations. The company is a subsidiary of the global, Danish-owned manufacturer of mobile hydraulic and electro-hydraulic products, compressors and speed controls for electric motors.

Following its turnkey installation by NCMT, sole UK and Ireland agent for Makino, the FMS replaces stand-alone production centres used in the manufacture of prismatic components from steel and aluminium. The components are part of integrated manifolds for the mobile hydraulic industry.

The Makino machines offer a rigid, robust spindle capable of delivering both high speed and torque. Each HMC features a 313-tool magazine, minimising the need to replenish cutters between batch runs, despite the throughput of both high-mix and high-volume production. Danfoss can route any pallet with a fixtured component to any machine, limiting the amount of movement necessary and providing considerable flexibility and productivity. Machine utilisation is close to 100%, as there is always a part waiting for immediate presentation to one of the spindles.

The automated system allows the manufacturer to run the facility 24/5 and at weekends when necessary. Two operators manage the cell during each of two day shifts, followed by unattended operation from midnight until 06:00.

NCMT supplied applications engineering support throughout the project, ensuring the efficient transfer of programs from the previous machines to the new Makino models.

More information www.ncmt.co.uk