Live cutting

Visitors to the 200 sq m stand of Haas (hall 19, stand 570), will be able to see cutting demonstrations on eight CNC machine tools, including: high-speed vertical machining centres; five-axis high-speed machines; mid-sized verticals designed to take big cuts; high-productivity turning centres with live tooling and Y-axis capability; small-footprint mini-mill and tool-room machines; and, making
its UK debut, the Modular Mini Mill.

With a capacity of 406 x 305 x 254 mm and a standard 10-tool ATC, the Modular Mini-Mill houses 40-taper performance into a footprint of 2 sq m. Optional modules can be added for extra flexibility. For example, the coolant module is designed to prolong tool life, aid swarf clearance and achieve better finishes. The production module features a faster spindle and increased rapids. In addition, the high-productivity software module adds macros, spindle orientation, Wi-Fi, rigid tapping, visual programming, co-ordinate rotation and scaling, while the four-axis module runs a rotary table
or indexer.
For further information www.haas.co.uk

Machining systems

Much of the focus on the stand of Emmegi (hall 7, stand 350) will be on the Tekna 944 CNC machining centre with mobile gantry.

This four-axis machine, designed for drilling, milling and threading on aluminium or steel sections, features a high-torque electro-spindle that moves along the A axis, machining on three faces through a full 180°. A clamp unit ensures the correct positioning of sections, while counter blocks can be mounted to introduce more machine versatility. The Tekna 944-4 comes with a choice of four- or 12-piece tool magazine, and is compatible with Renishaw probes.
For further information www.emmegi.com

Major developments from XYZ

XYZ Machine Tools (hall 18, stand 640) will have several exhibition firsts on its stand, including two major developments in
the company’s product range, details of which will be announced closer to the show. The key machine debuts will be the recently announced LR and HD vertical machining centre ranges, along with XYZ’s UMC-5X five-axis machining centre.

The UMC-5X gantry-style simultaneous five-axis machining centre is available with either the Siemens 840DSL ShopMill or Heidenhain iTNC 640 HSCI control systems, which offer traori (transformation orientation)/kinematic functions respectively during five-axis simultaneous machining for improved accuracy. A full 500 mm of Y-axis travel forward of the table is available when it is rotated 90° towards the rear (component facing forward), allowing larger workpieces to be machined in comparison to many competitor models, says XYZ.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Five-axis machining protection

CGTech (hall 17, stand 626) will showcase the latest version (V8.1) of its Vericut machine simulation, verification and optimisation software.

A key focus for the exhibition will be the time savings that can be achieved using Vericut, particularly regarding the prove-out of new components. Vericut not only simulates all common machine tool brands, including DMG Mori, Mazak, Makino, Matsuura, Hermle, Chiron, Starrag, WFL and Nakamura-Tome, but optimises the CAM program to modify feed rates, thus making the tool path faster and more efficient.
For further information www.cgtech.co.uk

Future of British manufacturing

Autodesk (hall 17, stand 600) will be sharing its vision of the ‘Future of British Manufacturing’ at MACH with the 2019 releases of CAM software products that include Autodesk PowerMill and Autodesk FeatureCAM.

Customer image showing the RAMLAB additive manufacturing project at the Port of Rotterdam, Netherlands. RAMLAB enables metal parts on demand. Shown is a ship’s propeller created for the project using the new ‘hybrid manufacturing’ technique.

Visitors can hear more on the main stage (12 April) at the MACH Conference centre, where Asif Moghal, senior industry manager at Autodesk, will be presenting on the Future of British Manufacturing initiative, a collaboration between UK industrial organisations. Visitors to the stand will be able to view a scaled-down sample of a propeller manufactured using PowerMill additive technology.
For further information www.autodesk.com