Studer’s new SmartJet concept supplies a precisely controlled flow of coolant to the grinding wheel, saving costs and increasing sustainability in production.

On many grinding machines it is the operator’s task to manually control the cooling of the grinding process. He or she must position the nozzles correctly and operate the ball valve by hand. A pump then transports the cooling lubricant to the grinding process location. Often, this uses more coolant than necessary or the nozzles lack optimal positioning, which is bad for efficiency and the environment. Studer says it is breaking new ground with its patented SmartJet concept.

From now on, cooling will be the responsibility of the machine control unit. The central components are a frequency-controlled pump and a dynamic pressure measuring unit. This concept makes it possible to set the volume flow precisely to suit the process, whether for roughing, fine grinding or finishing. The coolant flows through a distributor piece and flow-optimised, adjustable nozzles to the grinding wheel.

“Our new concept guarantees precise and reproducible cooling,” emphasises Martin Habegger, project manager. “We create a consistent jet of coolant with a high exit velocity in the range of 12 to 20 m/s, which effortlessly overcomes the air movement caused by the wheel.”

As a result, process reliability improves and less coolant is required to produce equivalent grinding outcomes.

In conclusion, SmartJet not only accelerates set-up time for users, it also enables them to grind significantly more efficiently and sustainably.

“It reduces water consumption by 40% and energy requirements by up to 50%,” states Habegger, before adding: “SmartJet makes a significant contribution to making machining more eco-friendly.”
For further information www.studer.com

The new Vollmer CSF860 side grinding machine and CS860 face and top grinding machine both made their worldwide exhibition premiere at the GrindingHub exhibition in May, superseding the company’s CHD 270 and CHF 270 saw blade processing machines.

“The base, the housing and many other elements are completely different to before, but components that have proven their stability and accuracy over many years remain,” explains product manager Thomas Wenger. “We’ve designed both new machines with the same kinematics, housing, structure and polymer concrete base, so we can have a modular foundation. This makes the machine easier for the operator to handle as there is greater synergy between the CS and CSF machines, creating uniformity with regard to loading, setting-up, ergonomics and programming.”

He adds: “This uniformity of technology was our target, adopting the same CNC, operating philosophy and the latest drive technology. In the past, we used some servomotors with standard synchronous motors. Now, all motors, grinding spindles and axes are servo-driven. We have seven motors on the CSF side grinder and eight on the CS face and top grinder. This includes linear CNC axes plus three CNC grinding spindles on the face/topper and two CNC grinding spindles on the side grinder. The servo-driven grinding spindles provide a higher quality saw blade and we can now conduct different in-feed and cutting speed rates on each tooth. This improves the surface quality of the cutting edge and brings more flexibility into the grinding process.”

With any new concept, the team at Vollmer aims to achieve four key delivery parameters for customers: increased flexibility, productivity, reliability and quality.

“We met the goals by creating more stable processes in the new machines to provide better grinding results at the cutting edge,” says Wenger.
For further information www.vollmer-group.com

Thanks to the efficiency of the Tschudin Cube 350 centreless grinding machine, Como Industries has quintupled the output of pin gauges with very small diameters.

“It changes our way of working completely,” states Sophie Demesse, CEO of Como Industries.

Headquartered in Courbevoie near Paris, the company produces pin gauges, hydraulic nuts and other high-accuracy parts for well-known customers such as Airbus, Michelin, Thales Group and Safran.

“On the old machine, we needed five hours to manufacture 100 pin gauges of very small diameter to a tolerance of 1.5 µm,” explains Demesse. “With the Cube 350 we need only one hour – a huge productivity leap.”

The new grinding machine convinces not only with speed, but also with its optimised quality.

“Before, we were not able to reach the same kind of precision when it comes to diameters between 10 and 20 mm,” she says. “Thanks to the Cube 350, we no longer need an extra finishing step, which boosts our efficiency. For us, it’s important to stay one step ahead of our competition in Europe, but also in Asia. The co-operation with Tschudin allows us to do so.”

The grinding experts of Tschudin AG and the team of Como Industries will take part in the AMB exhibition in Stuttgart on 13-17 September. Visitors can inquire about the successful co-operation, exchange views with Demesse, Tschudin shareholder Urs Tschudin and CEO Iwan von Rotz, and of course witness the compact, award-winning, three-axis CNC centerless grinding machine on stand 5 in hall 5C11. In addition, Tschudin will exhibit another Cube 350 with robot and a 400 ecoLine centreless grinding machine.
For further information www.tschudin.swiss