Coborn relies on Kaydon bearings

Coborn Engineering, which designs and manufactures specialised CNC grinding, polishing and lapping machines for the diamond tooling and gemstone industries, is taking advantage of Kaydon bearings from RA Rodriguez to help boost the performance of its Planetary Grinding (PG) series machines. In this extremely high-precision application, Kaydon bearings are an essential element of the machine, allowing users to process diamond cutting tools to radius form waviness levels of 50 nm (0.00005 mm).

The latest version of the PG series, the PG6, is an automatic, ultra-high precision grinding machine for processing natural or synthetic SCD tools. Coborn’s PG6 is a world-first engineering solution that relies on high-quality bearings for the precision manufacture of controlled waviness and complex geometry tools.

To verify the performance of its PG6 machines, Coborn performs a TRC [tool radius check], which is essentially a microscope with image analysis software to measure tool radius and radius waviness.

“The system generates custom-designed QC graphical data sheets that we can then supply with the associated tool,” explains Bullman. “Our PG Series machines generate waviness values of sub 50 nm, which is market leading. The bearings are a key part of the machine, allowing users to process diamond tooling to these accuracies.”

RA Rodriguez supplies Coborn with Kaydon KD series high-precision, angular contact, preloaded bearings in duplex (back-to-back) configuration. Each Coborn PG machine requires a pair of these 7-inch diameter bearings. The company has been a customer of RA Rodriguez for the past 22 years and has been using Kaydon KD series bearings since 2013.

Concludes Bullman: “We are a very well established customer of RA Rodriguez and appreciate their high-quality products and the support offered over the years, which continues to this day.”

For further information
www.rarodriguez.co.uk

NMIS and Boeing open R&D facility

The National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) and the world’s largest aerospace company, Boeing, have officially opened a new research and development (R&D) facility in Westway Park, Renfrewshire. At over 60,000 sq ft, the new NMIS facility incorporates the Metallics Research Centre with Boeing, which will see the delivery of the aerospace giant’s £11.8m R&D programme in collaboration with the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), part of the NMIS Group.

Aiming to reduce materials waste and identify opportunities that improve safety, productivity and the environmental impact of its aircraft, technical teams from Boeing and NMIS are exploring novel manufacturing technologies for metallic components, building on over a decade’s worth of R&D with the University of Strathclyde and the AFRC, where Boeing is a founding partner. The new R&D facility will house cutting-edge manufacturing equipment for use across NMIS projects.

For further information www.nmis.scot

Successful EMO exhibition

EMO Milano 2021 drew to a close on 9 October with organisers, exhibitors and visitors all agreeing that the show was a resounding success. Over 700 exhibitors from 34 countries participated, around 60% from outside Italy. Six halls covering 100,000 sq m hosted over 3500 machines, representing a value exceeding half a billion euros.

Among the exhibitors was MTI magazine, which handed out print copies of its MTI show issue to EMO visitors. Heading up the MTI team at EMO was sales director Giovanni Cerrinaferoni, a native Italian speaker who welcomed a continuous stream of interested visitors to the stand, all looking to discover more about the industry’s most effective way of buying and selling machine tools. A big thank you to everyone who called by the MTI stand for a chat. The photo shows Gio with Laurent Müller, an MTI client based in Switzerland.

For further information www.mtimagazine.com

41% more apprentices

Make UK has welcomed the latest cohort of 170 engineering apprentices to its Technology Hub in Aston, Birmingham – a 41% year-on-year increase in its intake. The apprentices, who will be studying a range of courses from Level 2 Welding Operator to Level 3 Engineering Technician, will spend the next 12 months with Make UK, learning the technical side of their chosen specialism, as well as other areas like health and safety and time management, before returning to their employers, which include companies such as Severn Trent, Jaguar Land Rover, Ibsock, Forterra and Ishida.

For further information
www.makeuk.org

Mills suit various machine conditions

Widia is releasing the M1600 face mill for roughing to semi-finishing operations in steel, stainless steel, cast iron and nodular iron materials. With 16 cutting edges and a novel insert design, the M1600 performs in various machining conditions, including low-power machines, unstable set ups, long overhangs, weak machines or weak fixtures.

The precision-ground insert with a positive geometry enables low cutting forces and low power consumption, resulting in higher tool life and low cost per edge. Widia’s M1600 has one universal insert geometry in three versatile grades: WP35CM, WK15CM and WU20PM.

The WP35CM grade targets all types of steels, while the WK15CM grade is for cast-iron materials and performs best in dry applications, but can also be used wet. The universal WU20PM grade is for the machining of steel, stainless steel and high-temperature alloys in both dry and wet applications.

Notably, the ‘smart’ insert design features a seating surface below the cutting edge that promotes smooth chip flow and reduces cutting forces on the tool. The insert also has a curved cutting edge and is axially positive, resulting in reduced power consumption. These key design features, coupled with 16 cutting edges, make M1600 an economical face milling option.

M1600 face mills are available in six metric diameter ranges between 50 and 160 mm. Inch diameters will follow shortly. Orders for the M1600 bodies and inserts, as well as other Widia tooling, can be placed through Widia’s authorised distribution partners.

For further information
www.widia.com