A one-day seminar and open house on the manufacturing of gears will be held at NCMT’s Coventry technical centre and showroom on 9 July.

Various production methods will be demonstrated on Japanese-built Makino and Okuma machining centres, as well as on one of the latter’s multi-tasking turn-mill machines.
Methods covered will include hobbing, power skiving and ‘InvoMilling’, which is capable of producing different gears using the same standard machine platform. Gear grinding will also feature, involving the use of NCMT’s proprietary EasyGear grinding software. Wire-cut and die-sink production solutions demonstrated on Makino EDM equipment, will be among further highlights.
The main message during the event will be the flexibility, productivity and relatively low investment cost offered by producing external and internal gear types on five-axis machining centres, multi-tasking lathes and EDM machines, coupled with short lead-times, and high levels of accuracy and repeatability.
A further focus will be the inspection of gears to verify their accuracy. Measurement will be performed in-cycle via a touch probe on an Okuma Multus multi-tasking lathe, supported by off-line inspection on a Hexagon Metrology Leitz CMM equipped with Quindos software.
Completing the exhibits will be an automated system configured for gear-blank production based on an Okuma Genos L3000 lathe fitted with a Cellro robotic system for automatically loading billets and unloading components.
Proceedings will include guest speakers such as Dr David Curtis, senior technical fellow from the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, and Dr Rob Frazer, head of the gear design unit at Newcastle University, who will be present on behalf of the British Gear Association.
For further information www.ncmt.co.uk

Vollmer has further optimised the machining processes for PCD (polycrystalline diamond) tools produced on its QXD 250 erosion machine.

With the company’s new performance package, Vollmer is reducing machining time and therefore increasing the efficiency of the QXD 250, largely through seamless interaction between generator technology, process parameters, gap evaluation and drive technology. The company is offering a new payment model for the package, which can be individually adapted to customer requirements.
With the QXD 250, different PCD tools can be sharpened accurately in a single set-up. The VPulse EDM generator technology ensures high surface quality at maximum material removal rates. In addition to the software available for PCD tools with inserts, the ExLevel Pro software permits hybrid sharpening (eroding and grinding) of cylindrical slugs with sintered or soldered-in PCD to produce drills, mills and reamers.
Vollmer can retrofit the package, consisting of a software and hardware component, on any QXD 250 that is being used by a customer. Implementation is performed on-site by a service technician, who checks the machine’s condition and technical requirements. Vollmer’s service also includes a test phase, during which users can test the efficiency of the performance package for their application areas on the QXD 250 without high costs or risk.
The performance package is one of the first products from Vollmer’s new V@dison digital initiative, which aims to integrate the company’s grinding and erosion machines in an IoT environment in order to help tool manufacturers implement their Industry 4.0 projects.
For further information www.vollmer-group.com

AgieCharmilles CUT P 350/550/800/1250 machines from GF Machining Solutions are said to house efficient digital power generators, robust designs and intuitive HMIs, as well as several automation options for lights-out and unattended operations.

Featuring proprietary Intelligent Power Generator (IPG) technology, the EDMs deliver surface finishes to Ra 0.10 µm and boost cutting speeds by up to 20% over previous models. Several of the company’s ‘Expert’ systems further optimise the cutting performance of the generators, especially in challenging applications.
The Power-Expert software module, for instance, monitors and changes power levels when the machine is cutting parts with variable heights. Power-Expert thus protects components from unstable conditions while the machine maintains high cutting speeds. Simultaneously, this system controls the spark parameters during finishing operations to provide high-quality surface finishes on variable-height parts.
Regardless of workpiece height, the Wire-Expert system dynamically controls wire wear to achieve continuous and consistent geometrical accuracy from all directions, says the company. For part profile accuracy, Profil-Expert automatically adapts the machining parameters and cut path for rough and skim passes to provide control of fine details, and ensure positioning and contour accuracies of ±2 µm.
Taper-Expert technology cuts angles from 0 to 30° (45° as an option) to maximum Z heights. The system corrects shifts of the Z-reference position in real time, even when the taper angle is changing. In addition, the taper angle is held to within 10 seconds on average, providing taper accuracy and geometry reference accuracy throughout the taper cut.
For further information www.gfms.com