Universal blast automation

Guyson International has created a universal automated blast system that is based on the company’s existing Multiblast RSB.

The latest system incorporates roof-mounted servo drives to provide saturation coverage from the attached blast guns across the entire rotating table, thus delivering full blast coverage to all components. Guyson’s universal automated blast system is aimed at subcontractors or manufacturers processing a varied component mix of geometric sizes and shapes with a requirement for cosmetic finishing, shot peening, general deburring, paint removal or aerospace MRO cleaning.
Featuring a standard blast chamber dimension of 1500 mm (wide) by 1500 mm (deep) by 900 mm (high), the cabinet is fitted with a large front-opening door, allowing easy parts-loading access to a 1 m wide, painted steel turntable (polyurethane version available).
The Multiblast RSB comes with two Guyson model 900 guns as standard, each with its own individual pressure regulator, allowing optimum blast coverage of components on the table. This number can be increased to a maximum of eight guns if the blast application necessitates. A blast-nozzle holding clamp option enables the guns to be swapped out for cleaning, while retaining gun position, stand-off distance and angle. Automated post-blasting air wash is also provided, as standard, to remove any blast media residues and leave the parts clean for any subsequent processing.
For optimum component blast coverage, the machine can be provided with either horizontal or vertical servo-driven gun drives. Both offer 500 mm of traverse, either across the turntable for full saturation coverage or vertically stroking (up and down) taller components to provide uniform coverage as the part rotates on the turntable.
For further information www.guyson.co.uk

Turning centre brings pinpoint precision

When Pinstructure opened its doors for business in 1982, the business was little more than an ‘industrial shack’ producing clevis pins and dowels. However, investment in sliding-head turning centres from Tornos has helped the company to enter new market segments, manufacture new product lines and fulfil the potential of its current 28,000 sq ft factory.

Nowadays, the Redditch-based company manufactures and distributes keys, pins, clamps, fixings, springs, circlips, dowels and washers of all types in a huge variety of sizes and material types. With the increasing advent of bespoke customer requirements and increasingly complex product lines, the company invested in a second-hand sliding-head turning centre in the late 1990s. With the machine approaching the end of its service life almost 10 years ago, the company investigated the available options and opted for the Delta 20/4 turning centre from Tornos UK.
Commenting upon the purchase of the Tornos machine, Pinstructure’s technical director Mathew Tracey says: “We investigated numerous sliding-head suppliers, but Tornos stood head and shoulders above the rest. The quality, capability and value for money were the perfect match for what we needed. We got our guys trained on the Tornos and were instantly flying. The machine was initially used for machining dowels and taper pins in quantities from 100-off up to 10,000. We then started to produce clevis pins of all sizes and the machine afforded us the facility to offer our own range of product lines.”

Running alongside an existing and ageing sliding-head machine from a Japanese machine-tool manufacturer, the Worcestershire manufacturer realised the long-standing workhorse was coming to the end of its service life. This led Pinstructure to once again turn to Tornos for a viable solution.
Tracey recalls: “When we were looking for a second sliding-head turning centre, we went straight to Tornos. We wanted something that offered a quick and easy platform for programming and setting, like the Tornos Delta 20/4 with interchangeable tooling and collet configurations. Above all, the Tornos Delta 20/4 had been an extremely reliable and productive machine with great back up from the Tornos UK office for both service and applications; we didn’t see the need to look anywhere else.”
Pinstructure decided to invest in a Tornos CT20 turning centre.
“Our business was growing and the Delta machine was running around the clock,” says Tracey. “Unfortunately, our old machine wasn’t reliable and we knew its time was up. Some weeks, the Delta would be running 24/7 producing pins and relying on an old machine with reliability issues wasn’t feasible for a growing business. The arrival of the Tornos CT20 in 2018 gave us the absolute flexibility to make very small batch sizes, while also giving us the option to select the most suitable Tornos machine for each individual job.”

With upward of 1400 product lines, the 30-employee business manufactures vast ranges of fasteners, fixings and pins for the automotive and aerospace industries, mostly from materials such as stainless, hardened steels and exotic alloys.
“Although the Delta 20/4 machine initially gave us the reliability and productivity to move parts from an ageing machine, the new CT20 has not only provided added capacity, it has given us the flexibility to move small batch work from our manual machining section. This has really boosted productivity, precision, consistency and reduced our manual workload.
“As a business, we have grown by an average of 10% year-on-year for the past 5-6 years and the Tornos Delta has played a considerable role in this growth and diversification,” continues Tracey. “What the CT20 has done is protected our company from losing business, while also winning new orders from Europe, India and Asia. This influx of new work is the result of us being able to offer more competitive prices at significantly reduced lead times when compared to overseas competitors.”
From a programming perspective, the family-run business is utilising the Tornos TISIS programming platform extremely effectively.
“We have an apprentice learning the ropes with the TISIS package and his work is being confirmed by our skilled programmer,” says Tracey. “The TISIS system is very easy to use and we are continually building a portfolio of component programmes. Using the TISIS library feature where we can save repetitive and complex operations to use in new or existing programs helps to speed up the programming times of both simple and more complex parts. Ultimately, once we have a comprehensive library it will be a case of just downloading programs to the machines ‘as and when’ repeat orders arrive. As our business moves forward, we’ll be investigating the many avenues of opportunity that lie within the Tornos TISIS suite.

“Looking to the future, Pinstructure has enthusiastic employees that are supported by a young and forward-thinking management structure,” he concludes. “With an energetic and innovative team from shop floor to top floor, we have ambitious expansion plans in place with opportunities for significant growth. Who knows, we may not stop at two
Tornos machines.”
For further information www.tornos.com

Vgrind takes automation to next level

Vollmer has introduced a host of automation solutions for its Vgrind 360 tool grinder.

As the successor to the Vgrind 160, the Vgrind 360 tool-grinding machine is equipped with enhanced travel distances to manufacture carbide tools up to a diameter of 100 mm. Thanks to its two vertical spindles, the Vgrind 360 also allows tried-and-tested multi-level machining.
This capability enables tool manufacturers to produce large numbers of milling cutters and drills quickly and precisely. However, manufacturers are increasingly demanding automated tool production and this is where Vollmer says it really excels.
Automated solutions, such as pallet magazines, wheel changing packages and free-arm robots allow machining to continue unsupervised around the clock – but the opportunities go much further. The optional wheel changing facility on the Vgrind 360 provides the potential for manufacturers to load up to eight grinding wheel packages.
Accommodating grinding wheels up to 150 mm diameter, the wheel changer is located outside the work envelope in a clean environment to prevent contamination. This fully automated process can change a wheel and the respective coolant nozzles in just 9 seconds on either spindle.
Committed to providing its customers with a complete automation solution, Vollmer has also developed its HP160, HC4 and HPR250 automation packages to demonstrate the complete range of opportunities for end users.
The HP160 pallet magazine and HC4 chain magazine are compact and ergonomic solutions that provide external loading and unloading with a single or double gripper configuration
for clamping tool shanks up to 25.4 mm diameter. Loading can be by either the HC4 chain magazine system for tools up to HSK-A63 or the HPR 250 free-arm robot system.
For further information www.vollmer-group.com

Service centre

Automation expert Bosch Rexroth has recently made a significant investment in its UK service and repair centre, resulting in a facility with higher capacity, faster throughput and state-of-the-art technology.

The new workshop, which specialises in the repair of hydraulic products, is based at the company’s UK headquarters in Cambridgeshire and opened officially on 13 August. Including planning phases, the project has taken two years. The new facility will double both the size and the repair capacity of the previous workshop.
For further information www.boschrexroth.com

ITC installs another Anca tool grinder

Thanks to continued growth, Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC) has taken delivery of an MX7 Linear grinding centre from Anca.

The MX7 Linear is the fourth Anca grinding centre acquired by ITC and the fifth such machine to arrive since the company extended its manufacturing facility by over 50% in 2016.
Able to process tools up to 300 mm long, with diameters up to 200 mm, the MX7 Linear uses Anca LinX linear motors and scales. LinX linear motors are said to offer higher axis speeds and acceleration, leading to reduced cycle times, while maintaining smoother axis motion. In addition, the machine has a permanent magnetic spindle that provides high torque at lower speeds, which is particularly important for carbide grinding.
Regarding precision, the Anca MX7 Linear incorporates a bi-symmetrical gantry design. Evenly straddling the tool centre line, the gantry delivers rigidity and resistance to thermal growth, while keeping vibration to a minimum. In addition, the MX7 Linear has been specified with automatic in-process measurement and compensation. The LaserPlus built-in laser probe measures tool geometries to within ±2 µm or less.
With respect to productivity, the latest arrival at ITC incorporates Anca’s FastLoad-MX automation system. The FastLoad-MX automation system uses the existing machine axes to ensure a compact design with a small footprint. Loader movements are kept simple, making it suitable for ITC to undertake the grinding of tools in small batch sizes.
This high-performance addition will enable ITC to increase its capacity and meet growing demand for its range of solid-carbide round tooling.
For further information www.itc-ltd.co.uk