Schunk set to invest €85m

Schunk is preparing for the next step of its global growth, with around €85m set to be invested at locations in Brackenheim-Hausen, Mengen and St Georgen in Germany, along with Morrisville in the US, by mid-2020.

DCIM100MEDIAYUN00022.jpg

The move will create around 42,000 sq m of additional production and administration space. The process started with the US plant in North Carolina, where the new buildings were officially handed over a few weeks ago. As well as expanding the production area, Schunk Intec USA created a generous new administrative building that, through its open architecture, encourages and inspires creativity and lateral thinking.
In addition, €40m is being put into the Competence Centre for Gripping Systems in Brackenheim-Hausen, just 5km from Schunk’s headquarters in Lauffen. The expansion will cover an area of 22,000 sq m and represents a doubling of the existing production area. Schunk is also investing another €30m in the Competence Centre for Lathe Chuck Technology and Stationary Workholding in Mengen, in the district of Sigmaringen. Here, 12,000 sq m will be added for production, research and development. Finally, €5m will be invested at the St Georgen site in the Black Forest, where the production area will double with an increase of 4200 sq m.
For further information www.schunk.com

Next-generation tangential shoulder mills

New from Kennametal is the next generation of the company’s Mill 4-12KT tangential shoulder mill, which is designed to produce high-quality surface finishes in nearly all steel and cast-iron applications.

“Our Mill 4-12KT uses 15% lower cutting forces, an important consideration with today’s lighter duty, 40-taper machine tools,” says Tim Marshall, senior global product manager. “That allows customers to feed faster without putting additional stress on the spindle. And in long overhang situations, or where the part fixture is less than optimal, lower forces equate to less chatter, reduced edge chipping and smoother surface finishes.”
The tangentially mounted inserts with four cutting edges per insert deliver reduced tooling costs. Seven corner radii from 0.4 to 3.1 mm are available, as well as medium and coarse pitch cutter bodies from 50 to 200 mm in diameter (with through-coolant). Offering an axial depth of cut range from 0.5 to 12 mm, the tool covers most shoulder milling applications.
A number of factors contribute to significant performance increases, even in aggressive cutting conditions. For instance, the tangential ‘on-edge’ insert design allows the insert to take advantage of the strength of the carbide thickness, more so than radially mounted inserts found on traditional milling cutters. In addition, a shallow pocket design permits the core size
of the cutter body to be sufficiently robust.
For further information www.kennametal.com

Vibration-damping system boosts surface finish

For those looking to reduce or prevent vibrations that occur during machining, Mapal has developed a special damping system that is located in the main shank of the tool.

The system is said to provide advantages such as improved surface finish, better accuracy, reduced machining noise and extended tool life.
Cutting tools for boring and milling with very long projection lengths tend to vibrate due to insufficient dynamic rigidity. When designing new tool-holding systems, Mapal product developers took into account all factors arising from the interaction of the machine tool, the cutting tool, the type of clamping and the part. The result is a system for vibration damping that is matched to the stiffness of all common machine types, and can be used for cutting different types of materials with a variety of tools.
Mapal’s self-contained system of auxiliary mass and several steel spring packages, counteracts and minimises tool-body deflection. Vibration in the system can be up to 1,000 times lower compared with tools that are not supported by the absorber system, which helps to improve surface finish. When milling case hardened steel (16MnCr5) with a 250 mm long combination of arbor and cutter with ISO indexable inserts (50 mm diameter) featuring five edges, the Rz value was halved from 7.8 to 3.9 µm (3 mm depth of cut) compared with the same tool system minus vibration damping.
Mill arbors with vibration damping in the shank are available from Mapal with internal coolant supply for clamping diameters of 16, 22 and 27 mm, with a length of 200 or 300 mm. At present, these tool-holding adaptors are available for SK40, SK50, HSK-A63 and HSK-A100 connections.
For further information www.mapal.com

MTC named lead auditor for UK robotics

The Coventry-based Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) has been appointed a lead auditor by the British Automation and Robot Association (BARA), the trade body which aims to promote the use of robotics in British Industry.

MTC will have lead responsibility for auditing UK robot integrators seeking certification from BARA, and engineers from across the High Value Manufacturing Catapult centres will be available to support the scheme. The audit will ensure that UK companies are qualified to integrate robotics into a production line.
For further information www.the-mtc.org

Digital mash-up

The Engineering Digital Mash-Up hosted at Yamazaki Mazak in Worcester on 27 June, is a meeting of up to 100 engineering, manufacturing and technology companies, along with digital providers and engineering students.

Put together through a partnership between the Manufacturing Technologies Association (MTA) and the Worcestershire LEP, the free-of-charge Engineering Digital Mash-Up will show SMEs what tools and projects are available, how they can help, which tools are free and the cost of others, as well as how to access them.
For further information https://is.gd/urajiw