The tool-making division of Gateshead-based TDX, which supplies services and tools to the thin-film plastic thermoforming industry, mainly for food packaging applications, has started to automate its machine shop. The latest purchase is a German-built Hermle five-axis machining centre with a 20-pallet storage system installed by UK agent Kingsbury, which is now working 24/7.

Two members of the management buyout team that purchased TDX in 2013, Neil Atkinson and David Renton, were especially pleased to progress the investment. Five-axis machining was usually the bottleneck at the 24,000 sq ft tool-making facility, and it normally fell to the two directors to go into the factory two or three times on both Saturday and Sunday to change over five non-automated five-axis machining centres.
Since the Hermle C250 with linked HSFlex automated pallet change system entered production, weekend visits have been unnecessary. Each aluminium thermoforming mould billet is pre-machined on one face and then milled on the other five sides internally and externally in one operation in from four to six hours. So 20 pallets equates to an average of 100 hours’ machining on the Hermle, which is more than enough to keep the production cell busy non-stop from Friday afternoon to Monday morning.
Atkinson says: “The automated milling cell has not only eliminated manual intervention at weekends, but requires minimal attendance during the week, releasing the operator for other tasks. We approached six potential suppliers, all of which carried out machining trials. Kingsbury demonstrated the fastest cycle time on the Hermle, approximately 10% quicker than the best of the others. Surface finish was also better.”
For further information www.kingsburyuk.com

Underlining its commitment to the British machine-tool industry, Yamazaki Mazak has launched its latest simultaneous five-axis machining centre – the CV5-500 – which will be the only machine in its class to have been completely conceived, designed and built in the UK. The CV5-500, which is currently being manufactured at Mazak’s Worcester plant, is being marketed at a highly competitive price point, making it suited to subcontractors, start-ups and job shops.

Mazak’s versatile five-axis machine features a high-rigidity bridge construction and a fully supported travelling trunnion table.
“While the numbers of British machine-tool builders have dwindled over time, Mazak has continued to invest in its UK R&D and production facilities,” says Alan Mucklow, managing director UK & Ireland sales and service division at Yamazaki Mazak. “The CV5-500 is the latest in a long line of Mazak machines to have been fully designed and built in Britain.”
Mazak’s CV5-500 features a newly designed constant overhang headstock to maintain machining rigidity, even at the full extent of the Z-axis stroke. The machine is equipped with a 12,000 rpm spindle offering 18.5 kW and 119.4 Nm, making it suitable for a range of materials. An optional 18,000 rpm spindle, which includes core cooling through the X-, Y- and Z-axis ball-screws, is available for high-speed applications.
The CV5-500 is equipped with a high-rigidity Sankyo table, driven with roller gear cam that provides a wide angle of rotation, specifically 220º in the B axis and 360º in the C axis. The CV5-500 delivers agile performance, with rapid traverse rates of 36 m/min in the X, Y and Z axes, and can process workpieces up to 500 mm in diameter by 320 mm tall, and up to 200 kg in weight.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk