FEATURE ON CNC LATHES AND TURNING CENTRES

Valuable insights gained at Index open house

The Index open house 2025 event at the company’s new iXperience Centre in Deizisau concluded with great success last week. With visitors able to explore numerous Index and Traub machine innovations, the event also featured tailored automation solutions, expert presentations and discussions with technology specialists from various industries.Additional highlights included a demonstration of ‘high dynamic turning’ with indexing turret-mounted tools, along with an integrated information session on machining hydraulic components.

Index equipped its customer centre with a range of turn-mill centres, production turning machines, multi-spindle turning machines and universal turning machines. All models were fully loaded for live demonstrations and integrated with automation solutions.

Making its debut at the event was the new Traub TNK40 production turning machine (pictured), a fixed-head machine based on the Traub TNL32 compact sliding/fixed-head machine. Instead of a sliding head for Swiss-type turning, the TNK40 features a fixed head with 40 mm clearance. Thanks to low-vibration, simplified bar guiding (such as via a short loader), Index says the machine offers greater overall rigidity than a sliding-head machine, resulting in enhanced dynamics and improved part quality.

Also making its debut was the Traub TNL12 lean, a cost-effective entry-level sliding/fixed-head turning machine equipped with just one turret and a back working unit. Its live guide bushing is adjustable but not programmable, though optional expansions remain available.

For those seeking high productivity, short cycle times and minimal tooling times, another highlight wasthe compact Index MS24-8 multi-spindle CNC turning machine, featuring eight spindles and MBL bar-loading magazine. With its extensive features and software tools, the machine can be quickly re-tooled and is well-suited to machining new material standards, such as lead-free brass.

More information www.index-group.com

Longer runs dictate move to sliding-head lathes

SFC (Europe) manufactures, stocks and supplies safety-critical stud-bolts, bolts and nuts in ASTM and ASME grades for onshore, offshore and subsea applications. The Wolverhampton-based company has enjoyed impressive growth, from a turnover of £1m when it was formed in 2013 to £15m in 2024, boosted by notable investments in CNC turning machines.

Since 2019, operations director Mark Edmonds and his colleagues had been considering sliding-head bar turning owing to its suitability for producing large quantities of components, including unattended overnight. The Covid-19 pandemic delayed things somewhat but by mid-2022 SFC (Europe) was ready to make its first investment in new turning centres. It was, however, a pair of fixed-head lathes (Miyano BNA-42DHY twin-spindle, twin-turret, bar-fed models from Citizen Machinery) that arrived, as machinists at Wolverhamptonwere unfamiliar with operating sliding-head equipment and management wanted modern, productive lathes that would come on-stream quickly.

A couple of years later, SFC (Europe) was ready to revert to the idea of introducing sliding-head, bar-fed lathes. The Miyano machines had performed so reliably in terms of uptime and accuracy that Edmonds looked no further than Citizen for the supply of two Cincom L32-VIIILFV turn-mill centres. Delivered and commissioned in April 2024, the Cincom machines mainly fulfil orders for higher volumes of parts. As traceability is often important, the ability to engrave components in-cycle saves a separate operation and contributes to maximising production output.

“Everyone from our founder and chairman Allan Stennett to machine tool operators on the shop floor are committed to acquiring and using the best production equipment possible,” says Edmonds.“Continued purchase of machines like the Miyano and Cincom lathes will undoubtedly underpin our continued growth for years to come.”More information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

Funds Boost Vacuum Investment Casting

Wall Colmonoy Ltd (UK) has secured funding from the Defence Technology Exploitation Programme (DTEP) to support its latest initiative: Project EVaCC (Experimental Vacuum Investment Casting Capability). Project EVaCC aims to develop an advanced vacuum precision investment casting (VPIC) facility that will strengthen the UK’s sovereign capabilities and ensure a robust supply chain for the Ministry of Defence (MoD).

Wall Colmonoy and Rolls-Royce Bristol will partner on retrofitting the technology, leveraging over 100 years of combined metallurgical expertise.Once operational, Wall Colmonoy will produce complex vacuum castings using nickel-based superalloys – critical for most engine programmes. A key innovation will be the implementation of microstructural refinement technology for the improvement of mechanical performance.

More information www.wallcolmonoy.com

Colchester reports open house success

November saw Colchester Machine Tool Solutions host its annual open house, an event that showcasedthe company’s latest products and innovations, including the all-new Tornado sub-spindle turning centre with Y-axis machining capability.

Taking place at Colchester’s European Technology Centre in Elland, West Yorkshire, the open house carried the strapline of ‘multi-axis machining event’. The company reports “overwhelmingly positive” feedback, with many visitors coming away feeling particularly impressed with the number and quality of machines on display. They were also pleased with the amount of machine demonstrations taking place, with Colchester staff on hand to provide additional information.

Taking centre stage was the all-new Colchester Tornado SL25 MSY turning centre. With its integrated sub-spindle and Yaxis, the machine provedpopular at the open house. Its five-axis single-hit machining allows manufacturers to complete complex components with high levels of efficiency. By automatically transferring the workpiece from the main spindle to the sub-spindle, the machine ensures seamless turning, milling and drilling on both sides of the component, reducing cycle times.The addition of Y-axis machining further enhances its capabilities, enabling precise off-centre milling for keyways, flats and contoured surfaces.

Also catching the eye of visitors was the UK debut of Bridgeport five-axis VMCs, a miniature Formula 1 car showpiece, manual centre lathes, Storm VMCs, Student CNC lathes and turret mills. Furthermore, Siemens, LNS, Zerocob and Cutwel were present throughout the event as trusted Colchester partners.

Throughout the open house, Colchester ran a ‘golf darts’ chipping competition where the participant with the highest score over a certain number of shots took away a £500 tooling voucher courtesy of open house partner and cutting tool specialist Cutwel. A first-year apprentice from Tees Components was the deserved winner.

More information www.colchester.co.uk

Emag unveils VST 50 multi-spindle auto

Whether in the steering system or chassis, ball joints are indispensable in cars. They not only act as a kind of pivot point between different elements but are also usually in constant motion and exposed to high physical loads. In this context, ball pins and ball sleeves are among the safety-critical car components that must leave production with high surface quality and micron precision without exception – despite high quantities and general cost pressure. How is it possible to achieve these outcomes efficiently and with minimal chip-to-chip times? Emag says it has the answer with a new machine: using the VST 50, a finished ball pin leaves the machine every 7 seconds with each component undergoing comprehensive measurement.

The VST 50 has highly automated processes, including the use of three robots. It is also easy to operate using EDNA apps. For actual turning of the ball and neck of the ball pin (only these areas are involved here), two suspended workpiece spindles can move irrespective of each other. As a result, one spindle is always loading and unloading while the other is in use during the machining process. The associated tool compound slides are split in two: the tools on the left-hand side are mounted on a rotary Baxis, enabling the ball to undergo precision turning and finishing.

The solution ensures that a finished workpiece leaves the machine every 7 seconds, while the chip-to-chip time is less than 2 seconds.

Components must leave production without any error tolerance. Here, Emag relies on a 100% solution: each component passes through a light-band micrometer, which determines the required measured values in fractions of a second.

More information www.emag.com