FEATURE ON CNC LATHES AND TURNING CENTRES

Turning up productivity with lathes from Dugard

Companies with the heritage of AW Engineering are very rare. Founded in 1908 by Alfred Wood, the subcontractor switched its workload to munitions and aircraft parts during World War II and, ever since, the company has remained under the stewardship of the same family.

In 2020, AW Engineering moved to a new 15,000sqft factory in West Molesey, since when the companyhas doubled its turnover under the leadership of Mark Felstead, the great, great grandson of company founder Alfred. Contributing to this growth is the investment in three machine tools and a robot from Dugard: two SMEC SL2000BSY twin-spindle, single-turret turning centres; a Hanwha HCR5 collaborative robot (cobot); and a Hanwha XD38 IIRNHY sliding-head turning centre.

“During the pandemic, suitable machine tool supply was sparse,” says Felstead.“We spoke with Dugard and, within two weeks of placing an order for a SMEC SL2000BSY, the machine was on our shop floor and running. With furlough and other restrictions during the pandemic, Dugard was the only company that could serve our needs. Set-ups and programming are at least 20% faster with the Siemens control and we can prepare jobs and programs with confidence using the conversational programming and simulation within the system.”

Less than six months after the installation of the first machine, AW Engineering placed an order for a second SMEC SL2000BSY. A single operator mans the two SMEC machines. However, some components in the family of parts are above the 65mm diameter bar feed threshold and require manual loading. Here, AW Engineering has purchased a Hanwha HCR5 cobot from Dugard.

“Our cobot cell is now up and running, which means that both SMEC machines can run unmanned 24/7,” concludes Felstead.
For further information www.dugard.com

Latest MACH flat-bed lathes feature DynaPath control

MACH Machine Tools, part of the Vigilance Group, has introduced twoflat-bedCNC lathes into the market, both equipped with the DynaPath WinDelta control system.
The 8” (three-jaw) chuck MDL 1600 lathe and the larger 8/10” (three-jaw) chuck MDL 1800 model are equipped with 7.5kW/3500rpm spindles (12Nm), four-tool position turrets, sub-spindles (1kW/4000rpm), manual tailstocks (150mm travel), and boast 5 m/min rapids on their X and Z axes.

Capacity is model dependant.The MDL 1600 has X- and Z-axis travels of 230 and 820mm respectively, and a distance between centres of 1050 mm,while the MDL 1800 has 350mm (X-axis travel) and 1000mm (Z-axis travel) with 1250mm between centres.

The X and Zaxes on both machines feature precision ground box ways and precision ball screws for high accuracy and process optimisation.Both machines are suitable for performing a range of machining operations – turning, parting, grooving, facing, threading and tapping, as well as keyway, face and cylindrical milling of precision parts.

The DynaPath WinDelta control with 12.1” touchscreen available on all new MACH Machine Tools’ CNC lathes, tool-room mills and machining centres, is one of the most widely used control systems in the world. Deployed extensively in the US and the Far East for over 50 years, MACH Machine Tools says that the DynaPath control is flexible, versatile and easy-to-use, providing customers with simple-to-understand navigation and operation screens accommodating ISO and conversational programming on one platform. With online CAD editing capabilities, semi-auto functions and DRO operation, the DynaPath control provides power, speed and capability to even the most discerning machinist.
For further information www.machmt.co.uk

Helical Technology opts for Nakamura-Tome

Helical Technology has installed a Nakamura-Tome WT150 from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) at its Lytham St Annes facility in Lancashire.As a manufacturer of valve rotators used in the marine, locomotive, mining, automotive and power generation sectors, the products and assemblies are critical components that demand the utmost precision and quality. To uphold its stringent quality requirements, the family-owned company has embarked on a continuous investment programme to enhance the productivity and performance of its machine shop. The shop produces upwards of 500,000 steel components each year that contribute to the company’s annual output of over 4 million assemblies.

Operations manager Chris Waddington says: “Our investment strategy started with two turning centres from one of the largest and most prestigious brands in the world, but they let us down badly. In 2018, we had a 156mm diameter valve rotator that was required in batches of 150 per month and the machine kept breaking down. Subsequently, in 2019 a smaller 42mm valve rotator was ramping up from 5000 parts a week to 8000 and we needed a turning centre urgently. This leading manufacturer had an available machine, but it also proved a massive let-down.”

With 8000 parts to get out of the door and an unreliable machine, the company owners bought Waddington a Nakamura WT150II, an ex-demo machine that arrived in January 2020.

“The difference was like night and day,” he states.“The cycle times were 5 to 10% faster than the other leading machines we had bought, while tool life improved by 15%.”

The investment was followed by the purchase of a Nakamura-Tome NTY3-100 twin-spindle, triple-turret turning centre in 2021, which instantly took 20-25% out of cycle times. A smaller footprint Nakamura AS200LMSY arrived in June 2022.
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

Okuma presents Multus B300II at Intec 2023

Okuma showcased its high-performance Multus B300II turning and milling centre for the full processing of small to medium batch sizes at the Intec trade fair in Leipzig last month.

With a turning diameter of 630 mm, a turning length of 900 mm and a magazine that can carry up to 120 tools, the Multus B300II is suitable for the flexible manufacturing of a wide range of components. In conjunction with the universal milling spindle, the main spindle with a speed of 5000 rpm ensures high productivity. At Intec, Okuma demonstrated a complete machining operation, including parts transfer to the opposing spindle and axis processing using the B axis.

Okuma also demonstrated which technologies improve reliability, precision and sustainability.It is possible to plan, simulate and test machining processes using the 3D Virtual Monitor (3DVM), even before production, avoiding cost-intensive mistakes. Using 3D models of the machine, workpiece and tool, the Collision Avoidance System (CAS) monitors the ongoing process.

The intelligent technologies on display included Machining Navi, which selects optimal cutting conditions to avoid vibrations and their impact on the workpiece, and Servonavi, which improves cycle times and accuracy when processing heavy workpieces. Furthermore, the Okuma 5-Axis Auto Tuning System detects and compensates for manufacturing tolerances and wear-related errors in the machine geometry. This enables the machine to maintain its precision for many years.

Okuma also applies its Thermo-Friendly Concept for maximum precision. The system compensates for temperature fluctuations, resulting in dimensional stability in continuous, long-term operation. Users save time, energy and costs since there is no need to warm up the machines or manually adjust settings. Okuma machines are available in the UK from NCMT.
For further information www.ncmt.co.uk

High-level turning raises productivity

Prismatic machining on BT30 and BT40 machining centres accounts for the majority of throughput at the Mildenhall factory of subcontractor CTPE, which produces complex, high-precision components for the medical, marine, scientific, defence and electronics sectors. However, productivity on the turning side of the businessreceived a significant boost recently when an ageing, two-axis, fixed-head bar auto was replaced by a Miyano twin-spindle turning centre with twin Y-axis turrets and live tooling, fed by an LNS Alpha SL65 S short-bar magazine.

Supplied by Citizen Machinery UK, the 10-axis ANX-42SYY lathe is fitted with the latest FANUC 31i 15-inch touchscreen control incorporating a new HMI. The machine also features the company’s superimposed machining, whereby three tools can be in cut at the same time thanks to X-axis movement of the sub spindle. Three-axis simultaneous interpolation and double Y-axis cutting are also enabled.

The sub-spindle offset has the additional advantage of allowing reverse-end machining of long parts with extended tools, while simultaneous machining of the front end of the next component is in progress at the main spindle. Otherwise that would have to wait due to interference caused by back-end operations, lowering production output.

Advantage is taken of the machine’s other stand-out feature, LFV (low-frequency vibration) chip-breaking software in the control’s operating system. In practice, at Mildenhall LFV is on for 10 to 15% of a typical cycle.

CTPE’s operations director Alex Taylor says: “We saw LFV demonstrated on the Citizen stand at MACH 2022. This function is extremely useful when machining aluminium, which constitutes most of our work, and is even more effective on plastics, which accounts for about 25% of our throughput.”
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk