FEATURE ON CNC LATHES AND TURNING CENTRES

Vision Engineering invests in new Biglia lathe

Vision Engineering, a specialist in microscopy, digital 3D visualisation and metrology solutions, has bought a third fixed-head lathe, an Italian-built Biglia B620YS, for its production facility in Send, near Woking. Supplied by UK and Ireland sales agent Whitehouse Machine Tools, the machine is turning a range of aluminium components for the top-quality objectives in Vision Engineering’s third generation of Mantis eyepiece-less 3D inspection microscopes, launched at the beginning of June 2023.

The company based its choice of turning centre on a set of specific requirements. There is no milling content in any of the cycles, so only turning tools are required and a single tool turret was therefore sufficient. Excellent turned surface finish is essential so that no marks are visible after component anodising, as good cosmetic appearance is important for customer acceptance.

Dimensional accuracy is also key to ensure perfect perpendicularity for precise lens placement and to facilitate cleanroom assembly, bearing in mind that anodising deposits a layer of variable thickness that uses up some of the drawing tolerance. Additionally, Vision Engineering neededa short lead timeso it could ship Mantis 3rd Gen stereo microscopes to its worldwide distributors in time for launch, as well as to maintain production momentum in the immediate aftermath.

Machine shop manager Scott Blackwell says: “The Biglia lathe was available ex-stock from the Whitehouse showroom. This was an advantage due to the large production volumes required across the range of aluminium objectives for our latest microscopes. The Biglia installation has turned out well. It’s a real workhorse; the turned parts it produces are impeccable and the unmanned running has proved to be very consistent.”
For further information www.wmtcnc.com

Cutting plastics down to size and shape

Mills CNChas supplied engineering plastic stockholder and precision subcontract machining specialist, Plastim Ltd, part of the Omnia Plastica SpA Group, with a new, large-capacity multi-tasking turning centre.The machine, a DN Solutions’ 12” chuck Puma 3100Y equipped with a 3000rpm spindle, 12-station turret, driven tooling (5000rpm), integrated Y-axis capability (±65mm) and the latest FANUC control is now in situ at the company’s 12,000sq ft facility in Cheltenham.

The Puma 3100Y sits in close proximityto three other Doosan lathes supplied by Mills CNC over the past 10 years and is machining a range of high-precision plastic parts for a growing number of UK customers operating in the oil and gas, aerospace, motorsport, electronics, transport, chemical, energy, food processing, and materials handling sectors, to name but a few.

The other machines supplied by Mills CNC that Plastim has at its disposal comprise a Puma 3100LY (installed in 2013), a Lynx 220LYA (2017), and a Lynx 300 (2021). All of the machines have FANUC controls ensuring easy program and part transfer between machines.

Says Warren Ironside, Plastim’s operations director:“Our Puma and Lynx lathes are real workhorses. They are powerful, fast, accurate and flexible.A number have Yaxes and driven tooling, enabling them to mill and drill components, as well as machine a range of features likegrooves, threads and other complex geometries, quickly, seamlessly and in one set up.Our lathes, backed by Mills CNC’s aftersales service and support, ensure that we’re able to meet the high accuracy, tight tolerance and fast turnaround demands of our customers.”
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Refurbished machines cost college around 50% less

Sorted Machine Sales recently sourced and refurbished four pre-owned Harrison M300 lathes for the Salisbury campus of Wiltshire College & University Centre. The investment will help the campus establish a new, fully equipped engineering department ready for its first influx of T-Level students and apprentices in September 2023.

“Due to the unfortunate closure of the local UTC, we’ve been investing heavily in an engineering department for Salisbury, which includes a machine shop,” explains Ben Elger, deputy head of department – engineering (automotive) at Wiltshire College & University Centre. “We inherited five lathes and five mills from the UTC and wanted a machine tool specialist to inspect them.”

Sorted Machine Sales is a long-standing partner of the established engineering department at the nearby Chippenham campus of Wiltshire College & University, so Elger reached out.

“Upon inspection, Sorted concluded that although the mills were good, the lathes were not fit for purpose,” he says. “They made some proposals and we opted for four reconditioned lathes. From our homework we saw the Harrison M300s as a good bridge between academia and industry, with a solid reputation for longevity.”

After sourcing the pre-owned lathes, Sorted Machine Sales set about bringing them up to scratch.

“We performed a comprehensive strip-down and refurbishment, replacing any worn parts as we went,” explains Marc Bowers, director at Sorted Machine Sales. “We added new coolant hoses, LED lights, safety guards, quick-change tool posts and a DRO. The machines also got a complete repaint. It was the right balance: sourcing decent pre-owned machines when the budget for new wasn’t available. We saved the college around 50% against the price of new machines. Furthermore, we delivered a complementary tooling package that included cutting tools, chucks, centres and tool holders.”

Concludes Elger: “Sorted were fantastic from the outset, providing us with solid options. Furthermore, the machines look immaculate; you wouldn’t think they were reconditioned. Sorted will now service and maintain the machines on our behalf.”
For further information www.sorted-uk.com

XYZ machines reduce cutting times for impellers

Sheffield-based Straaltechniek UK has been manufacturing equipment for the surface preparation industry since 1982 with its range of blasting and shot-peen machines.A key element of the blast wheel is the impeller, which is made from D2 tool steel. Originally manufactured in several operations on a lathe and then a machining centre, this component has six side apertures making it an ideal part for production on a turn-mill machine.

Ryan Doxey, machine shop supervisor, says: “We installed the XYZ TC 320 LTY in November 2022 as it has a full C axis and driven tools on a Y axis, so we can virtually finish one impeller from a solid billet in a single operation. Significant savings in handling, set-ups and faster machining combine to give us a valuable reduction in cycle times. There are a large number of different impellers as, we not only make blast wheels for our own machines, but also retrofit and refurbish machines from other manufacturers, bringing them up to the latest modern efficiency standards. We carry out all the programming on the shop floor and the Siemens 828D ShopTurn Touchscreen control is a favourite with our machinists.”

As well as the XYZ TC 320 LTY, the company also has a XYZ VL 425 lathe with ProtoTRAK control, which turns the blast wheel itself.

“The blast wheels can be up to 405 mm diameter, and we program them on the ProtoTRAK control on the shop floor with sufficient capacity to hold them in soft jaws to complete the machining,” explains Doxey.“The ease of programming on ProtoTRAK and the reliability of this machine gave us the confidence to invest in the XYZ TC 320 LTY and ShopTurn.”
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Pucktechnik relies on 11 Emag VL machines

Pucktechnik, based in Solbiate Arno near Milan, is a contract manufacturer founded in 2017 that produces casting tools and various components. In total, the company has nearly 30 machines, including 11Emag VL turning machines and an Emag K 160 LA hobbing machine. These solutions provide high-volume and automated series production.

Primarily, with the help of these Emag machines, the company can produce around 650,000 wheels and wheel hubs for earthmoving equipment each year. What is interesting here is the deployment of four independent production lines with a high degree of automation.

The machines in each line are completely interlinked via TrackMotion, also from Emag, with various operations running directly one after the other. As a result, the quantities produced in this area have increased massively in just a few years. The basic technological principle of the lines begins with TransLift, a lift-and-turn carriage on the TrackMotion line gantry with programmable electric gripper, which picks up the raw-parts from a parts store, transports them to the machine at a speed of up to 150 m/min and deposits them on the machine’s internal shuttle. Thanks to the vertical arrangement of the spindle, it can pick up the part from the pick-up position of the shuttle and guide it into the working area of the machine.

After machining, the workpiece is discharged from the machine via the shuttle and transported to the next machine or the discharge conveyor using the TrackMotion system.In short, the combination of Emag pick-up technology with various automation solutions, from TrackMotion to robots, results in powerful and individually adaptable systems.
For further information www.emag.com