FEATURE ON CNC LATHES AND TURNING CENTRES

Chocolate system producer opts for Hwacheon

MacIntyre Chocolate Systems, located in Scotland, is a worldwide supplier of chocolate manufacturing and processing equipment – offering ancillary equipment for chocolate manufacture that includes transfer pumps, filters and storage vessels. After agreeing a purchase on a new Hwacheon Hi Tech 850LYMC, Ward Hi Tech’s high levels of stock meant that the company was not waiting for long.

Managing director Joe Gorman says: “Purchasing the new Hwacheon Hi Tech 850LYMC allowed us to remove the risk of external supply chain, price pressure from market volatility and the need to monitor external quality for being ‘right first time’. We now have the ability to turn-mill our main drive shafts, pressure-adjust shafts, pressure sleeves and many other components on one machine.This new capability will drive us to become even more efficient – via improved cycle times – compared to ourprevious machine tools. The new Hwacheon Hi Tech 850LYMC will also give us the capability to offer an internal supplier solution to group partners based in Germany.”

As well as increasing productivity, the Hwacheon Hi Tech 850LYMC meant that where there was a need for three machine tools to cut parts – now only oneis necessary. This provides MacIntyre Chocolate Systems with a long-term cost effective solution.

“The onsite and offsite training sessions were first class and the installation was very quick and professional,” says Gorman.“This allowed us to moveseamlessly into full production.”

The Hwacheon Hi Tech 850 LYMC is a horizontal turning centre suited to large and hard workpieces. According to Ward Hi-Tech, the machine allows users to master demanding machining tasks that require large milling and turning operations.
For further information www.wardhitech.co.uk

Investments critical to future growth plans

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of DN Solutions’ (formerly Doosan) and Zayer machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has supplied subcontract specialist JTB Pressings with two new, FANUC-controlled CNC lathes.The machines, a 6”chuck/51mm bar capacity Lynx 2100LYSA and, a similarly sized Lynx 2100, are now in place at one of the company’s three production facilities in Willenhall.

Since their arrival, both lathes have been put through their paces machining, almost exclusively, a range of small, precision turned parts for JCB. These high-volume, short-cycle parts, include six individual components made from a range of materials that include steel, bronze andnylon.

JTB’s decision to invest in the two Doosan lathes was made to help the company increase the range of manufacturing services it provides to existing customers, as well as spearheading a drive to secure new business from different sectors.

Explains Ivan Evans, JTB’s managing director:“We are always looking to improve, diversify and grow.We did consider sliding-head as well as fixed-head models, but ultimately decided on the Lynx 2100 LSYA from Mills CNC owing to its compact size, proven reliability and multi-tasking capabilities.”

With both Lynx lathes’ capacity taken up machining parts for just one customer, JTB has now made the decision to invest further.

Says general manager Steve Lounds: “To free-up capacity on our Lynx machines we hope to invest in another two pre-owned Emi-Mec CNC lathes in the near future. These two-axis lathes will handle the high volume of turned parts currently machined on the Lynx lathes and, as a consequence, enable us to fully exploit the true potential of the Lynx machines and diversify our operations – as was originally intended.”
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Citizen machines prove ideal at Historic Threads

In 2006, entrepreneur David Swaffield started his own contract machining firm, DWS Engineering, in Crewkerne, after gaining a mechanical engineering apprenticeship at a nearby packaging machinery manufacturer. He started out using manual machine tools, progressing to CNC prismatic machining in 2009 and fixed-head CNC turning the year after.

Frustrated at not being able to find pre-war British Standard Whitworth threaded nuts, bolts and other components for the family-owned 1923 Aveling and Porter 8 tonne steamroller he was refurbishing, he decided to make them himself, leading to the inauguration in 2017 of another company, Historic Threads. It was then that Swaffield discovered the capabilities and production potential of CNC sliding-head lathes from Citizen Machinery.

In 2017, the first Cincom L32 purchased second-hand from Citizen Machinery was delivered to Crewkerne, while a second-hand Cincom M32 of a similar age (with live tools) arrived in March 2021. Then in March 2022, due to the steep rise in demand worldwide for legacy threaded components, a third sliding-head lathe took its place on the shop floor, this time a new Cincom L32-VIII LFV.

Shortly after the machine arrived, Swaffield received DWS Engineering’s biggest ever single order for the supply of brass, aluminium and stainless steel parts from 10 to 20 mm in diameter for use in the assembly of make-up brushes and pencils.

The latest Cincom is said to be ideal for fulfilling this contract. For example, the low frequency vibration (LFV) chip-breaking software built in to the control is able to avoid stringy swarf when drilling a 100 mm long, 8.5 mm diameter hole down the centre of a 10 mm diameter stainless steel pencil, even though the machine is not fitted with optional high-pressure coolant.
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

Machine tending system for larger lathes

Occupying a footprint of only 12.5 sq m, the new Robo2Go Max from DMG Mori allows the easy and flexible automation of large lathes and turn-mill centres. The robotic system handles workpieces from 40 to 400 mm in diameter and weighing up to 115 kg – the maximum payload including gripper being 210 kg.

Robo2Go Max is based on a six-axis industrial robot housed in a safety enclosure that also contains a workpiece storage module. In the basic version, it can be loaded and unloaded quickly with two Euro pallets via a roller shutter door, either by forklift truck or by a DMG Mori driverless PH-AGV automated guided vehicle. Alternatively, users can wheel workpieces in and out on trolleys.

A vision system is available to detect the position of raw material and finished parts on the pallets. The system offers space for additional options such as alignment and turnover stations, which means that users can produce even the most complex workpieces autonomously.

A modular gripper provides flexibility in terms of handling a wide diversity of components. Regardless of the Robo2Go Max configuration, the control system and tool magazine of the respective turning centre remain freely accessible.

As with the smaller Robo2Go Turning, no robot programming knowledge is required to set up and operate the larger system. For uniform control of Robo2Go variants, DMG Mori has developed its own app that enables the creation of a production process based on predefined program blocks. The app has a multi-job function to allow placement of different components on one pallet or tray, suitable for producing small and medium batch sizes.
For further information www.dmgmori.com

Dugard delivers productivity gains for Special Bolt

As a manufacturer of fasteners with over 150 years of experience, Coventry-based Special Bolt can produce more than 100,000 pieces in a single day shift. This capacity has been boosted by the arrival of a Hanwha XE20 sliding head-turning centre from Dugard.

Tim Bayliss, managing director of Special Bolt, says: “The main reason we bought this machine was for capacity. We also needed something that would fit into our limited space. The Hanwha XE20 machine is the opposite hand to existing sliding-head machines, so it fitted perfectly. Our new Hanwha XE20 has the same versatility as other machines, but seems a lot smaller with a lot more punch.”

Producing components in various materials and in standard and bespoke sizes from 6 to 24 mm diameter, Special Bolt manufactures everything from locating flange screws, conrod bolts, striker pins, serrated shoulder studs, dome nuts, shear bolts, nyloc nuts, full hex nuts and many more variations that can be produced to customer specifications.

Referring to the diversity of the machine’s workload, Bayliss says: “It has enough power to do all of our different jobs. Some are easy, some are not, but if you don’t have the power, you can’t make the parts that your customers require.”

Looking at the work going through the machine, he adds: “If we’re making short parts and only doing a turning operation, we could be making a part every 20 seconds. Then, we could be producing a longer part that may have a cycle time of 6 or 7 minutes. It all depends on part complexity. However, it’s more about the fact that this Hanwha machine does all of the parts in a batch exactly the same – each and every time.”
For further information www.dugard.com