FEATURE ON CNC LATHES AND TURNING CENTRES

WFL machines add new level of added value

Market changes and mutual dependencies between value creation stages require both new technical and economical solutions. How can companies face these challenges with greater resilience and exploit the benefits of increased cost effectiveness? This question is posed by the transnational ‘EuProGigant’ project with the aim of ensuring smart, sovereign use of data for production.

In order to obtain meaningful data, users of WFL machines are part of the consortium. Plasser & Theurer, for example, bought a WFL machine with automation in 2022. The machine is supposed to run without human interference and use process monitoring to move data from the machine to a control level. Thanks to the Gaia-Ccommunication standard, this is set to take place beyond the company’s borders to enable integration in a production network and the exchange of information – on tolerance values, for example.

Other machine manufacturers in the consortium include Heller and Arburg. At Heller, a WFL machine is in spindle production, where it performs essential turning. Arburg has other machines which perform turning/milling processes for hydraulic functions when introducing the subsequent injection moulding tools. At the IFT (Institute for production technology) in Vienna, there is a WFL M35MillTurn, which performs tests and evaluations. The aim is to transfer the results its partners’ production sites.

The M35 MillTurn, which is at the IFT at Vienna University of Technology, integrates with a data communications network as part of a collaboration line.

Research-related testinghas now reached its conclusion. The next phase concerns implementation. Together, the aim is to demonstrate concrete success in implementation, such as with the further development of demonstrators in the area of ‘perfect component matching. WFL machines are available in the UK from Kyal Machine Tools.
For further information www.kyalmachinetools.com

New lathe and turning centre alignment system

Hamar Laser Instruments is releasing its L-703S four-axis lathe andturning centrespindle alignment system. The L-703S mounts directly into spindle chucks and collets for aligning headstock spindle axes to guideways, sub-spindles and tailstocks on lathes, turning centres, and similar machines. It is also useful for guideway straightness checks during preventive maintenance and assembly, and for checking surface plates.

“The next-generation L-703 laser design features significantly higher accuracy and a few nice improvements over earlier models,” says Rod Hamar, president of Hamar Laser Instruments. “Our team’s design allowed us to reduce size, cost and complexity, increase accuracy and get rid of annoying wires by adding Bluetooth communications. With a 40% reduction in axial space over our previous L-700 model, the L-703S is much better suited to smaller lathes and turning centres. To top it all off, the price of the new system is significantly less than our older L-700 spindle kit.”

Small and lightweight, the L-703S laser is suitable for all kinds of turning applications, from small CNC turning centres and Swiss-type machines, to large-bed lathes. With a range of up to 15 m, the laser can also quickly and easily check the alignment of even very large machines.

The L-703S system features Hamar’s next-generation T-1296 five-axis wireless spindle andscan target, which can easily check all four alignment axes of a headstock spindle relative to the tailstock. The T-1296 offers a centre resolution of 0.00025 mm and angular resolution of up to 0.002 mm/m. This extremely high level of accuracy can significantly improve machine performance, reduce scrap rates and increase productivity.
For further information www.hamarlaser.com

Next-generation Puma DNT lathe series unveiled

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of DN Solutions and Zayer machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has introduced a new range of high-performance, box guideway lathes into the market. The next-generation 8-10” chuck (67-81mm bar diameter) DNT Puma 2100/2600 lathe series is inherently flexible and provides manufacturers with capacity up to 460mm turning diameter and 658mm turning length.

The new series comprises of eight models in total.Fundamental to performance is their rigid design and build, which boasts box guideways on all axes to help prevent vibration and, as a consequence, ensure high part accuracies, long tool life and improved surface finishes even during heavy-duty machining operations.

Spindle power and speeds vary (up to 26 kW and 4500rpm) and are model dependent. A high torque option (378Nm) for the DNT 2100M lathe is also available.

DNT lathes feature 10-12 station servo-driven turrets for fast (0.15 second indexing time) and accurate tool selection: driven tooling models are supplied with the rigid BMT 55P or 65P (base mounted) turret that can accommodate 5.5 kW/6000-10,000rpm rotary tools and facilitate fast and precise milling, drilling and tapping operations.To ensure the machining of longer workpieces, DNT lathes are equipped with manual, programmable or servo-driven tailstocks.

The new lathes feature the FANUC iPlus control with 15” touchscreen iHMI that is both intuitive and attractive.

Says Tony Dale, Mills CNC’s CEO:“New DNT 2100 and 2600 lathes are now available.Their impressive technical specification will, I am confident, have a universal appeal among component manufacturers looking to increase their productivity and deliver ‘right-first-time’ turned parts to their customers.”
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Longevity of lathes prompts repeat purchases

It is often said that a subcontractor does not know what type of work will be coming through the door tomorrow, so needs versatile machine tools to produce a wide variety of components. With this thought in mind, the mainstay for production of a large proportion of turned parts at contract machinist Repro Engineering are CNC turning centres from Citizen Machinery, both Miyano fixed-head lathes and Cincom sliding-head models.

The first Miyano to arrive (in 1997) was a BND42S twin-spindle lathe with live tooling. It departed just three years ago after 23 years of service, having produced more than 2 million components, most in one hit and a large proportion in lights-out operation. The second Miyano, a BND51S, arrived in 1998 and was sold in mid-2022 after an even longer period on the shop floor.

Repro Engineering’s owner and managing director Richard Palmer says: “We have a policy of regularly reviewing our capacity and keeping plant up to date. In the case of the Miyanos, however, earlier exchange simply wasn’t necessary, as the machines continued to hold tolerance.”

The replacement for the BND51S was a more capable BNJ-51SY, which arrived in May 2022. Featuring two turrets and Y-axis movement of the main turret, the lathe facilitates complex machining operations at the main and sub spindles simultaneously. Nine Miyano machines have been purchased over the years.

Regarding Repro Engineering’s sliding-head capacity, the subcontractor operates three Cincom lathes capable of machining parts up to 32 mm diameter bar. Impressed with the quality and longevity of the Miyano machines, Palmer decided to approach Citizen for larger Swiss-type lathes capable of producing bigger diameter, often shaft-type components. He purchased a Cincom A32-VII in 2009, followed by a more highly specified M32-VIII with a B-axis in 2013, and another A32-VII two years later.
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

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