Hartlepool-based JJ Hardy is investing in a new Mazak QTE-200 SG turning centre as a way of plugging the skills gap for CNC machinists in the northeast. The new machine will help the company to introduce an unmanned shift and keep pace with growing demand.

Managing director Andrew Pailor says: “Our plan is to get more out of what we have. We’ll use technology, including new machine tools and, in time, additional automation, to increase our capacity with one manned shift and one unmanned shift each day. The new QTE machine is an affordable solution that will be equipped with a Hydrafeed barfeed, a parts racking system for finished components and an automatic tool eye for inspection. Most importantly, we’ll also have the ability to monitor work online while it runs unmanned.”

With an eight-strong machine shop, JJ Hardy concentrates on automotive and energy work, as well as the rail sector, for which its manufactures components such as bogie parts, hangar bolts, shackles, suspension links and impellers.

Says Pailor: “We have an older Mazak turning centre that has been a good solution for us and has outperformed some of our more expensive competitor machines. However, it doesn’t have some of the equipment we need to get it running unmanned.

“The new QTE is equipped with Mazak’s latest Mazatrol innovation, SmoothEz, a touchscreen CNC,” he adds. “It’s now so easy to program that we can put CNC operators with much less experience on the machine. They can be running it, unsupervised, very quickly.”

Described as a simple and compact machine design, the QTE is equipped with a high torque spindle and 12-position drum turret, along with capacity for 12 different tools.

For further information
www.mazakeu.co.uk

At the SIAMS 2022 exhibition in Switzerland last month, Tornos took the opportunity to release its SwissNano 10 for micro-turning applications in sectors such as watchmaking, medical and dental.

SIAMS is a key event in the micro-technology industry, attracting visitors from far afield. On the Tornos stand they got to see first-hand the new SwissNano 10, which the company says increases productivity by at least 40%.

Despite its small size, the SwisssNano does not shy away from even the most difficult challenges. Now capable of machining parts up to 100 mm in length (up to 10 mm diameter), Tornos says the SwissNano stands out as a solution for any workshop looking to boost its productivity and efficiency. The machine’s footprint remains modest, despite an integrated chip conveyor, since it has been ingeniously placed under the bar feeder. This design is an adapted solution that allows for optimal management, even in a restricted space. Additionally, the SwissNano’s lower power consumption makes it a particularly energy-efficient machine, reports Tornos.

The company says that users can improve and secure autonomy with Tornos’ Active Chip Breaker Plus software, while increasing their parts portfolio with four tools and up to two live tools in back-operation.

All SwissNano machines are designed to produce small parts requiring very high precision. The kinematics allow these machine to produce a large number of watch movement parts, from simple to complex – including, for example, gear hobbing – with high surface finish.

Notably, the SwissNano’s kinematic structure was conceived for balance and thermal management, thus allowing very fast warm-up.

Joining the SwissNano 4 and SwissNano 7, the new SwissNano 10 completes and expands the range.

For further information
www.tornos.com

Good-quality machine tools operate reliably and hold tolerance for two decades or more. The problem is that technology moves on so quickly that the productivity of older machines cannot match that of their newer counterparts. This was the situation in which Redruth-based subcontractor DP Engineering found itself until it purchased three new Cincom lathes from Citizen Machinery UK: an L20-XLFV installed three years ago, an identical machine that arrived in autumn 2021 and an M32-VIIILFV bought at the end of last year. The latter two machines were direct replacements for equivalent 20 mm and 32 mm capacity sliders of similar type and make acquired around the turn of the millennium, several machine generations ago.

Philip Anthony, DP Engineering’s sales and marketing director, says: “The faster rapid traverses and higher power and speed of the main and sub spindles, as well as of the driven tools, have increased our capacity considerably. One stainless steel aerospace part we previously turn-milled in one hit on an L20 that is 20-plus years old now takes half the time to produce on its modern replacement.

“It is a similar story on the 32 mm machine, which is more user-friendly than the former-generation lathe and has better access and visibility into the machining area,” he continues. “Moreover, the addition of a rotary B axis on the gang tool post enables us to machine more complex parts than was previously possible on our sliders.”

A notable technological advance from Citizen since DP Engineering purchased the earlier Cincoms was the introduction five years ago of its proprietary LFV (low-frequency vibration) chip-breaking software running in the Mitsubishi control. It has resulted in a significant increase in productivity when machining malleable materials such as titanium and stainless steel.

For further information
www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

The new DMG Mori NTX 500 turn-mill machine is the most compact model in the NTX series for the six-sided complete machining of
complex workpieces.

With the continuing trend towards increasingly complex components there is a need for extremely versatile manufacturing solutions. With the NTX turn-mill series, DMG Mori says it has a product range that enables the productive manufacturing of parts in demanding industries, particularly artificial bones and implants for the medical sector. Now, the machine tool manufacturer is presenting the NTX 500, its smallest model in the series with a working area for workpieces up to 120 mm diameter by 558 mm long.

As with its larger sister models, the heart of the NTX 500 is a high-speed ‘turn and mill’ CompactMaster spindle with a length of only 250 mm. Its speed of 42,000 rpm and swivel range of ±120° offer flexibility in five-axis simultaneous machining, even with small diameter precision tools. The Y axis moves by 150 mm.
The main and counter TurnMaster spindles offer speed up to 8000 rpm.

DMG Mori’s new NTX 500 features a lower turret with 16 tool positions, including a Y axis providing 60 mm of travel. This design allows parallel cutting to the turn and mill spindle in four-axis machining routines, reducing cycle times. The tool magazine can be loaded during machining and provides space for 38 tools. Optionally, 76 or 114 tool positions are available.

Automation solutions are available for the NTX 500, with an integrated bar feeder and an integrated robot (IMTR) for unmanned production over long periods. The former is for bar stock up to 40 mm diameter, while the integrated robot allows automatic workpiece unloading from the main and counter spindles.

For further information
www.dmgmori.com

A specialist in e-drives, Békéscsaba-based Linamar Technology Hungary, has invested in machines from EMAG to produce shafts and gears. The number of components is expected to increase to more than 2 million parts per year in the future – up from around 300,000 components at present. The new production solution is optimally prepared for this increase. The decision in favour of technology from EMAG was made on the basis of intensive market research.

“In the end, we chose EMAG because the company offers and masters a wide range of technologies,” explains István Bíró, project leader at Linamar Technology Hungary. “Furthermore, EMAG develops innovative solutions that help us streamline our production processes.”

Specifically, Linamar Technology Hungary uses EMAG VL 6 and VT 2-4 vertical lathes, and the VLC 200 GT vertical turning and grinding centre for the hard machining of gears and shafts. The latter is an ideal illustration of the advantages of EMAG’s holistic approach: the machine is loaded at a particularly high speed by the integrated pick-up spindle. After the spindle with the component has assumed its machining position, hard rough turning starts in quick succession. Only a residual allowance of a few microns then remains on the gear wheel. This ensures a significantly shortened grinding process with the aid of the integrated grinding spindle. At the same time, machining quality benefits from the turning-grinding combination: if only a small allowance needs to be ground off after turning, the grinding wheel specification can be more specifically designed for the desired final quality. Overall, Linamar’s production planners can therefore dispense with a further grinding operation.

Linamar has seen similar leaps in productivity with its VL 6 and VT 2-4 lathes, which are used for turning operations on gears and shafts of different sizes.

For further information
www.emag.com