According to Big Kaiser, the company has released the world’s first hydraulic chuck designed specifically for Swiss-type automatic (sliding-head) lathes.

Now available in the UK from Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC), this chuck solution overcomes the problems frequently encountered when using ER collet chucks.
Swiss-type machines make widespread use of ER collet chucks. However, operators often face difficulties when replacing their cutting tools as the available space inside the compact work envelope is extremely tight, providing very little space for tightening the nut. The hydraulic chuck from Big Kaiser simplifies the tool replacement process by using just a single T-wrench. In addition, the chuck facilitates the connection of a coolant tube from the underside.
Head of sales and marketing at Big Kaiser, Christian Spicher, says: “This hydraulic chuck finally provides a simple, easy-to-use solution for all Swiss-type machines, including those from Citizen, Star, Tornos and Tsugami. With the chuck, customers can simplify and accelerate tool replacement. In addition, the system achieves even higher precision cutting results than ever before.”
The new chuck offered by ITC is a world-first concept and Big Kaiser is said to be the only company currently producing such a hydraulic chuck solution. This chuck promises to save time and take the frustration out of tool replacement, essentially superseding existing ER chucks. The Big Kaiser hydraulic chuck for sliding-head lathes is available in six sizes.
For further information www.itc-ltd.co.uk

Installation by Citizen Machinery of a fixed-head Miyano BNE51-MSY twin-spindle, twin-turret turning centre at electrical wiring conduit manufacturer ABB Cable Management Product, Coleshill, is heralding a fundamental change in the way the company turn-mills its cable end fittings.

Cycle time savings of up to 70% with more to come, reductions in manufacturing cost, scrap and returns, and elimination of the need to outsource 10% of production to subcontractors, will combine to amortise the cost of the Miyano well within 18 months of its installation in January 2019. Manufacturing unit manager Andrew Fellows describes this payback time on a major item of capital expenditure as “brilliant”.
“In the first two weeks of the Miyano arriving, we transferred on to the new machine the manufacture of four fast-moving products, all of which benefitted from drilling on both end faces simultaneously at the main and counter spindles,” says Felllows. “Average cycle time saving was 59%, while the largest reduction was 70% in the case of a conduit fitting that previously required 133 seconds to produce. The turn-mill cycle now takes 40 seconds on the Miyano.”
Senior operator Dan Gardner says: “We’ve only taken advantage so far of cutting with two tools at a time, but the superimposition function in the Mitsubishi M730VS control, coupled with Y-axis movement of the upper turret and X-axis travel of the counter spindle, allows three tools to be in cut at the same time.
“After five days’ training from Citizen, both on- and off-site, we carried out a time study on a complex fitting that will see an 80% reduction in cycle time, from 230 to 46 seconds.”
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

German machine-tool manufacturer Index has introduced the second generation of its G200 turn-mill centre for the complete machining of components from bar or billet.

Available in the UK through sole agent Kingsbury, the machine offers extensive improvements, including increased turning length, up from 400 to 660 mm, a second lower tool carrier and a higher power milling spindle.
Providing cycle-time reductions of up to 30%, the compact machine offers significantly improved performance in a footprint virtually the same as that of its predecessor. New also is the vertical orientation of the heavily ribbed, low-vibration cast bed, which optimises chip flow and provides more space in the working area, especially for the lower tool turrets. Arranged in mirror image, each has an independent, ±45 mm Y axis, as well as 14 live tool stations rated at 16 kW/16 Nm and 7200 rpm maximum speed.
The identical main and counter motor spindles are fluid-cooled, have a bar capacity of 65 mm and a chuck diameter of 165 mm. Rated at 31.5/32 kW and 125/170 Nm, they provide rotational speeds of up to 6000 rpm.
A notable feature is the upper tool carrier, which has a ±65 mm Y axis and a 360° B axis. On one side there is a tool turret with another 14 positions, and on the other an HSK-A40 milling spindle. The spindle’s drive comes with a considerable increase in speed. Whereas the previous G200 was limited to 2000 rpm, the latest 22 kW/52 Nm version provides speeds up to 7200 rpm.
For maximum productivity, it is possible to utilise all three turrets simultaneously at either the main spindle or counter spindle, without interference.
For further information www.kingsburyuk.com

More than £600,000 has been invested by HPC Services on a trio of Nakamura turn-mill centres from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG).

The company is now operating 45 CNC milling and turning machines at its Ilkeston facility, while the machining side of the business employs 80 of the firm’s 150 workers and has a turnover of £8m.
Now commissioned, the three Nakamura machines (two WT150s and a WT100) are boosting production throughput. The WT150II provides up to 26 kW of cutting power for shaft work with synchronised spindles, while the power of the driven-tool motor is suited to heavy cutting with small tools.
Managing director Paul Cobb says: “The WT150 has twin spindles and twin turrets, which makes it hugely versatile. As a subcontractor you don’t really know what is going to come through the door on any day, so these machines are almost the optimum for us. We mostly use them for making milled parts, in medium-sized production runs from a few hundred to a few thousand parts – that’s the sweet spot for us.
“Our Nakamura machines are incredibly reliable, accurate and very quick,” he continues. “Compared with the machine they’re replacing, which was turning out a part in seven minutes 35 seconds, they can do it in just three minutes 50 seconds. The machines can operate on components up to 65 mm in diameter, which is quite large, and we have linked them up to an automatic rotary conveyor. As a result, we can run them 24-hours a day on aluminium or brass parts, and around 18 hours a day on stainless steel. We just feed the CAD details into the machines and away they go.”
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

A total of 24 Cincom sliding-headstock CNC bar autos were installed between last summer and the beginning of 2019 by Citizen Machinery UK at one of the two factory units operated by Shannon-based medical component manufacturer, Smithstown Light Engineering.

The major investment followed Smithstown’s receipt of a contract from a multinational medical firm for machining multiple variants of two types of endoscopic device parts from 303 stainless steel bar. Annual quantity is currently 18 million for the production of nine million assemblies.
Managing director Gerard King had identified the business opportunity in 2017 and machined sample parts on a 20 mm bar capacity Cincom L20 installed three years previously to fulfil another contract, which is still running, for turning a 316 stainless steel spindle used in a medical delivery device.
Discussions progressed and, to develop the process further, he decided to buy on-spec a 12 mm bar capacity Cincom L12, which is of more appropriate size for producing the endoscope parts in short cycle times.
Says King: “The first of the L12s started arriving in July 2018, and the last ones were on site by January this year. All are operating 24/7. The lead-time from the customer signing the contract and our shipping the first parts in production quantities was five months. Citizen supported us well during this ramp-up phase.”
All of the latest sliding-head lathes are equipped with Citizen’s patented LFV (low frequency vibration) software, part of the control’s operating system that assists chip breaking when machining materials that tend to generate long, stringy swarf during turning.
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk