FEATURE ON CNC LATHES AND TURNING CENTRES

NSSS orders four Citizen machines

The specialist fastener operation of Hockley-based Non Standard Socket Screw (NSSS) is continuing its policy of upgrading competitiveness by not only increasing productivity with further lights-out operations, but achieving improvements to quality and, most importantly, consistency of production, especially in more difficult to machine materials.
To help achieve this target, NSSS has ordered four CNC sliding head turn-mill centres worth £400,000 from Citizen Machinery UK.

Two Citizen Cincom installations comprising an L32-VIII and L20-VIII are already in full production. These machines will soon be joined by a further Cincom L20-VIII plus a smaller capacity L12-VII.
Says marketing director Melvin White: “We are in a very competitive market and it is important to maintain our production capability for both UK and overseas customers. We’re a modern business that is driving the use of automation and the latest manufacturing technologies to continually improve quality and output.”
By way of example, he follows on to describe the recent installation of a computer controlled heat-treatment facility and how lights-out techniques contribute to the firm’s improved levels of productivity.
“Our market demands consistency of production over long periods, which is being achieved with the latest machine-tool installations,” he says.
Since its foundation in 1971, NSSS has developed a fully self-contained fastener manufacturing operation that employs 90 people. In addition to its stockist business, the company produces a range of special fasteners, including prototypes for customers that range in size from M1.4. Parts are produced from up to 32 mm diameter bar on the Citizen Cincom machines.
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

High productivity in a compact footprint

Okuma, which is represented in the UK by NCMT, has added the 2SP-2500H CNC turn-mill centre to its line of ‘smart’ machines.
The front-facing twin spindles provide higher levels of productivity and greater reliability in volume production, especially for automotive parts.

The compact, automation-ready machine effectively integrates two lathes into one unit with a standard loader for continuous front and back work.
Okuma’s latest turn-mill machine enables stable unattended production over long runs via a high-speed loader that feeds blanks. Due to the machine’s novel design, the loader is able to enter the 2SP-2500H regardless of the turret’s position. Since turret retraction is not necessary, workpiece transport and changeover times are reduced.
Offering 5000 rpm, the turning spindle is said to be the fastest in its class, which combines with a smallest-in-class machine width of 2200 mm. Despite its compact dimensions, the machine features a maximum turning diameter of 250 mm.
The 2SP-2500H, which is 20% faster than previous models, offers milling capabilities that are supported by a maximum spindle speed of 6000 rpm and a motor output of 7.1 kW, making it on par with a small machining centre. The machine is also capable of face milling, drilling and tapping.
Okuma’s intelligent ‘Thermo-Friendly Concept’ app is designed to minimise thermal deformation and enhance component accuracy, while the company’s ‘Tool Life Forecaster’ predicts the remaining time before a tool exchange is required, thus preventing tool-edge breakage and reducing costs.
For further information www.okuma.eu

XYZ ProTurn lathes upgraded

A number of options and upgrades have been announced for the SLX ProTurn range of lathes offered by XYZ Machine Tools. For instance, the largest machine in the range, the 3 m-bed SLX 555, with its 560 mm swing over the bed, 104 mm spindle bore and 3000 mm between centres, now features single-door to access the working area. Replacing the previous double-door system, the new design configuration makes it much easier for operators to access to the entire bed length.

SLX ProTurn lathes also have a number of productivity boosting options now available, including a four or eight-position auto-indexing toolpost to replace the standard quick-change system. The eight-position option features a cycloidal, zero-backlash drive system featuring an absolute position encoder, with the turret locked in position using a Hirth coupling.
For those performing larger diameter drilling work, the SLX range can now be fitted with an optional drilling attachment that sits on the machine cross slide. By drilling directly from the cross slide rather than the toolpost, users are able to maximise the potential of the latest drilling tools, at the same time reducing stress on the toolpost and releasing positions for turning and boring tools.
As part of XYZ’s quality procedures, every SLX lathe is ballbar tested using the latest QC20 Bluetooth ballbar system from Renishaw (pictured). This is part of the 168-hour (24/7) testing procedure undertaken by XYZ on its machine tools prior to delivery. If any fault is identified during this period, it is rectified and the test starts again from
the beginning.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

High-specification universal lathe

The CTX 2500|700 universal turning machine has been unveiled by DMG Mori. Designed for machining components up to 366 mm in diameter from billet, or 76 mm from bar, and to a maximum length of 705 mm, the machine is the first in the company’s range that allows users to turn grooves up to 12 mm wide in CK45 steel and drill holes to 80 mm diameter.
DMG Mori’s CTX 2500|700 combines the rigid machine bed and box guideway configuration of the NLX 2500|700, of which more than 10,000 have been sold, with the VDI turret and Siemens 840D Solutionline control from the CTX beta 800. DMG Mori’s proprietary app-based control and operation interface, CELOS, is included.

Precision and surface quality derive from the thermo-stability of the lathe, which has a spiral oil jacket around the spindle to control temperature and coolant recirculation through the cast bed. A linear scale with a standard resolution of 0.01 µm is fitted in the X axis for positional feedback. Furthermore, rapid traverse of 30 m/min in the linear axes ensures short idle times, while a Y axis may be specified for turn-milling work.
The TurnMaster 4000 rpm main spindle with 26 kW of power and 525 Nm torque (or optional 3500 rpm, 30 kW, 1194 Nm version) is opposed by an 11 kW, 7000 rpm, 70 Nm (or 32 kW, 5000 rpm, 360 Nm) counter spindle. A 6000 rpm, 32 Nm cooled-disc turret with VDI 40 interface is offered as standard, while an 85 Nm TorqueDrive and a 12,000 rpm SpeedDrive are available.
For further information www.dmgmori.com

LNS keeps developing e-Connect

The LNS Group says that it is implementing e-Connect solutions to integrate its products, particularly barfeeds, into customer ERP and MES systems. “This will allow LNS customers to get full machining transparency at a glance, including the workload of each machine, cycle times and expected production completion,” explains Carlos Muniz, global product manager barfeed at the LNS Group.

LNS has been pushing innovation in the field of connectivity for more than 10 years. Together with major machine manufacturers, the connection between the peripheral and the machine tool was developed. A second major innovation was the connection between the LNS product and the humans controlling it. Monitoring production remotely from mobile devices saves time by knowing when the machining process will stop for a changeover, thus anticipating downtime in production planning. Thanks to e-mail or GSM notifications, overall production processes are more efficient. Additionally, the connection to internal or external technical support ensures downtime reduction.
While the e-Connect solutions to the machine and people are essential, another major step is the integration into customer ERP, MES and quality control operations.
“Until now, such systems and the machines were not efficiently connected, missing transparency,” says Muniz. “LNS is developing software drivers that will gather relevant information from the peripheral and, through middleware, feed it to applications or systems such as ERP, MES or quality control. These solutions are tailor-made for each customer software platform. The real-time monitoring of all processes will help clients to save time and resources.”
For further information www.lns-group.com