High-specification lathe at competitive price

At the MACH exhibition in Birmingham, UK, last month, NCMT showcased a number of Okuma turning centres, including the competitively priced Genos L3000-e-MYW. The display saw the machine fed automatically with shaft-type parts by a Cellro CoMate collaborative robot (cobot). The maximum turning diameter of the Genos L3000-e-MYWis 300 mm while speed of the 22 kW spindle is up to 3800 rpm, all in a compact footprint of 2.5 x 1.9 m.

This 6-tonne turning centre featuring sub-spindle and a 12-station turret with Yaxis and live tooling offers robust construction. An integral spindle motor and rigid guideways make it suitable for the precision machining of many materials, including exotic alloys. User-friendly features include a separate coolant tank for quick servicing, and easy spindle access to speed maintenance and machine set-up, and reduced chip accumulation for less machine downtime during removal.

Okuma’s One-Touch IGF is an option in the OSP control. The One-Touch IGF allows users to describe part geometry including diameter, length, grooves and threads using simple commands, from which the system draws the defined shape and then develops the part program automatically.

Also on the stand was an Okuma MultusU3000 multi-tasking lathe with a 240° swivelling B-axis head and HSK-A63 (optionally Capto C6) 12,000 rpm/22 kW spindle for turning or milling components up to 1500 mm between centres. The tool magazine has 40 stations as standard, but is optionally available with a capacity of 80 tools.

Okuma’s MultusU3000 features Okuma’s own linear scales for high-accuracy positional feedback. Servo motors deliver feed rates of up to 50 m/min in the X and Z axes, and up to 40 m/min in the 250 mm Yaxis. Together with the Caxis on the main spindle, the machine is capable of fully interpolative five-axis (X,Y,Z,B,C) machining of freeform surfaces.
For further information www.ncmt.co.uk

Showtime for Hanwha sliding-head lathes

To showcase the breadth of its machine tool offering, Dugard gave the Hanwha brand of sliding-head turning centres prominence on its stand at the MACH exhibition in Birmingham, UK, last month.The XD10, XD20 III and XDI 32 modelstook centre stage.

The smallest of the three, the Hanwha XD10,offers 10mm bar capacity for the mid-to-highvolume machining of small components. With a 15,000rpm/3.7kW spindle and eight front and six back-end turning tools, the XD10 is a flexible proposition. The machine also provides four ER11 front-end tools and four ER11M cross-drilling tools with eight ER11 sub-spindle back-working tools.

Next to the Hanwha XD10 was the larger Hanwha XD20 III. Available with FANUC or Siemens control, the XD20 III is for machining both short and long components with its extended Z1-axis stroke of 240mm and Z2-axis stroke of 286mm. With five cross-drilling stations as standard and a Y2 back-tool feature, the XD20 III demonstrates high productivity levels. Flexibility comes from the presence of six OD tooling stations, five ER16M positions for front and back working, five ER16 cross-drilling positions (with an additional two for off-centre drilling),and eight back-end tools configured as four fixed and four driven positions.

The third Hanwha machine on the stand was the XDI 32. The largest of the three Hanwha machines at MACH, the XDI 32 provides strong performance characteristics that stem from a robust machine construction, providing the base for precision, repeatability and smooth surface finish. The 32 mm diameter capacity machine features a 6500rpm sub-spindle and up to 26 tools.

For further information www.dugard.com

Bumotec solves medical production puzzle

Ireland-based Dawnlough Precision is a 110-employee subcontract manufacturing business that has travelled a relentless journey of growth since it started manufacturing tooling for the aerospace and medical industries back at the start of the millennium. This ascension has arrived through an aggressive growth strategy and investment in high-end machine tools, including two Bumotec 191neo turn-mill centres from Starrag.

“Our core business in the medical sector predominantly focused on vascular work and, from this, we’ve expanded our offering,” explains Keith Kennedy, aerospace production manager. “We now produce an array of components for our robotic-assisted surgical [RAS]customers, as well as consumable instruments.

It is here that the search for a suitable machine led Dawnlough to purchase its first Bumotec 191neo FTL-R in June 2022.

“We needed a machine that could offer accuracy of 2-3µm on production runs, short cycle times and incredible efficiency because it’s a very competitive market,” continues Kennedy. “We visited many companies offering high-accuracy machines, but it’s only as you look closer and purchase a machine for this type of work that you really see the added value they bring.

“Some of the functions of the Bumotec, such as thesoftware for monitoring the machine, the cutting load, the contact cutting time and the large 90-tool ATC are incredible.It was a huge investment and an unknown risk, but the Bumotec ticked all of our boxes.”

Following the success of the Bumotec 191neo in FTL-R configuration, the Galway company added a second Bumotec 191neo in March 2023. Supplied in FTL-PRM configuration, the subsequent Bumotec 191neo features complete automation and a 20-position pallet station for lights-out production.

For further information www.starrag.com

Even faster Nakamura-Tome turn-mill centre

The Nakamura-Tome range of multi-tasking turning centres is renowned for being quick and productive, but now there is an even faster model. The launch of the Nakamura-Tome NTY3-100V now available in the UK from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) can reduce cycle times by more than 30% over its predecessor.

The new multi-tasking NTY3-100V is the second instalment of the V series, following the WY-100V announced last July. The V series has speed at the core of its design concept, starting with the incorporation of Nakamura’s ChronoCut software. ChronoCut reduces idle time between operations with a multitude of new featuresthat increase production speed, all without changing the machining conditions or impacting machine accuracy. 

As standard, the twin-spindle Nakamura NTY3-100V includes Y-axis capabilities on all three tooling turrets that enhance processing capabilities with balanced left and right spindle machining. Simultaneous upper and lower turret machining further support high productivity levels.


As a three-turret machine, the NTY3-100V can accommodate up to 72 tools. By pre-setting tools for two or three different component types beforehand, there is no need to change tool set-ups for processing a multitude of different workpieces. Moreover, by adjusting the turret balancing time between the left and right spindles and utilising the lower turret for centre support, gains are available in both flexibility and speed.

Nakamura-Tome CEO Shogo Nakamura says: “Many customers want automated processing of precision workpieces while ensuring high and flexible production volumes. On top of that, we’re determined to deliver the clear value of fast cycle time and set-up time reductions. The NTY3-100V provides this, incorporating feedback and opinions from various internal departments and customers in its development.”

For further information www.engtechgroup.com

Rapid set-ups decide Cincom purchase

Last autumn, motorsport subcontractor h2m needed to replace an ageing sliding-head CNC turn-mill centre at its Hinckley factory. Joint managing directors and owners, father and son team Andy and Martin Forryan, considered buying a replacement from the supplier of the original twin-spindle, 32 mm capacity slider, but insteadopted for a Cincom M32-VIIILFV from Citizen Machinery UK.

Around 3000-off is a large run for sliding-head turned parts at h2m, while the production of batches of relatively simple components up to 500-off is typical for unattended overnight running. However, the company completestrickier jobs during day shifts in batch sizes as low as 10-off, so speed of programming is essential to minimise machine downtime.

Andy and Martin paid particular attention to this issue, concluding that the Cincom lathe with Citizen’s Alkart Wizard programming system would be less expensive and several times faster than if purchasing the other lathe. The wizard assists and simplifies the creation of even complex cycles using a built-in code library, reference material and diagrams.

Sharing some detail of their deliberations, Martin says: “Alkart Wizard is an inexpensive option. We use it to prepare programs and prove them offline for virtually every sliding-head part we produce. We only program the occasional simple component directly at the control.

“Even complicated components take just 30-40 minutes to program in Alkart with only a further 15-20 minutes to check the cycle virtually in the wizard.So a new job is always up and running in under an hour.”

He contrasts this with the much longer and more expensive route that would have been needed with the other slider, for which a similar wizard was not available.

For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk