FEATURE ON CNC LATHES AND TURNING CENTRES

Host of new Colchester products on show

Colchester Machine Tool Solutions recently staged its first open house in four years. Taking place at the company’s European Technology Centre in Elland, West Yorkshire, the company showcased a whole host of new products to existing and prospective customers. Across the two-day event, there were also live product demonstrations and talks on the latest product ranges, as well as refreshments and a special prize giveaway.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of Tornado CNC turning centres, so Colchester Machine Tool Solutions has brought them back better than ever in new and modern configurations to give customers high rigidity and accuracy for any machining project.

Also on show was the Colchester Student centre lathe, which the company says is known throughout industry as the ultimate training and apprentice’s machine tool. This year, Colchester Machine Tool Solutions released the Student CNC lathe, a modern variant designed and engineered in the UK. The lathefeatures the latest FANUC controls, giving the user flexibility in programming, including ISO, conversational Manual Guide i or via CADCAM.

Completing the turning line-up, Colchester’s range of manual centre lathes and Alpha CNC/manual combination lathes also took the spotlight.

New from a milling perspective was the Storm vertical machining centre range, offering linear guideways, box ways and compact tool-room machine variants, all capable of heavy-duty and precise machining.

Also on display were new CNC and manual turret mills, providing extensive reliability, accuracy and versatility for small to medium size production runs. The company’s automation partner Olympus Technologies was present to demonstrate its bespoke automation solutions in tandem with Colchester’s Storm VMCs, which are automation and Industry 4.0 ready.
For further information www.colchester.co.uk

Integrex i-H culminates 40 years of innovation

Mazak celebrated 40 years of multi-tasking innovation at the recent EMO 2023 exhibition in Hanover with four Integrex machines on its stand.Mazak’s multi-tasking journey started in 1983 with the Slant Turn 40N ATC, the forerunner of the modern Integrex. The latest Integrex variation, the i-H series, culminates 40 years of turn-mill innovation and learnings that has produced the most compact, automation-friendly and productive Integrex ever manufactured.

At EMO 2023, the Integrex i-200 H ST partnered with a world debut for the Ez Loader 30 collaborative robot cell. Handling workpieces up to 18kg and 50 to 200mm in diameter, the Ez Loader 30 offers a flexible solution for today’s fast turnaround manufacturing.

The Integrex i-200 H ST comes equipped with 5000 rpm main and second spindles and a 12,000 rpm rotating B-axis second spindle for done-in-one capability. The growing requirement for automation is fundamental to the design of the i-H series. All models feature a flat front, while the tool magazine sits at the rear, providing greater accessibility to site automation at the front of the machine while maintaining accessibility for the operator. The rear-mounted 38-tool magazine reduces the machine’s overall footprint (optionally expandable to 74 or 112 tools). As well as providing access to the magazine area at the rear, tools can also be loaded and unloaded at the front of the machine for convenient operation.

Through innovative technology, the Ez Loader 30 solves the problem typically associated with automating high-mix, low-volume production of varied diameter components. Thanks to the automatic chuck-jaw changing function, the robot exchanges work-holding for both spindles to eliminate manual set-up and costly downtime between component runs.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

Single-opmachining of heavy-duty chains

Precision Chains in Dudley makes heavy-duty roller chains for use in quarrying, agriculture andescalator applications, to list but a few. The smallest chain link is 2” and the biggest can weigh as much as 25kg.

Ian Thomas, general manager of Precision Chains, says: “Our challenge was to find a better way of manufacturing therollers, pins and bushes required for the chains. Previously, we had to turn, mill, cross-drill, drill down the centre, counterbore and deburr them. All these operations were very labour intensive and time consuming with set-ups on up to three machines, not to mention all the handling involved. Furthermore, moving between these machines has an impact on accuracy.”

Precision Chains chose an XYZ TC320 LTY with parts catcher, swarf management and Hydrafeed bar feeder. The XYZ TC320 LTY has a Siemens 828D control with ShopTurn for easy programming of the Y axis and live tools. It can chuck up to 300mm diameter and has a bar capacity with the bar feeder of up to 78mm diameter. The machine features Ceratizit tooling with two sets of live tools for cross drilling, milling flats and machining lubrication spirals. The company also doubles up with some tools performing both turning and facing operations.

“We run the XYZ TC320 LTY from 07:30 to 21:30, making a complete part in one operation with one operator checking the machine from time to time while completing other tasks,” says Thomas. “We’ve also been able to dispose of two machines which we no longer need.”

Four people underwent training on the XYZ TC320 LTY at XYZ Machine Tools’ Nuneaton office and, working from drawings, the trainees were quickly confident in using the machine and Siemens control.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

New machine investment adds-up for Adnet

Located in Brockworth on the outskirts of Gloucester, Adnet Precision Engineering is a subcontract manufacturer that continually grows its business. Operating in the defence, pharmaceutical, aerospace, metrology, medical, telecommunications and semiconductor industries, the company has ramped up its investment in machine tools to support ongoing growth. The latest investments include an array of turning centres and sliding-head lathes from Dugard.

Caroline Day, director at Adnet Precision,says: “We already had one sliding-head machine, but we were running out of capacity, so we invested in the Hanwha XD20-IIV. This new machine is running parts more than 30% faster than our existing sliding head.”

With a maximum speed of 10,000rpm on the main spindle and 8000rpm on the sub-spindle, the machine has a spindle motor power of 2.2/3.7kW. A FANUC 32i-B CNC drives the Hanwha XD20IIV, which provides precise machining through its high tool adaptability, minimised thermal displacement and driven-tooling capabilities. The Hanwha XD20IIV is supplied material via a 3m bar feed.

Most recently, the company purchased a SMEC SL2000SY twin-spindle turn-mill centre from Dugard. This workhorse has an 11/18kW spindle motor that provides high torque for maximum material removal, while the heavily ribbed Meehanite cast and structural design provide high levels of surface finish, repeatability and precision. The 8-inch chuck machine has a sizeable capacity with a swing over bed and cross slide of 650 and 540mm respectively,alongside a maximum machining diameter of 395mm and a maximum machining length of 450mm.

“With the twin spindles we can achieve a lot more work; it’s probably 30% more efficient than the two machines it replaced,” says Day. “The machine also has far more capability.”
For further information www.dugard.com

Mills CNC supplies MCS with two more machines

Mills CNC has supplied precision subcontract specialist – Machined Component Systems (MCS) – with two newFANUC-controlled multi-tasking turning centres.The machines, a 10” chuck Puma 2600SY II lathe with sub-spindle and Y axis, and an 8” chuck TT 1800SY twin-spindle, twin-turret turning centre, both featureHydrafeed MSV80 bar feeders.

The latest arrivals have significantly strengthened the in-house machining capacity and capabilities at MCS, taking the total number of machine tools at the company’s disposal to 40, five of which are DN Solutions and Doosan machines supplied by Mills CNC.

Says MCS managing director Warren Gray:“The Puma 2600SY is fast, accurate, powerful and reliable. With its integrated Y axis and sub-spindle the machine is capable of processing high-precision, complex parts in one-hit and, in a relatively short period of time, has proved its worth.It was these capabilities, in addition to its immediate availability, which clinched the deal.”

The investment in the TT 1800SY turning centre arrived as a direct result, back in early 2023, of an existing customer dramatically uplifting its requirements for high-quality mill-turned machined parts. While obviously great news for MCS, the increase in demand, if not addressed quickly and decisively, would have swallowed up a significant proportion of the company’s existing turning capacity.

“The TT 1800SY allows simultaneous machining on both spindles and enables us to perform high-precision milling, drilling and tapping operations in a single set-up,” says Gray. “Byintegrating the machine with a bar feeder we have a ‘de facto’ flexible automated manufacturing cell at our disposal.”
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk