FEATURE ON CNC LATHES AND TURNING CENTRES

FFG supplies line for 1.5 million rail wheels

FFG subsidiary MAG IAS GmbH (MAG) has secured a significant contract to deliver a highly automated production line for forged railway wheels to Ramkrishna Titagarh Rail Wheels Ltd (RKTR) in India. The double-digit million euro project is part of the Indian Government’s ‘Make in India’ initiative, which aims to transform the country into a globally competitive industrial hub.

The state-of-the-art system will be installed at RKTR’s Chennai facility and is designed to produce 100,000 railway wheels annually. The system is capable of manufacturing six different types of railway wheels without the need for change over. Furthermore, it is designed with future scalability in mind, allowing production capacity to double if needed. To ensure precise planning and fast commissioning, FFG created a digital twin of the system alongside extensive 3D simulations. The system’s pre-calculated energy consumption across various production scenarios supports sustainable manufacturing practices.

The system will feature MAG Hessapp VDM 1600 vertical lathes and Specht 800 horizontal machining centres. Also supplied were coolant and chip management for the entire plant, automation for both the machining and testing cells, measuring machines, a balancing station, ultrasonic testing units, and two magnetic particle inspection stations. An outstanding feature of the centrally controlled production system is monitoring of the entire system and the tracking of components.

Production is scheduled to start in Q1 2026, with the system set to manufacture and deliver a total of 1.54 million railway wheels to Indian Railways over the next 20 years. The project supports India’s expanding infrastructure and further strengthens FFG’s presence in the region.

More information www.ffg-ea.com/en

Future-proof six-sided complete machining 

The machining transformation (MX) with which DMG Mori says it is shaping the future of machine tool manufacturing has a direct influence on product development. This ethos is demonstrated by the sixth generation of CTX universal turning machines. According to DMG Mori, the latest addition to the series, the CTX 750|1250, sets new standards in performance, precision and energy efficiency.

On an area of just 11,7 m², the new model offers sufficient space for 700 mm diameterby 1290 mm long workpieces. The combination of left and right spindles, the optional Yaxis with ±85 mm travel and driven tools with up to 6000 rpm ensures productive six-sided complete machining of demanding geometries with maximum precision using integrated processes. This performance is thanks to the highly rigid machine concept of the CTX 750|1250, supported byup to 55 mm wide linear guides, integrated cooling measures and direct measuring systems from Magnescale.

Notably, the spindles of the CTX 750|1250 play a major role in high-performance machining. The left-hand ISM 127 spindle offering 2500 rpm and up to 1975 Nm torque is contrasted by an ISM 80 spindle thatdelivers 4000 rpm and 360 Nm. The spindle bore is127 mm diameter for 125 mm diameter bar. An ISM 102 spindle for six-side heavy-duty machining with a torque of up to 770 Nm is optionally available on the right-hand side.

The VDI-50 turret with 12 tool positions, used as standard, enables the milling operations required for six-sided complete machining. Driven tools reach 4000 rpm and 48 Nm. Alternatively, a high-speed turret with 66 Nm and a direct-drive turret with 86 Nm are available for speeds up to 6000 rpm. 

More information www.dmgmori.com

Direct route to success with SMEC turning centre

When Direct Engineering & Site Services Ltd opened its doors in Sheepbridge, it was a small fabrication shop. Fast-forward 28 years and the Chesterfield-based company operates from a 3716 m²premises with five divisions that deliver diverse services to customers throughout the UK and Europe.

Direct Engineering specialises in the installation of material handling equipment, vacuum conveying and chiller pipework systems. Dugard has frequently supported the company via its range of machine tools, with the latest acquisition being a SMEC SL 3000LM turning centre.

Ray Woolley, managing director of Direct Engineering, says: “We started in 1997 as a fabrication company that initially machined on a smaller scale. As time progressed, we saw the need to expand our operations as our customers requested more machining services, so we invested in CNC machines.”

He continues: “We’re presently undertaking quite a diverse range of work for industries from marine, automotive and pharmaceutical to power and the water utilities. We machine everything from plastic, brass, and aluminium to stainless, duplex, composites and more.”

To accommodate this variety of materials, the versatility of the Dugard SMEC SL3000LM machine is paying dividends.

“Each material has its challenges regarding how it cuts, but Dugard helped us with a machine breakdown and quickly got us up and running,” says Woolley.“For that reason, we continued our relationship with Dugard. We’ve had a lot of good productive advice from Dugard on how to deal with this diverse range of materials.”

The latest SMEC SL 3000LM is not the first Dugard at the Derbyshire company. Direct Engineering has a range of machines from Dugard, including the SMEC PL2500, PL35 and PL45 turning centres.

“Dugard has provided sound advice on the best machine tool options for our needs,” concludes Woolley.

More information www.dugard.com

Valuable insights gained at Index open house

The Index open house 2025 event at the company’s new iXperience Centre in Deizisau concluded with great success last week. With visitors able to explore numerous Index and Traub machine innovations, the event also featured tailored automation solutions, expert presentations and discussions with technology specialists from various industries.Additional highlights included a demonstration of ‘high dynamic turning’ with indexing turret-mounted tools, along with an integrated information session on machining hydraulic components.

Index equipped its customer centre with a range of turn-mill centres, production turning machines, multi-spindle turning machines and universal turning machines. All models were fully loaded for live demonstrations and integrated with automation solutions.

Making its debut at the event was the new Traub TNK40 production turning machine (pictured), a fixed-head machine based on the Traub TNL32 compact sliding/fixed-head machine. Instead of a sliding head for Swiss-type turning, the TNK40 features a fixed head with 40 mm clearance. Thanks to low-vibration, simplified bar guiding (such as via a short loader), Index says the machine offers greater overall rigidity than a sliding-head machine, resulting in enhanced dynamics and improved part quality.

Also making its debut was the Traub TNL12 lean, a cost-effective entry-level sliding/fixed-head turning machine equipped with just one turret and a back working unit. Its live guide bushing is adjustable but not programmable, though optional expansions remain available.

For those seeking high productivity, short cycle times and minimal tooling times, another highlight wasthe compact Index MS24-8 multi-spindle CNC turning machine, featuring eight spindles and MBL bar-loading magazine. With its extensive features and software tools, the machine can be quickly re-tooled and is well-suited to machining new material standards, such as lead-free brass.

More information www.index-group.com

Longer runs dictate move to sliding-head lathes

SFC (Europe) manufactures, stocks and supplies safety-critical stud-bolts, bolts and nuts in ASTM and ASME grades for onshore, offshore and subsea applications. The Wolverhampton-based company has enjoyed impressive growth, from a turnover of £1m when it was formed in 2013 to £15m in 2024, boosted by notable investments in CNC turning machines.

Since 2019, operations director Mark Edmonds and his colleagues had been considering sliding-head bar turning owing to its suitability for producing large quantities of components, including unattended overnight. The Covid-19 pandemic delayed things somewhat but by mid-2022 SFC (Europe) was ready to make its first investment in new turning centres. It was, however, a pair of fixed-head lathes (Miyano BNA-42DHY twin-spindle, twin-turret, bar-fed models from Citizen Machinery) that arrived, as machinists at Wolverhamptonwere unfamiliar with operating sliding-head equipment and management wanted modern, productive lathes that would come on-stream quickly.

A couple of years later, SFC (Europe) was ready to revert to the idea of introducing sliding-head, bar-fed lathes. The Miyano machines had performed so reliably in terms of uptime and accuracy that Edmonds looked no further than Citizen for the supply of two Cincom L32-VIIILFV turn-mill centres. Delivered and commissioned in April 2024, the Cincom machines mainly fulfil orders for higher volumes of parts. As traceability is often important, the ability to engrave components in-cycle saves a separate operation and contributes to maximising production output.

“Everyone from our founder and chairman Allan Stennett to machine tool operators on the shop floor are committed to acquiring and using the best production equipment possible,” says Edmonds.“Continued purchase of machines like the Miyano and Cincom lathes will undoubtedly underpin our continued growth for years to come.”More information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk