FEATURE ON CNC MILLS & MACHINING CENTRES

Machining centres set to disrupt the market

Two new machining centres areset to shake up the market and provide component manufacturers with high cutting performance, flexibility and value.MACH Machine Tools, part of the Vigilance Group, is introducing two production-led vertical machining centres:
the MACH MDV 800 and MACH MDV 1100. Both machines feature the flexible and easy-to-use DynaPath WinDelta CNC control system, and are available at competitive prices.

Says Dave Andrew, Vigilance Group’s managing director:“Our new MDV machining centres are powerful, precise, fast and reliable.They have a rigid design and build, deliver best-in-class cutting performance and their price point will give other manufacturers’ equivalent-type machines a real run for their money.”

MACH MDV machines house BT40 air-cooled, high-torque spindles as standard (11-15kW, 8000rpm), but can be ordered and supplied with direct-drive 12,000rpm spindles replete with spindle chiller and through-spindlecoolant capabilities that extend their application potential.Other standard features include: Hiwin linear roller guides, 24-position swing arm ATCs and generous-sized worktables (1000 x 500mm with 500kg maximum load on the MDV 800, and 1200x 600mm with 800kg maximum load on the MDV 1100).

The machines are fast with 36m/min rapid rates on all axes and, to ensure process reliability, are fully enclosed with armoured telescoped covers.High precision comes courtesy of C3-class PMI precision ball screws and laser interferometer dynamic lead-screw compensation that enables 6 µm positional and 3µm repeatable accuracies across the work envelope.

As with all MACH machine tools, both MDV models are equipped, as standard, with a range of technology features that include auto-lubrication, flood coolant and wash-down systems.
Among the optional extras available are tool and workpiece probe systems, 4th-axis system configuration, and swarf augurs and conveyors.

“We’re confident that our new MDV machines will shake-up the market and prove that you needn’t ‘break the bank’ to acquire a new high-productivity, high-precision machining centre.”
For further information www.machmt.com

Subcontractor develops its own road-race engine

The original engine of the A-series Classic Mini included a 32 kg cast iron block. Imagine the improved performance if the latest advances in engine technology were applied today. This is what inspired Smethwick-based subcontractor A&M EDM to create its own engine, a road-race version with a block machined from solid aluminium weighing just 20.55 kg with end caps fitted. The machining of nearly all engine parts takes place on Hurco machine tools, of which there are 27 on the shop floor, including three-, four- and five-axis vertical machining centres.

A Hurco VMX42Ui five-axis VMC performs block machining, while the crankshaft is produced from a solid billet using the swivelling B-axis of a Hurco VMX60SRTi VMC synchronised with the motions of a Kitagawa GT320 rotary 4th-axis table. The initial engine design was for the front-wheel-drive, transverse engine layout of the Mini, but a crankshaft is also suitable for an in-line engine. So, with adapter plates it can serve sports cars with rear-wheel drive, such as the Austin-Healey or MG Midget.

The engine is the brainchild of Gary Surman, previously technical director at A&M EDM, who says: “The accuracy and surface finish we achieve on the Hurco machines are excellent. Roughing speeds are high at 12 m/min, while finishing with a ball-nose mill is at about 2.5 m/min. The programs for machining the block have been linked, so it can be left overnight for unattended machining.”

Ascaso A+5 engines of different capacities are also available – 998 and 1171 cc – for both the BMW K16V and 12G940 heads. The future for all of them looks bright, as there are thousands of Mini enthusiasts worldwide. Moreover, the engine’s ability to power rear-wheel-drive cars dramatically extends its potential.
For further information www.hurco.co.uk

New high-speed spindle from DMG Mori

The range of SpeedMaster high-performance spindles, manufactured in-house by DMG Mori for its machining centres, now includes a model capable of continuous operation at up to 30,000 rpm. The new spindle is for high-speed milling applications and may be factory-fitted or retrofitted to the company’s horizontal and vertical machining centres, such as the NHX 4000/5000 3rd Generation and NVX 5000 2nd Generation, as well as the MonoBlock series.

Previously, the spindles were only available in 15,000 rpm and 20,000 rpm versions. The new SpeedMaster30,000 rpm model is for reducing cycle times and, due to its rigid construction, achieving high surface quality during mould and die work. It is also well suited to machining complex workpieces with small-diameter tools, such as in the electronics industry.

In a comparative test, the company drilled 4000 holes of 1 mm diameter in a semiconductor machinery component in a cycle time 36%quicker than the 20,000 rpm spindle took to complete the job. Tool wear was also significantly less. Additionally, quicker machining times reduce overall power consumption and hence CO2 emissions.

While achieving fine surface finishes is one of the spindle’s attributes, so also is roughing at lower speeds, with 22 kW of power available between 7000 and 15,000 rpm. All Master spindles are covered by a warranty of 36 months.
For further information www.dmgmori.com

New Heckert T55 machining centre from Starrag

Starrag has announced the second – and larger capacity – member of its new Heckert range with the launch of the T55 five-axis horizontal machining centre for the multi-tasking and complete machining of workpieces weighing up to 700 kg.The machine can perform single set-up milling, turning, drilling, gear-cutting/skiving and pointing to accuracies down to 3 µmdue to the interaction between its temperature- and vibration-stable mineral cast machine bed and the double symmetrically-mounted rotary drive unit.

Drive elements such as planet carriers and wheel hub drives for commercial vehicles, agricultural machinery and industrial applications are typical applications.With pallets of 500 x 630 mm and X, Y and Z-axis travels of 850, 1020 and 1000 mm respectively, the T55 is of compact, robust design and has a low-vibration rotary drive unit specially designed for turning operations – plus a dynamic main 72 kW spindle rated at 15,000 rpm and 292 Nm. Acceleration rates are up to 10 m/sec², while rapid traverse is 80 m/min. The NC rotating table carries a rating of 900 rpm and the HSK-T100 toolholder also encourages high chip removal rates.

Although the T55 can machine components with a workpiece contour of 900 mm, chip-to-chip time is only 4.3 seconds and pallet change time is 14.5 seconds. Like its smaller stablemate (the T45), the new T55 is ergonomic, and easy and reliable to operate, while workpiece loading is easily automated by pallet storage units or robots.

Indeed, the success of a two-T45 machine cell with robot load/unload saw a drive manufacturer double productivity, halve overall machine footprint and reduce tool and handling costs by 40%. The T55 could easily mirror this performance on larger workpieces.
For further information www.starrag.com

MACH Machine Tools unveils knee-mill series

MACH Machine Tools, part of the Vigilance Group and a supplier of CNC andmanual machines, is introducing a range of flexible, high-productivity CNC knee mills, comprising the MACH MDS 700-4T and MACH MDS 900-4T models. Both are equipped with the three-axis DynaPath WinDelta control and feature integrated, four-station automatic tool changers positioned around their directly driven BT40 (5000 rpm) spindles. The machines come with large worktables (up to 1470x 320mm) that support loads up to 220kg.

The DynaPath control, available on all new CNC lathes, toolroom mills and machining centres from MACH Machine Tools, is one of the most widely used control systems in the world.Used extensively in the US and Far East for over 50 years, MACH Machine Tools says that the control is flexible, versatile and easy-to-use – providing customers with simple-to-understand navigation and operation screens, and accommodating ISO and conversational programming on the same platform.

With online CAD editing capabilities, semi-auto functions and DRO operation, as well as the ability to run programs of unlimited size, top-of-the-line dynamic motion control and the system’s revolutionary 24/7 remote diagnostic control – the company says that it is clear and understandable why the DynaPath control is becoming the preferred option for experienced and aspiring manufacturers.

Says Dave Andrew, managing director of the Vigilance Group:“Knee-mill technology has come on leaps and bounds over the past few years and we are at the head of these developments.Our MDS 700-4T and MDS 900-4T machines, equipped with the DynaPath control system and integrated tool changers, demonstrate that toolroom mills that deliver increased and improved productivity, flexibility and process efficiencies.”
For further information www.machmt.co.uk