After experiencing ongoing problems with the bearings on a vital milling machine at a steel plant, the management team turned to NSK for a solution. This decision proved to be extremely lucrative, with the steelmaker now enjoying annual savings of €35,600.

The steel facility produces rails for lift equipment that require the machining of two flat areas at the ends, which assist the fitting of the rails during assembly. While the time required to mill these rough surfaces is short, the stiffness of the machine’s spindle is critical due to the length of the rails. However, using the milling machine’s original bearings, the steel plant noticed that spindle stiffness reduced after just three months, making it necessary to change the spindle assembly, including motors.
Faced with a recurring and expensive situation, NSK was asked to find a solution. Expert NSK engineers visited the plant and analysed the spindle design as part of its AIP Added Value Programme. Following their analysis, it was recommended that the spindle be redesigned with a four row bearing set, instead of three, thus increasing the radial load capacity and radial stiffness. The contact angle was also changed from 15° to 25°, to increase the bending stiffness of the shaft.
NSK’s high precision angular contact ball bearings (ACBB) were selected from its range of standard products.
After the steel plant had implemented the change, the bearings continued working in the milling machine for more than 12 months, with no failures experienced in the motor or transmission. Today, the steelmaker no longer has to endure four production stops a year, while the costs for the replacement spindle assemblies and motors have also been eliminated. Taking these factors into account, it has been calculated that the plant is
saving €35,600 per annum.
For further information www.nskeurope.com

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has supplied Hertfordshire-based precision subcontract specialist Qualiturn Products with a Doosan DVF 5000 five-axis machining centre.

The machine, one of the first in the UK, was installed at Qualiturn’s modern and spacious 20,000 sq ft facility in February 2019, and was timed to coincide with the company’s relocation to these new premises.
Says Nick Groom, Qualiturn’s managing director: “We operate a high-productivity, highly-efficient and flexible milling cell that runs 24/7 and provides customers with high-quality, competitively-priced machined components, delivered in double-quick time. The DVF 5000 investment was made to improve our milling capabilities and complements our existing technologies.
“We are keen advocates of one-hit machining and, wherever possible, look to automate our processes,” he adds.
This commitment to continuous improvement through automation led Qualiturn (in 2014) to invest in its first Lang Robo-Trex robot system. The system uses mobile trollies which are loaded with multiple vices that hold workpieces. These workpieces – when prepped – are loaded into the Doosan DNM 650 machining centre by the system’s robot.
Such has been the success of the DNM 650/Lang Robo-Trex automated manufacturing cell that the company decided to invest in a second cell based on the new DVF 5000.
Says Groom: “Our new cell is fully operational and runs 24/7. The Doosan DVF 5000 is a high-performance machine and, by integrating it with an automated parts-handling system, we’ve been able to exploit its full potential. As a result we have experienced dramatic productivity gains and significantly reduced lead times, both of which make us more competitive.”
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

A substantial proportion of MJ Allen Group’s more than £30m turnover comes from gravity die casting and machining the aluminium main case, as well as the intermediate and cover castings, for a modified transmission that goes into the all-wheel-drive (AWD) version of the Ford Transit van.

Currently, 100 sets per week are delivered to Getrag Ford Transmissions in Halewood for assembly and export to a vehicle manufacturing plant in Turkey, but that number is predicted to double by the spring of this year.
To cope with the extra demand, the subcontract casting and machining specialist is building a second die-casting cell in Ashford, Kent, which is due to be operational imminently. Additionally, in September 2019 the company bought a second pair of Heller horizontal twin-pallet production centres to machine the increasing quantity of components.
Group managing director Tim Allen says: “We wanted a two-machine turnkey solution and a hand-holding approach with applications back-up, as this was the first significant automotive contract we had won and our initial entry into the machining of production volumes. That level of service was forthcoming from Heller UK’s Redditch headquarters and factory, and continues to this day.”
He adds that the first models were Heller MCI16s with an 800 x 630 x 630 mm machining envelope, whereas the two latest models, H4000s, have a larger 800 mm cube working volume and are manufactured in Redditch. One of each pair is devoted to producing the transmission’s main case in three operations, the longest cycle being one hour. The other two are able to machine both the intermediate and cover castings, four at a time per pallet in two operations apiece, as the cycle times are shorter.
For further information www.heller.biz

MACH Machine Tools has recently supplied Surrey-based precision subcontract specialist Delavale Engineering with two MACH 710MM+ vertical machining centres. The machines are positioned adjacent to each other at the company’s 5000 sq ft facility in Bagshot to create a flexible, high-productivity milling cell.

Delavale’s decision to invest in new machines from MACH Machine Tools represents a significant departure for the company. Prior to the new acquisitions, Delavale purchased pre-owned machines from Machine Tool Sales Online (MTSO) which, like MACH Machine Tools, is part of the Vigilance Group of companies. New machines were acquired from a different, well-established machine-tool supplier.
Explains Steve Burrows, Delavale’s managing director: “We regularly invest in high-quality used machine tools as an established route to increasing and improving our machining capacity and capabilities and, over recent years, have acquired a number of pre-owned machines from MTSO.”
Indeed it was during a visit to MTSO’s Bristol showroom facility where Burrows, with an eye on acquiring a pre-owned machining centre, caught sight of a new MACH 710MM+ vertical spindle machine.
“MACH 710MM+ machines have a number of attractive features and their specification compares favourably with many mid-size vertical machining centres on the market,” he says. “Particularly appealing was the direct-drive spindle configuration which, unlike belt-driven spindle options, are much quieter and more responsive. The machine’s face and taper tooling, and 48m/min rapid rates, were other key selling points.
“Following its delivery and installation, one of the first jobs loaded to the machine was an existing precision aluminium component,” he continues. “The MACH 710MM+ delivered immediate benefits, most notably a 50% reduction in cycle time and the elimination of secondary, hand-finishing operations.”
Such were the performance and productivity improvements gained from the MACH 710MM+ machine that, just a few months later, Delavale ordered a second identical machine.
For further information www.machmt.co.uk

A new five-axis machining centre with integrated laser-deposition welding capability for accurate, reliable, cost-effective, complete production of complex components in one hit has been introduced by DMG Mori. The LaserTec 125 3D hybrid is intended for the manufacture, maintenance and repair of workpieces up to 1250 mm in diameter by 745 mm high, and weighing up to 2000 kg.

Based on DMG Mori’s rigid MonoBlock platform, the LaserTec 125 3D hybrid offers automatic changeover between laser-deposition welding and simultaneous five-axis milling in a single set-up, reducing processing times by up to 80%. Such savings are helped by eliminating the need for heat treatment as a separate process step due to the machine’s ability to deposit material with a hardness of up to 63 HRc.
The alternate use of laser-deposition welding and simultaneous five-axis milling is beneficial for improving production processes or enabling new component geometries, an example being the manufacture of closed impellers. Another strength of these hybrid machines is the production and repair of hot and cold forming, and forging dies.
DMG Mori’s LaserTec 125 3D hybrid can also produce lightweight structures that reduce the weight of parts by up to 90%. A selling point of laser-deposition welding is the possibility it offers to change between two materials quickly under CNC. So, for instance, hard surfacing to reduce wear can be carried out in one area and corrosion-resistant welding for environmental protection may be performed in another. Alternatively, the cooling characteristics of a part can be significantly increased. As an illustration, a die-casting mould can be produced by starting with a bronze core that dissipates heat effectively, and welding on to it an outer skin of tool steel.
For further information www.dmgmori.com