Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, last month attended the Southern Manufacturing exhibition for the first time in the company’s history. To mark the occasion, Mills CNC showcased the latest Doosan simultaneous five-axis machining centre on its stand.

The machine, a DVF 5000, made its UK debut at MACH 2018, where it proved to be popular with show visitors. Under power at Southern Manufacturing, the DVF 5000 demonstrated the five-axis machining of a complex, high-precision aerospace component.
The Doosan DVF 5000 is a compact, rigidly built machine that provides precision component manufacturers with full simultaneous five-axis machining capability. At Southern Manufacturing, the machine was exhibited with a 17.5 kW/12,000 rpm directly-coupled spindle, although a 22 kW/18,000 rpm built-in spindle option is also available.
While the DVF 5000 machine on Mills’ stand was equipped with a Heidenhain iTNC640 control, models can also be specified with either the latest Fanuc or Siemens CNC. The DVF 5000 offers rapid rates of 40 m/min in its X, Y and Z axes. At the show, the machine was equipped with integrated automation provided by a six-position automatic pallet changer and a servo-driven ATC that can hold up to 120 tools and offers a 1.3 second tool-to-tool change-over time.
The DVF 5000 features linear guides and an integrated thermal compensation system that mitigates against the effects of thermal drift. A 500 x 450 mm table with a maximum table load of 400 kg featured at Southern Manufacturing, but the machine can be supplied with a larger table as an option (630 x 450 mm) if required.
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

As part of Accuturn’s growth strategy, the company is expanding its capabilities with the addition of a further Haas Mini Mill to its range of CNC milling and turning machines. Director Nicola Stokes says: “This will enable us to increase capacity for our existing customer base, as well as allow us to expand into new sectors.”

The new Haas Super Mini Mill has a machine table capacity of 914 x 305 mm, and axis travels of 406 x 305 x 254 mm in X, Y and Z. Accuturn’s Super Mini Mill is enhanced with a faster tool changer, faster spindle and higher rapids for improved production and part finish.
In other news at Accuturn, which is based in Norfolk, the company has taken its first apprentice as part of the company’s continued growth and commitment to encouraging young people into careers in engineering and manufacturing.
Joshua Mallett, 16, from Swannington in Norfolk, originally came on work experience from Reepham High School for two weeks. He stayed in touch with the business and, after finishing school, joined as Accuturn’s first engineering apprentice. Mallett is attending City College Norwich for the next two years, on day release, studying for his Mechanical Engineering Level 2. On completion, it is planned he will go on to a third year to complete Level 3.
For further information https://accuturn.co.uk/

Top tier suppliers to the oil and gas sector need to work smarter, quicker and more cost-effectively to not only meet customer demands, but ensure that their own bottom-line margins are maintained and, ideally, improved.

As part of Starrag’s product ranges, machines from Dörries and Scharmann, in particular, are paying dividends in global oil and gas work. For example, Burckhardt Compression in Switzerland is reducing unproductive times on piston compressors produced using its portfolio of Dörries and Scharmann machines, which are complemented by high levels of automation. In the Netherlands, Mokveld is reducing formerly long machining times, as well as possible relocation errors and certainly costs, by machining its high-pressure control and stop valves complete in a single set-up on a Dörries vertical lathe. Elsewhere in Europe, one-hit machining is benefiting KSB of Germany, with a Dörries vertical lathe minimising unproductive times and replacing two/three conventional machines in the production of pump housings.
In every case, Starrag can easily and cost-effectively ‘modify’ and supply each machine specifically to suit individual requirements.
Manufacturing piston compressors that operate up to 3,600 bar, Burckhardt Compression uses a quartet of Starrag machines – a Scharmann Alpha 1250 M machining centre, a Scharmann Heavyspeed two-ram-type boring mill, a Dörries Contumat VC 2400/200 vertical turning lathe (VTL) and a Scharmann Ecoforce 2 HT4 machining centre – to machine cylinders, cylinder blocks, frames, valve heads and steering rods. Components are produced up to 5.9 m long and weighing 30 tonnes.
According to August Dünki, the company’s director of large part manufacturing: “We especially gain benefits from the use of the Dörries VTL’s additional moveable work table axis [for set-up and/or in-situ workpiece inspection] and have reduced unproductive time via the 72.4 hp Ecoforce 2 HT 4.”
For further information www.starrag.com

When Tamworth-based Alcon Components was awarded a contract to supply the lightweight monobloc brake calipers for a new hybrid electric hypercar, the subcontractor turned to Kingsbury to supply an automated, turnkey machining cell that would produce the aluminium components.

Comprising a Hermle C32U five-axis machining centre fed with pallets from an Erowa Robot Easy 250 automated storage and handling system, the cell has already started producing calipers, as the job had previously been proved out on a near-identical cell installed in 2016. Essentially, the only difference is that the latest machine has extended tool capacity.
The hypercar has one brake caliper per wheel, the set of four requiring in excess of 24 hours to be machined from solid aluminium billets. Four operations are needed: pre-milling on another vertical machining centre, op 1 on the Hermle C32U, transfer back to the other machining centre for simple boring cycles, and finish machining on the C32U. Fully Interpolative five-axis machining of freeform surfaces accounts for less than 10% of cycles on the Hermle machine, with 4+1 and 3+2 strategies used
wherever possible.
A limited number of road-going hypercars will be produced, while a few track-only versions are also planned. Alcon is responsible for the full foundation brake system, pedal box and actuation, as well as a number of precision chassis components. When the contract has been completed, Alcon will split its ongoing production of calipers for high-performance road cars, race cars and defence vehicles between the two automated Hermle-Erowa C32U cells. A smaller C20U on the shop floor, purchased in 2007 with an Erowa automated pallet storage offset to the side rather than positioned directly in front of the machine, will then be reserved for producing prototypes.
For further information www.kingsburyuk.com

Machine shops looking to progress from three- or four-axis CNC prismatic metalcutting and invest in a five-axis facility can now consider the affordable UQ400 vertical-spindle machining centre from Wele of Taiwan, whose machine tools have been offered in the UK and Ireland since mid-2018 under a sole agency agreement with Whitehouse Machine Tools. Wele is part-owned by Japanese machine tool manufacturer, Toyoda.

Wele’s UQ400 has an installed weight of 6.5 tonnes and occupies a compact footprint of 2.95 x 2.35 m. Capable of interpolating four of the five axes simultaneously, it is intended for the five-face machining of workpieces weighing up to 200 kg (with fixture). A Fanuc 0iMF control allows an easy gateway into five-axis operations for users more familiar with this CNC system than others on the market.
The working envelope is defined by 400 x 650 x 485 mm ballscrew-driven travels in X, Y and Z, together with two rotary, hydraulically clamped axes, which are facilitated by a 360° C-axis table and a +30/-120° A-axis swivelling trunnion.
The BT40 direct-drive spindle, served with cutters exchanged from a 24-station tool magazine, offers 11 kW of continuous power (15 kW for 30 minutes) and speeds up to 12,000 rpm, or optionally 15,000 or 20,000 rpm (HSK-A63). High production output is assured by a cutting feed rate of 10 m/min, and rapids of 36 m/min in X, 24 m/min in Y and 10 m/min in Z.
Standard equipment includes chip wash-down for the table and twin augers in the Y axis, plus one in the X axis to evacuate swarf, while bed wash-down and different styles of chip conveyor are available.
For further information www.wmtcnc.com