A one-day seminar and open house on the manufacturing of gears will be held at NCMT’s Coventry technical centre and showroom on 9 July.

Various production methods will be demonstrated on Japanese-built Makino and Okuma machining centres, as well as on one of the latter’s multi-tasking turn-mill machines.
Methods covered will include hobbing, power skiving and ‘InvoMilling’, which is capable of producing different gears using the same standard machine platform. Gear grinding will also feature, involving the use of NCMT’s proprietary EasyGear grinding software. Wire-cut and die-sink production solutions demonstrated on Makino EDM equipment, will be among further highlights.
The main message during the event will be the flexibility, productivity and relatively low investment cost offered by producing external and internal gear types on five-axis machining centres, multi-tasking lathes and EDM machines, coupled with short lead-times, and high levels of accuracy and repeatability.
A further focus will be the inspection of gears to verify their accuracy. Measurement will be performed in-cycle via a touch probe on an Okuma Multus multi-tasking lathe, supported by off-line inspection on a Hexagon Metrology Leitz CMM equipped with Quindos software.
Completing the exhibits will be an automated system configured for gear-blank production based on an Okuma Genos L3000 lathe fitted with a Cellro robotic system for automatically loading billets and unloading components.
Proceedings will include guest speakers such as Dr David Curtis, senior technical fellow from the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, and Dr Rob Frazer, head of the gear design unit at Newcastle University, who will be present on behalf of the British Gear Association.
For further information www.ncmt.co.uk

Vollmer has further optimised the machining processes for PCD (polycrystalline diamond) tools produced on its QXD 250 erosion machine.

With the company’s new performance package, Vollmer is reducing machining time and therefore increasing the efficiency of the QXD 250, largely through seamless interaction between generator technology, process parameters, gap evaluation and drive technology. The company is offering a new payment model for the package, which can be individually adapted to customer requirements.
With the QXD 250, different PCD tools can be sharpened accurately in a single set-up. The VPulse EDM generator technology ensures high surface quality at maximum material removal rates. In addition to the software available for PCD tools with inserts, the ExLevel Pro software permits hybrid sharpening (eroding and grinding) of cylindrical slugs with sintered or soldered-in PCD to produce drills, mills and reamers.
Vollmer can retrofit the package, consisting of a software and hardware component, on any QXD 250 that is being used by a customer. Implementation is performed on-site by a service technician, who checks the machine’s condition and technical requirements. Vollmer’s service also includes a test phase, during which users can test the efficiency of the performance package for their application areas on the QXD 250 without high costs or risk.
The performance package is one of the first products from Vollmer’s new V@dison digital initiative, which aims to integrate the company’s grinding and erosion machines in an IoT environment in order to help tool manufacturers implement their Industry 4.0 projects.
For further information www.vollmer-group.com

AgieCharmilles CUT P 350/550/800/1250 machines from GF Machining Solutions are said to house efficient digital power generators, robust designs and intuitive HMIs, as well as several automation options for lights-out and unattended operations.

Featuring proprietary Intelligent Power Generator (IPG) technology, the EDMs deliver surface finishes to Ra 0.10 µm and boost cutting speeds by up to 20% over previous models. Several of the company’s ‘Expert’ systems further optimise the cutting performance of the generators, especially in challenging applications.
The Power-Expert software module, for instance, monitors and changes power levels when the machine is cutting parts with variable heights. Power-Expert thus protects components from unstable conditions while the machine maintains high cutting speeds. Simultaneously, this system controls the spark parameters during finishing operations to provide high-quality surface finishes on variable-height parts.
Regardless of workpiece height, the Wire-Expert system dynamically controls wire wear to achieve continuous and consistent geometrical accuracy from all directions, says the company. For part profile accuracy, Profil-Expert automatically adapts the machining parameters and cut path for rough and skim passes to provide control of fine details, and ensure positioning and contour accuracies of ±2 µm.
Taper-Expert technology cuts angles from 0 to 30° (45° as an option) to maximum Z heights. The system corrects shifts of the Z-reference position in real time, even when the taper angle is changing. In addition, the taper angle is held to within 10 seconds on average, providing taper accuracy and geometry reference accuracy throughout the taper cut.
For further information www.gfms.com

Erodex UK, a supplier of EDM graphite and tooling to the aerospace market, has reported record levels of turnover, with the company set to hit the £20m mark for the first time in its history.

Overall turnover increased by £2m to £19.3m during the last financial year, spurred by strong growth from the company’s machining/EDM sundries division, and a 46% rise in turnover within the tooling division, Erodex Tooling Solutions. Following a strong start to 2019, the company is now set to surpass total sales of £20m.
According to Erodex, it has continued to benefit from a strong and growing reputation within the global aerospace industry. Notably, a large proportion of new business has been won outside of the EU, in countries such as Israel, the US and Mexico.
Says director Steve Rolinson: “We operate in a mature industry, so achieving the level of growth that we continue to achieve is testament to our people, the expertise that we have within the group and our constant efforts to innovate. Export sales have increased significantly; our
US operation continues to grow year-on-year and we have secured a further three customers in Mexico for tooling and EDM electrode work.”
Erodex has made investments totalling £1.2m in the past 12 months and surpassed a total head count of 100 staff members.
Rolinson says: “Around £900,000 of the £1.2m was spent on upgrading plant, IT infrastructure and machinery, including machining centres, grinding machines and Mitutoyo metrology equipment. Such investments go hand in hand with our focus on employing and investing in the best people, as part of our long-term growth strategy.”
For further information www.erodex.com

Fanuc unveiled a new space dedicated to the IoT at its UK headquarters in Coventry recently as part of the company’s latest technology day for wire EDM. The event saw several of FANUC’s RoboCut α-CiB wire EDM machines in live cutting action.

Furthermore, all production data was available to view in real-time in the new IoT area. The space demonstrated FANUC’s out-of-the-box MT-Linki machine-tool monitoring service, which allows users to remotely monitor, harvest and analyse live production data.
Visitors were also able to get a first glimpse of FANUC’s newest data connectivity platform, FIELD, will officially launch later in the year.
FANUC’s α-CiB series comprises of compact, submerged wire-cutting machines. One of the stand-out features is the built-in ‘Core Stitch’ function, which allows operators to extend unmanned machining hours through the better planning of cutting jobs. Stitch points are set directly on the machine’s CNC without the need for any pre-programming, and when used in combination with the wire-path re-threading function, offer a good solution for unmanned machining and multi-workpiece cutting. Once the job is complete, operators simply knock-out the cores by hand, avoiding any risk of damaging the machine.
The α-CiB machine series also employs FANUC’s AWF2 automatic wire-feed threading technology, which takes just 10 seconds to complete a threading operation. Importantly, the RoboCut series need not return to the starting point after a wire break, which reduces cycle times. To guarantee reliable threading and re-threading, wires are electronically cut to leave a pointed end that is straight and burr free. Improved cutting control can also be achieved via the built-in iPulse 2 cutting function, which provides accurate corner control, regardless of material thickness or surface roughness.
For further information www.fanuc.eu