Walter Ewag UK has announced that its two-in-one Helitronic tool grinding and erosion concept has been extended to tools up to 420 mm long with diameters of 3 to 315 mm.

The new Walter Helitronic Vision Diamond 400L machine can grind and erode (in a single set-up) rotationally symmetrical precision tools such as end mills, reamers, stepped drill bits, shaped lathe tools, ball-nose tools and drills made from PCD, carbide, HSS, ceramic, cermet and CBN.
Walter’s two-in-one grinding/erosion process enables the machine to automatically switch between the production of PCD tools and carbide tools, and eroding and grinding, in one clamping cycle. Importantly, the Helitronic Vision Diamond 400L features Walter’s Fine Pulse Technology, which is the result of progressive improvements to the machine’s generator and its erosion software. With Fine Pulse Technology, surface finish is said to be like that of a polished (ground) tool.
The new Helitronic Vision Diamond 400L also features an inexpensive belt-driven spindle for the automatic switching of eroding and grinding wheel sets, complementing the options of dual and motor spindle versions.
Electrodes and grinding wheels up to 254 mm diameter can be accommodated, and up to 24 electrodes and/or grinding wheel sets can be used with the aid of optionally available wheel changers. A variety of different loader solutions are available for tool changing via a six-axis Fanuc robot.
For further information www.walter-machines.com

Herford, Germany-based Prewi Schneidwerkzeuge GmbH develops tools for the wood and furniture industry, supplying its worldwide customers with milling cutters, drills and circular saws tipped with carbide or diamond. To manufacture these products, the company uses around 30 sharpening machines from Vollmer, including a recently installed QXD 250 disc erosion machine.

“With the QXD 250 we want to expand our range of diamond-tipped milling cutters and drills so that we can respond more precisely, quickly and flexibly to customer requirements,” explains Helmut Prekwinkel, founder and CEO.
Operating from its 18,000 sq m facility, Prewi produces cutting tools, machining units, exhaust ventilation systems, pressure pads and landing skids, as well as measuring devices for all areas of the wood processing industry. The toolmaker is a pioneer in the use of PCD for rotary tools.
“We were one of the first manufacturers to bring PCD-tipped tools to the market in order to efficiently machine highly abrasive materials,” says Prekwinkel. “To precisely sharpen our diamond tools to a high standard of quality, we have put our trust in Vollmer’s eroding machines for many decades now.”
Prewi is able to use the recently delivered QXD 250 to prepare PCD-tipped rotary tools around the clock. Thanks to the machine’s Vpulse EDM generator technology, the company says that the QXD 250 achieves an excellent surface finish quality at the maximum stock removal rate during tool machining.
“With Prewi, we combined a long-standing partnership with a lively exchange in order to develop new technologies and fields of application for our eroding machines,” says Dr Stefan Brand, CEO of the Vollmer Group.
For further information www.vollmer-group.com

GF Machining Solutions (GFMS) has won an order to supply an AgieCharmilles FORM 300 EDM die-sink machine and an AgieCharmilles CUT E600 wire EDM machine to Bridgend-based Nemein Ltd. The machines will be delivered and installed at Nemein’s 11,000 sq ft facility later this year via a staged process.

Nemein’s new machines will be used, in the first instance, to manufacture components for self-powered tools used in the global oil and gas downhole sector. These tools, which incorporate energy harvesting technology from heat and vibration, are designed to effectively eliminate the sector’s (over) reliance on ‘potentially’ unreliable and unsafe primary lithium batteries, while removing run time limitations and increasing temperature ratings.
Commenting on placing the order with GF Machining Solutions, Nemeins’ CEO Suzannah Bourne says: “To better control our manufacturing processes we made the decision to develop and strengthen in our in-house machining capacity and capabilities by investing in high-performance machine tools. We undertook a comprehensive research programme to identify and select the machine tools we required, and were particularly impressed, not only with GF Machining Solutions’ technologies, but also by their customer-focused and partnership-based business approach. These are exciting times for Nemein and this investment in the machine tools will be instrumental in helping us achieve our ambitious business growth and expansion objectives.”
The importance of the order is also acknowledged by GF Machining Solutions’ area sales manager, Roger Mullard, who says: “Nemein is a company that’s going places. Their innovation, engineering and technical prowess are highly regarded and respected worldwide.”
For further information www.gfms.com