What can be done when the production machines for an essential component have been discontinued and the process simply takes too long? At Schuler Pressen AG, a manufacturer of pressing and stamping machinery, the decision was taken to find a new way of producing gears – using profile cutters. This is where Blum-Novotest’s TC64-Digilog scanning touch probe came into play. The probe enables the examination of the interlocking tooth and ensures that the process as a whole is consistent and verifiable.

At Schuler AG, gears for large press drive shafts were in the past produced with the aid of special gear-cutting machines. However, shaping the gears alone takes between 16 and 19 hours. Moreover, the machines are now obsolete.
The solution to this issue came in the form of milling the drive shafts on a turn-mill machine using a specially manufactured profile cutter. To reduce handling and improve quality and consistency, the company decided to carry out measurements on the machine.
The advantage of the Digilog touch probe is that it can perform both digital measurements as well as analogue scans. This means that it is possible to guide the probe over a surface and register measurement data continuously.
Complete cogwheel inspection consist of 144 individual measurements on a slanted track along the whole tooth flank. This includes 36 teeth with two flanks each in both halves of the double helical gear. The entire procedure only takes 13 minutes at a scan speed of 1.8 m/min. During this time, the Digilog touch probe records 570,000 individual measurement values. However, only the linear axes are used during the scan as this then excludes any errors of the rotary axes used for production.
For further information www.blum-novotest.com

Earlier this month, Okuma Europe (which is represented in the UK by NCMT) welcomed over 200 visitors to its recently established Aerospace Centre of Excellence in Krefeld, Germany.

In keeping with the location, the manufacturer presented innovations introduced at EMO (Hanover, September 2017) with a particular focus on aerospace machining. Highlights included Okuma’s award-winning Laser EX series of super multi-tasking machines, the smart factory solution Connect Plan, as well as the manufacturer’s latest automation technologies.
In addition, Okuma demonstrated the cryogenic machining of a titanium disc on an MA-600 HII horizontal machining centre.
For further information www.okuma.eu

In the third quarter of 2017, order bookings in the German machine tool industry rose by 13% compared with the previous year’s equivalent period. Domestic orders were up by 31% and exports by 5%, while in the first three quarters of 2017, total order bookings increased by 3%.

“The gratifying upturn in our orders is even more marked in the most recent figures,” says Dr Wilfried Schäfer, executive director of the VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association). In September, orders in all three categories showed a double-figure rise, thus recording the steepest growth of the year to date. Domestic orders, in particular, witnessed a dramatic climb, soaring by 46%.
For further information www.vdw.de

Global Pipe Company (GPC), based in Jubail, Saudi Arabia, has placed an order with the SMS Group for the supply of a mechanical expander and a hydrostatic pipe tester for its new manufacturing line that will double the company’s annual production capacity from 200,000 tons to 400,000 tons. “With a total of 17 expander machines installed since 2002 and 19 hydrotesters supplied since 1971, SMS Group presented us with strong references in pipe mills offering a similar scope of business as ours,” says Ahmed Hamed AL Khonaini, shareholder and managing director of GPC.

The new 10 MN mechanical expander will be installed in the finishing area of the new line. In addition to stress relieving the welded pipes, the expander will give GPC’s products their final shape, ensuring that the dimensions are within the required range according to the applicable specifications. “By doubling our nominal capacity to 400,000 tons, we will be in a position to allocate production slots for neighbouring markets within the GCC and MENA regions without neglecting our home market,” says Khonaini.
For further information www.sms-group.com