Steinel Normalien AG, a specialist manufacturer of cylinders, guides, springs, plates and die sets for the tool-making, stamping and forming industries, imposes the most rigorous precision requirements upon its manufacturing department. When the company introduced a new mill-turn centre, this manufacturer of pneumatic spring and composite systems was intent on streamlining its work-holding processes, so the 150 employee company sought its solution from Hainbuch.

Steinel was aiming to significantly reduce its set-up and throughput times, but the company with 25,000 different stock items and catalogue products recognised that it was not as flexible as desired. The company exerted significant time and effort with changeovers from jaw chucks to other clamping devices, however, thanks to Hainbuch, these times are now gone for good.
The combination of a new mill-turn centre, new clamping devices from Hainbuch and new machining strategies have increased manufacturing flexibility significantly. Now, a wider variety of parts can be machined and many processes eliminated, while three previous machine tools have been replaced with just one. The two men responsible for the project, Michael Tresselt, head of process development and James Hepfer, shift supervisor, recognised that the machining concept needed a rethink.
“With the new turning concept we wanted to achieve higher flexibility and optimise the set-up procedure. In order to quickly change the clamping devices on the new mill-turn centre, quick change-over systems were required. We carefully examined several system suppliers and their clamping solutions.”
Thomas Helfer, a Hainbuch sales representative, made a routine visit to Steinel and both men were very satisfied with the clamping devices and clamping heads from Hainbuch, which were already in use at Steinel. This larger project required a significant investment, and both Tresselt and Hepfer were not 100% convinced by the solutions they had seen previously. Competition was narrowed down to two suppliers, as Tresselt reports: “We then prepared an evaluation matrix of the available quick change-over systems. After a more precise test, Hainbuch’s flexible and highly accurate clamping devices convinced us. In particular, Hainbuch scored high with its insensitivity to contamination and repeatability.”
Hepfer explains the difference between the two leading change-over systems: “With Hainbuch’s competitor, the system works with a pull action. In comparison, the Hainbuch system does require screw turning, but the clamping device is more accurate and rigid. There are only six screws and they only need to be loosened slightly, which is why the procedure takes almost no time. The competing product has problems with its contamination sensitivity. Even if tiny dust particles get in the system, accuracy and rigidity suffer. The Centrotex interface from Hainbuch completely convinced us.”

Tresselt adds: “For change-over accuracy, Hainbuch provides 2 µm precision, while the competition specifies 0.01 mm. This difference is of absolute importance as our workpieces have strict parameters that we must keep. Moreover, with Hainbuch we get everything from a single source. With the Centrotex quick change-over system on the main and sub-spindle, we use a hexagonal Toplus chuck size 100 and a size 260 jaw chuck. This makes us extremely flexible and everything is interchangeable.”
With Hainbuch, Villingen-Schwenningen-based Steinel has certainly adopted the right clamping devices and impeccable level of accuracy for the high-precision manufacture of its guides and pneumatic springs. In addition, cube cast parts that require interrupted machining can also be machined on the new turn-mill centre. These parts were previously manufactured on two other machines using a time-consuming jaw-chuck process. Hepfer recalls: “The parts were turned and then milled, which obviously required two set-ups. Hainbuch recommended a mandrel for this clamping situation and we gave them a sample part for a turning trial.”
Tresselt adds: “We were not sure whether with the Mando mandrel would deliver on what Hainbuch promised. But we were surprised at how tightly, rigidly and accurately the mandrel performed. We now save one operation, as well as the change-over time. This significantly shortens throughput times, while parts can also be machined very easily thanks to the minimal interference contour of the mandrel. We like the Mando system a lot and now we are even considering what other workpieces we can clamp with the mandrel.”
Steinel places a high priority on flexibility because batch sizes for the standard cast parts and pneumatic springs are small. However, with the new concept, Steinel wants to further reduce batch sizes in order to respond more effectively and with greater flexibility to customer requests.
Tresselt says: “When the new programs run at their optimal level on the machine, we will further reduce the batch sizes. Now, with the new clamping devices, we are saving over 60 minutes every day. There is still space to improve. For our employees, the handling with the new clamping devices works perfectly. We have also purchased the compatible Monteq changing fixture and two storage containers. This ensures everything is cleaned-up and on hand for our employees.”

Service is the highest priority for Tresselt and regarding the support from Helfer, Tresselt concludes: “If we have a problem, we can count on Hainbuch. Moreover, Hainbuch provides us with free parts to run our trials. This cannot be taken for granted. Before we make a decision and place an order, we like to check and test everything. Now, we are re-ordering the same Hainbuch clamping devices for two other machines with bar loaders and Hainbuch is certainly our first port of call in the future.”
For further information www.hainbuch.com

An injection mould manufacturer has seen a recent resurgence of tool making in its native Irish Republic, and says CAM software helped it through the recession by giving the company a competitive edge to work in high-end markets.

Alpha Precision, based in Tubbercurry, County Sligo, operates an almost full suite of VISI modules, which director Brendan Feely describes as a seamless communication tool.
“Several years ago Ireland experienced an exodus of tool-making contracts as work went overseas, particularly to China. At the same time, VISI CADCAM software for the mould and die industry was rapidly developing and adding new features. Even companies which weren’t computer literate were investing in the technology to survive. The software had a huge effect on the tool-making industry, giving us a competitive advantage to weather the storm.”
He says it’s now “high end all the way” for Alpha Precision – high-end staff building high-end mould tools with high-end software. “The technology promotes a more automated process, and means our staff need a different skillset nowadays, to use VISI to its full potential.”
To explain fully how he feels VISI is the seamless communication tool that acts as the glue in the complete tool-making environment, he likens his tool room to a football team. “We need our goalkeeper, defenders, midfielders and strikers. We have a variety of different machines doing different jobs, so our operators have different skills. The software is applied on the back of the machining, and because there are several disciplines, such as design, milling, wire and spark eroding, the software fits naturally into its given area. The operator in that area is just trained on the one particular VISI module.”
Continuing the “team” analogy, Feely says the tool room is like a group of people from different countries with none of them speaking a language other than their own. “One language is design, with others including flow analysis, milling, wire EDM and spark erosion. VISI is the common language that unites all processes, ensuring everything moves fluently through the tool room from one discipline to another.”

Operating with 12 employees, the company produces an average of around 40 tools a year, ranging in size from 100 x 100 mm, up to 600 x 1000 mm, mainly for the automotive, medical, packaging and electronics sectors.
Two of the company’s current projects are: producing a number of high cavitation tools for one of its many medical customers; and a contract for two-shot plastic injection tools, which involves an over mould. “Although two-shot production adds another element by involving a second material and process, VISI keeps it simple and efficient.”
With VISI programs running the company’s high-speed milling on Röder and Makino machining centres, the challenges posed by the medical industry’s requirement for very fine micro levels, are readily overcome. “We use a 42,000 rpm spindle speed for very small detail finishing, and cut our electrodes on a Makino F3, with high definition being done on an F5. And we can also machine a cavity in just one night, which would otherwise take a week. Using VISI Machining we can quickly produce a highly polished medical part with fine detail, a milled finish and a split line, within micron accuracy.”
VISI also powers Alpha Precision’s Charmilles EDM machines for spark eroding and Mitsubishi wire eroders. He says parts of the tool will have been cut on each of the machines, and when it’s ready for shipping it is a very fine micron, accurately finished tool for, typically, the medical or automotive industry.
Having invested in many VISI modules including Modelling, Analysis, Flow, Mould and Progress, wire cutting and electrode systems, along with 2D Milling, 3D Milling and High Speed Milling, the software is used at every stage of the company’s process, beginning with providing an accurate quotation for the customer. “We use VISI’s analytical tools to check the drafts and all the different features we’ll need to build into the mould, such as the core and side pieces.
“When the order’s been placed, we work closely with our customers’ moulders on the design concept, including flow analysis and tool layout. Once the 2D design is broken down and we have the tooling in full 3D, we really begin to see the huge power of VISI, which controls everything from design, through milling to wiring in one environment. As we’re not going across translators there’s a perfect understanding within the technology, taking it right through every stage.”

Combining VISI’s Compass technology with its 2D and 3D milling capability, all milling for hard prepping and high-speed finishing is handled quickly and accurately, which Feely says is vital to the company’s operation. “We make a lot of one-off components for each mould, meaning we only run a program once. As pattern cutters we need to be very good at generating CNC code time after time, and VISI is exceptional at doing that job for us.”
Although injection mould tools form Alpha Precision’s core business, the company also provides a blow-moulding and forming-tool service, and has experience in specialised press tooling. However, Feely concludes by saying that the business is currently embarking on an exciting new journey, working closely with a major customer on injection rubber.
For further information www.visicadcam.com

Davturn, a small family-owned precision subcontract machinist based in Bromsgrove, has found increasing its production capability by installing a Miyano BNE-51SY6 turn-mill centre has added fuel to the burning desire to expand the five-people business into larger premises. As a result, managing director Mark Birley maintains, such has been the impact of the new machine that moving premises will then allow further Miyano installations by Citizen Machinery UK to increase its operational capability.

“We installed the multi-axis 51 mm bar size Miyano BNE-51SY6 in June to join our existing Miyano BNA-42DHY, which had already proven to be a success for the business since its installation in 2012,” he says. “At that time, it enabled us to increase the size of bar we machine from our bank of five sliding-head machines, which limited our capacity to 32 mm. Now, with 51 mm capacity, this immediately brought in a host of new orders.”
Birley has been entrenched in turned-part machining since he left school, which led him to take his skill and set up Davturn 13 years ago, basing the business on his experience in cam autos. He bought his first CNC machine in 2007, which set the firm on its steady growth pattern, and in the same year was joined by his son Matthew. Matthew had decided he would rather have a longer skill-based future in machining than he would as an early-career footballer when he played for Birmingham City. Indeed, under his father’s training he progressed to become a director of Davturn, having learnt very quickly to become a skilled programmer and machine setter. The firm also has two apprentices who, like Matthew, are being taught how to competitively apply and use the technology involved in modern machining techniques.
Today Davturn has some 20 active, mostly Midlands-based customers, from sectors that include hydraulics and pneumatics, electrical, door-closure, fastener, construction, vehicle and rail, as well as control cabling. This means the company faces a broad brush of component types from batches of 1000 to almost continuous production of 500,000 with cycle times varying between 15 seconds and 5 minutes. Materials range from plastics to aluminium and high-grade steels.

Since its installation, the BNE-51SY6 has not stopped producing components, with the machine running seven days around-the-clock. During the night and at weekends, machine monitoring creates a call-out in the event of any stoppages to production.
Says Matthew Birley: “The capability of the machine to hold so many tools on the two 12-station, all-driven turrets means we can easily accommodate a suite of common tooling and rarely need to change a tool holder. As a result, resetting is generally prepared and quick; most operations take less than 40 minutes, which helps keep our utilisation of the machine very high.”
He then explains how he uses the latest Citizen Wizard programming aid for both Miyano machines: “This certainly enables new multi-featured parts, often involving difficult materials, to be efficiently programmed with good balance to the cycle between the two spindles.”
Matthew Birley follows on to describe one part produced in a batches of 2000 from 25 mm EN16T bar for use in truck suspensions: “We held 0.025 mm in the bore and 0.02 mm on the outside diameter, which has a 0.8 CLA surface finish without any interruptions for adjustment.”
The part involved all tools being able to be used in overlapping operations between the two spindles and two turrets: “With the power available and the inbuilt rigidity of the machine, it was very straightforward to achieve a balanced machining cycle between each spindle.”
The part involved turning, drilling and counter-boring, the rolling of an M10 internal thread, and the milling of an 18 mm hexagon, which were all completed in a 2 minute cycle.
The Miyano BNE-51SY6 has been developed for single-cycle machining with the ability to cut using three tools that simultaneously overlap when needed at both ends of a workpiece. This capability is supported by the high rigidity of the 7.8 tonne machine, which features box-way slides. The machine has a 15 kW main and 7.5 kW secondary spindle, both having maximum speeds of 5000 rpm, as well as 12-station all-driven turrets.
Having the flexibility of the new BNE has also helped win a contract involving 1000 windscreen wiper assemblies a month for the railway industry. Here a range of component sizes in 303 stainless steel benefitted from balanced machining cycles involving drilling, turning, boring and threading M26x1 each end with 45 mm lengths using both spindles.

“This capability was an important factor in establishing a competitive price to win and succeed in the contact,” says Birley. “Investing in the Miyano, and with the level of support from Citizen’s application team, means we are now riding high.”
He goes on to provide details of a further contract won following the machine installation. This involves a six part series of hydraulic valve sleeves complete with spools between 16 and 30 mm diameter in 440-C stainless steel.
“We are able to machine the largest of these in under 5 minutes, with the most complex having 11 grooves in the outside diameter and 50 holes pitch-drilled 5 mm diameter from the grooves into the bore, which has 0.05 mm tolerance,” he explains. “As we are able to simultaneously combination gang-drill the holes using both turrets and fully deburr in-cycle, we are utilising a totally different capability that we could never even have dreamt about before.”
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

For over 30 years Peterborough-based Rivercircle has developed its business as a designer and manufacturer of special-purpose test and assembly machines, and multi-cavity rubber and plastic mould tooling. The company prides itself on being able to provide a complete service, keeping as much as possible in-house, from design, through to final mechanical and electrical assembly and testing. This strategy includes machining.

A policy of continuous investment in people and machine tools has seen Rivercircle create extensive capability, with its machine shop now populated almost in its entirety with CNC machinery. Three- and four-axis machining centres with capacity up to 1700 x 1000 x 1000 mm are complemented by turning centres, grinders and spark-erosion equipment. The one thing missing was five-axis machining capacity.
“Our investments in machining capacity had led us to ever more complex machines and we had been considering five-axis for a few years, but always struggled to justify the price versus capability argument,” explains Jonathan Theobalds, managing director at Rivercircle. “The size of machine we needed always appeared far too expensive, while the machines we felt we could justify on price just didn’t have the performance or capacity, limiting the potential gains for the business. Therefore, when we were introduced to the XYZ UMC-5X, which was in the right ball park as far as price and performance were concerned, we went for it!”
In its standard configuration, XYZ says that the UMC-5X is a highly competitive package, with its gantry-style design and rigid construction ensuring a capable machine. A team from Rivercircle visited XYZ’s headquarters in Devon to see the machine in action and talk through its potential with the company’s sales and applications teams. Given the type of work undertaken by Rivercircle, particularly on its mould tools where materials such as P20 tool steel is commonly machined, spindle performance and overall machine rigidity where vital to the purchase decision.

“There were several factors that swung in favour of the XYZ UMC-5X,” says Paul Langan, Rivercircle’s production manager. “The machine construction and design gave us the confidence that it would perform as we expected and, with our mould tool work, the high-torque (260 Nm), 15,000 rpm spindle is perfect for roughing and finishing tool steel. Another key point was the option of the Heidenhain CNC, as this is a control system that we favour here. Not having that option would have been a barrier to us placing an order. As it was, we only required one day of training to familiarise ourselves with the machine, and our CAM programming engineer, Steve Goodson, has fully embraced the move to five-axis with no further requirement for programming support from XYZ. We have also fully integrated our Mastercam software with the machine control; the post-processors were all updated during the installation of the machine, making it a seamless process.”
The XYZ UMC-5X has the option of either the Siemens 840 DSL ShopMill or Heidenhain iTNC 640 HSCI control, both of which feature traori (transformation orientation)/kinematic functions, respectively, for improved accuracy during five-axis simultaneous machining. In addition, the UMC-5X also benefits from built-in thermal-growth compensation for enhanced accuracy and repeatability, and integrated (and patented) smart machining technology for improved productivity.
Other key features of the machine are its C axis with 90 rpm rotation via direct drive, low-maintenance, high-torque motor; ±120° on the tilting A-axis, with 2.5 sec for full movement, and rigidity aided by the use of identical sized bearing at both ends of the axis; front loading for ease of access; linear scales on the X, Y and Z axes; 600 mm axis travel in X and Y (500 mm in Z); and a 600 mm table diameter with capacity to carry components up to 600 kg.
The arrival of the XYZ UMC-5X at Rivercircle will initially allow the company to improve efficiency by transferring work from three- and four-axis machines that require multiple operations. New opportunities will also be created for the subcontact side of the business.

Ultimately, continuous investment in the latest design and manufacturing technologies with integrated CAD/CAM systems enable full 3-D machining of complex forms to be undertaken. The addition of an XYZ UMC-5X vertical machining centre brings high-precision, high-speed, simultaneous five-axis machining to Rivercircle’s capabilities
“Whether it is for our own production, or for subcontract work, we operate in a very competitive sector supplying first and second tier customers in the automotive, transport, pharmaceutical, construction and petrochemical sectors, among others,” says Theobalds. “Lead-times are often short, so we have to be able to meet our delivery promises at the right quality and at the right price. This move to five-axis machining with the XYZ UMC-5X will enhance our ability to meet customer demands. The support we had from XYZ prior to placing the order and the competitive price for such a capable machine made this transition straightforward.”
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Even after extending the day shift, Mildenhall-based subcontractor CTPE was still having difficulty producing aluminium covers for a medical housing in two operations quickly enough on an ageing, 40-taper, three-axis machining centre after the customer raised the call-off rate to 100 per week. However, a new production route proposed by Whitehouse Machine Tools based on the supply of a Japanese-built 30-taper machining centre from Brother, also a three-axis model, promised a halving of the cycle time and consequent elimination of the problem.

So, a Brother S700X1 was installed in August 2016. Whitehouse edited the existing program and, although it is still a two-operation job, the cycle time was indeed reduced by 50% to one hour, as had been demonstrated during time trials at the supplier’s Kenilworth technical centre and showroom.
The saving is principally a consequence of four times faster tool changes (at 1.4 seconds), a 16,000 rpm spindle with through-coolant rather than the 6000 rpm of the previous machine, four times faster acceleration (at 2 G) to linear rapids of 50 m/min instead of 18 m/min, and the fact that the program runs much faster in the latest Brother CNC C00 control.
Tool change time on the Brother S700X1 is minimised by optimising the operation of the magazine and improving the Z-axis acceleration, in addition to the shorter start and stop time of the spindle. Further reduction of waste time is achieved by positioning the X/Y and additional axes simultaneously with tool change operations.
Since the machine was installed, CTPE has gone a step further by optimising the program to machine six parts on the table with 14 tools, and adopting new types of cutters. The effect has been to reduce the cycle time per part further to just 30% of the original.
In another example to demonstrate the magnitude of the savings obtained, an aluminium flow housing for a customer in the scientific sector was previously produced in three operations on a three-axis machine in 15 minutes and is now produced in an Op1/Op2 cycle on an S700X1 in six minutes, representing a 60% time reduction.

Alex Taylor, who runs the subcontracting firm with his father Chris, says: “It was our first machine from Brother and also our first 30-taper capacity. We were impressed with the quality, compact footprint and speed of the machine when we saw it in Kenilworth, and comments about Brother both online and by word-of-mouth were complimentary.
“After the S700X1 arrived, we were able to get one to two weeks ahead on the medical cover job, whereas before we were always struggling to keep up with the current week’s production,” he adds.
Such was the success of the project that, when a second multinational company in the medical sector, a long-standing CTPE customer, asked for a new family of 6061 aluminium parts to be produced, Chris and Alex Taylor had no hesitation returning to Whitehouse for an identical S700X1, this time fitted with a two-axis Nikken table. The machine replaced another three-axis vertical machining centre in June 2017.
Previously, the parts were being machined in the USA, but the German-based OEM wanted a single source of supply and was confident of the Suffolk subcontractor’s capabilities. Six components are required, half of which are suited to three-axis metalcutting, while the others benefit from five-face machining in two operations using 3+2-axis cycles, as otherwise they would need eight set-ups on a three-axis machine.
“We like the three-axis Brother and two-axis Nikken combination, as we are able to mount the compound table on one side, leaving the rest of the machine table free for fixturing a second component in a vice for three-axis machining,” says Chris Taylor. “In this way, we can get two-operation components off complete each time we open the doors.”
He adds that, in a similar price bracket the company looked at a number of 40-taper, five-axis replacements for CTPE’s old machining centre, but they could not compete with the speed of the 30-taper machine. The smallest cycle-time saving achieved to date by swapping an existing job on to an S700X1 is 40%. CTPE has also won new five-axis work as a result of having the capacity on the shop floor, and some of those jobs have already repeated.

The Brother machines are especially appropriate for CTPE, which processes a lot of aluminium. One of the new medical parts is quite large for a 30-taper machine at 180 x 50 x 50 mm, but the Brothers cope with it well, despite more than three-quarters of the billet’s material being removed.
Precision is down to ±5 µm positional tolerance, better than is possible on many 40-taper machines. Chris Taylor points out that CTPE also produces components in steels, including stainless on the S700X1s, although a 30-taper machine would not be appropriate if doing that type of operation all day.
On a final note Alex Taylor says: “Before we bought the Brother machines, other users had commented on their reliability. Tooling suppliers, who tend to keep their ear to the ground, reported similarly. Certainly we have not had any downtime on either S700X1 since they were installed.”
For further information www.wmtcnc.com