A new laser-measuring system was given its UK debut at MACH 2018 last month and is promising to reduce the time taken to measure cutting tools by 60%. Blum-Novotest, which says it has 95% of the global machine tool market for this technology, provided live demonstrations of the LC50, the next generation of the laser and latest addition to the Digilog family.

The LC50 was fitted to a Fanuc Robodrill on the company’s stand, where visitors were able to witness how the laser optics, new-design shutter protection system and HPC nozzle provide in-machine measurement data. Blum Novotest expects the new product to generate over £500,000 of new orders over the next two years, with the main interest coming from manufacturers supplying high value parts to the automotive, motorsport and aerospace sectors.
“By evaluating the analogue signal rather than the digital one, we can take thousands of measuring values of all cutting tool edges every second, resulting in highly dynamic measurement of tool parameters,” explains managing director David Mold. “In essence, this technology is 60% quicker than conventional in-machine measuring. Even the coolant influence is bypassed by automatically filtering out dirt
and coolant residue on the tool.
“The LC50 is targeted at customers who really need to control the whole machining process and want to implement Industry 4.0 standards in their manufacturing operations as it allows them to control the variables of cutting tool, workpiece and temperature.”
For further information www.blum-novotest.com