Industrial Factory Automation

SprutCAM from Sprut Technology (UK) has helped Anotronic expand its conventional subcontracting business. Anotronic has long been established in subcontract and sales of EDM and ECM, but it found more and more customers were requiring complete manufacture. Martin White, production director at Anotronic, said: 'We had a particularly tricky part to manufacture, which we used as a benchmark. 'Within half an hour of downloading a demo version of SprutCAM, I was able to program the part myself. 'Dave Pearson, from Sprut Technology, then visited our site and we were machining the part within an hour of his arrival,' White added. Since then, Anotronic has expanded its machining capacity to four four-axis Hurcos with Nikken rotary tables and a new five-axis Hurco VM10U in November 2008. The company has just installed the latest version of the software, SprutCAM 7. This enables it to produce five-axis toolpaths as well as achieving rotary milling by simultaneously controlling t...

John Neale has developed a high-performance water-mix fluid for machining magnesium alloys. Coolant MGX is designed to meet the requirements of machine shops that exclusively or occasionally machine magnesium alloys. It exhibits high stability when machining Magnesium alloys and has been designed to cope with water harnesses of over 3,000ppm. The product has been designed so that there is no compromise when machining aluminium or other aerospace alloys due to advanced synthetic lubricant additives, which means high surface finish on all aluminium-machining operations and stainless steel. Coolant MGX has been designed with Magplus technology, which ensures high levels of product stability when machining Magnesium alloys. The replacement of normal emulsifier systems with the Magplus technology allows for significant Magnesium-ion buildup with no adverse effect on the emulsion quality and no scum buildup.

Ceratizit has revealed how its machining inserts and cutting tools are being put to use in the renewable energy sector. The company said it is working with many wind-turbine manufacturers and delivering improvements in productivity through the performance of its range of cutting tools. For example, a manufacturer of drive shafts for wind turbines, which are manufactured from steel forgings with high chrome and nickel contents, has seen cycle times reduce by 20 per cent and tool life increase by 15 per cent. Ceratizit said these figures have been achieved through a combination of its experience and the development of carbide grades such as CTC1125, which have the properties required to satisfy these arduous applications. Using an SNMM 250724 square insert, this particular customer was able to run at 55m.min surface speed (up from 45m/min) at a feed rate of up to 1.5mm/rev and depth of cut to 18mm. In another application, the customer was experiencing poor swarf control when machinin...

Moyola Precision Engineering has invested in three high-speed, six-axis machining centres from Dorries Scharmann Technologie (DST) for its aerospace division. Mark Semple, managing director at Moyola, said having an extra CNC axis in addition to the more usual five axes results in productivity and cost benefits when machining aircraft structural parts. An advantage is that deep recesses and other awkward areas on components can be accessed and machined at high speed by short cutters. If the same parts were machined on conventional five-axis machines, longer tools would be needed for clearance. There would be a consequent risk of chatter adversely affecting surface finish. The likelihood, therefore, is that cutting speeds and feeds would have to be reduced, compromising productivity. The kinematically-driven Sprint Z3 head on the two DST Ecospeed F2035 machining centres tilts through +/- 40 degrees in both the vertical A-axis and horizontal B-axis. This is said to be suitable for the m...

Messier-Bugatti is using Delcam 's Powermill CAM system to support its move into five-axis machining. Previously the company only had equipment with up to four axes. However, with the move to continuous five-axis machines, it felt it needed a more efficient CAM system to make the most of its new capabilities. Messier-Bugatti specialises in aeronautical braking systems and carbon brakes and has equipped more than 3,500 commercial aircraft. The Powermill seats have been installed in the company's Molsheim works in eastern France, which is now the production plant for wheels and brakes, hydraulic systems and equipment, as well as handling carbon-disk refurbishment. The most important factors in the decision to select Powermill were flexibility and the efficiency of the resulting programs. In addition, even though most of its parts are made of aluminium, Messier-Bugatti also machines titanium - a demanding material that requires high-quality toolpaths. Stephane Schneider, manufactu...

Mazak has introduced the Vortex II series of high-speed, simultaneous five-axis, vertical machining centres. The series is available in bridge or bed-type configuration, with axis travels up to 4,200mm x 1,400mm x 610mm in X, Y and Z and corresponding traverse rates of 20m/min (X), 32m/min (Y) and 20m/min (Z), along with a range of high-performance spindles offering up to 18,000 rev/min and 75kW (10-minute rating). As a result, the Vortex II series is ideally suited to large aerospace components such as wing spars and mould and die work. The machine's five-axis capability is delivered through the use of an A and B axis, on which the spindle is mounted. The +/-40-degree tilting action of these two axes allows cutting tool access to all available faces of the component, while the control provided by the Mazatrol FX (or Fanuc 31i) CNC system gives the ability to cut complex contours at high feed rates. Providing even greater versatility is the Variaxis II series of vertical machining...