Archive for the ‘CNC Lathes’ Category

A range of elevating cross rail-type vertical turning lathes machine parts up to 2.8m diameter by 1.6m height, including milling, drilling and, optionally, grinding too

C Dugard of Hove, UK, has introduced a range of You-Ji elevating cross rail-type vertical turning lathes (VTL) with a turning diameter up to 2.8m and 1.6m turning height. The VTLs have motors up to 75kW driving through a high torque ZF gearbox with dual speed drive. The VTLs perform turning, milling and grinding cycles.

The machines can carry hydraulic chucks with up to six jaws.

Drilling heads for 90 deg approach can be specified as well as a grinding spindle option and automatic pallet and tool changer.

There are further options of through tool coolant supply and a 25kW live machining spindle.

The You-Ji range is designated 1000, 1200, 1600, 2000 and 2500.

* High stability and rigidity – high stability and rigidity are achieved through the use of a heavy box-section structure of the column to support the sliding cross rail.

The machines accommodate non-symmetrical work and heavy cutting conditions.

The base is heavily walled and multi-ribbed for rigidity and to retain high thermal stability when supporting workloads up to 15 tonnes.

* High torque – the high precision CF-axis gearbox with worm and wheel drive is able to deliver a maximum torque up to 17,500Nm and provides a positioning accuracy of 15 sec of arc, enabling multiple angles and cam shapes, for instance, to be machined.

When worked in conjunction with the X- and Z-axis of the ram, the machine range can perform a more universal role of a machining centre.

In addition to conventional turning, facing and boring, the VTLs enable off-centre operations to include driven tools through the 90 deg angle head, as well as boring, tapping, U-drilling, face milling and milling.

Tool pre-setting and workpiece probing is available.

A BT50 tool disk magazine is standard with 16 positions and is able to accept tools weighing up to 50kg.

There are four further options of magazines with capacities of 24, 32, 48 and 60 tools.

Control is via Fanuc 18i-T or Siemens 840D and linear scales are available for higher accuracy positioning as an option. Request a free brochure from C Dugard….

North Haven, CT – IBAG North America announces the addition of new 20 and 22mm diameter high speed milling & drilling spindles for Swiss turning applications. Utilizing synchronous, DC motor technology, the spindles operate up to 100,000 rpm with 260 Watts continuous power and high torque. Ideal for machining applications involving micro-milling and drilling tools, as well as engraving and fine milling, these new, more compact spindles feature high rigidity and ultra precision (less then 2 microns run-out) to dramatically enhance surface quality, machining accuracy, and reduce the need for secondary operations. Models are available in standard length,shorter length than competitor models to better suit compact tooling areas as well as 90 degree versions. In addition, for turning center users, IBAG offers a ready-to-install kit that includes the spindle and drive, all electrical and pneumatic lines, and optional spindle mounting blocks. The 20 and 22 mm spindles complement the existing line of 25 mm diameter spindles from IBAG, offering high-speed, precision milling and drilling capabilities for smaller Swiss turning equipment.

IBAG North America offers a full line of machine-tool high-speed spindles with complete repair and rebuilding services, as well as vacuum workholding systems to serve metalworking manufacturers and precision product and component applications.

SOURCE: IBAG North America

This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 11 February 2008 at 8.00am (UK)

The SpeedLine C-type 42mm and 65mm bar automatics, when launched in 2005, were the first in the world to replace conventional compound turret slides with two interconnected steel plates sliding directly over the machine bed.

The recent redesign of the range has seen these machines improved and two new models introduced with 30mm and 90mm bar capacities.

* Lathe build time reduced – at the same time, Index has reorganised C-type flow line assembly at its Esslingen factory, Germany, streamlining production and increasing throughput.

Whereas each machine used to spend one and a half days at each of 18 stations, this has been reduced to one day at each of 15 stations.

Said Richard Kingsbury, managing director of the sole UK agent, Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools, to manufacturingtalk.com: ‘The reorganisation has helped to keep machine cost down while maintaining top build quality’.

He added: ‘Further downward pressure on capital cost will result from economies of scale, as Index is planning to increase output of C-type machines by two-thirds in the second full year of production compared with the first’.

The defining characteristic of the lathes that provides such high RF and stiffness concerns the actuation of the turrets.

Each is mounted on a front plate while an interconnected rear retaining plate is driven kinematically from behind the machine bed.

The system is so novel and difficult to visualise without seeing the machine in action that Geo Kingsbury has made a video of the lathe that it will send on a memory stick to interested companies.

* Sliding plate system – the critical advantage of the sliding plate system, said Geo Kingsbury, is that the distance between the turret centreline and the point at which it is driven is much shorter than for a compound slide.

The turret and drive plates are fitted with ceramic-coated, hardened tool steel strips at top and bottom.

These slide over a third plate of surface-hardened cast iron fitted into the bed, the latter plate being effectively sandwiched between the other two.

The parallel kinematic drive to the rear plate is now effected by two (rather than the previous three) ballscrew-actuated rods at the back of the machine, one vertical and one horizontal.

Glass linear scales provide positional feedback.

* Three turrets – there has been another alteration to the C-type design whereby three separate turrets are provided instead of one single-sided and one double-sided turret.

This allows greater flexibility of machining, especially when three tools are in cut simultaneously, said Geo Kingsbury.

They work like as follows.

* Turret 1 moves in X,Y and Z above the spindle centreline and works at the main spindle.

* Turret 2 mounted below the spindles operates in X, Y and Z at either end.

* The motion of upper turret 3 is restricted to the X-axis and works only with the counter spindle, which moves in Z.

Up to 14 tools in each turret allows 42 VDI-20 tools to be used, although if a user wishes to continue working with VDI-25 toolholders, 10 stations are available per turret.

Repeatability of tool tip position is +/-8 micron, even with angled tools up to 100mm long.

Tool drive is up to 8,000 rev/min at all positions.

* Three machine frame sizes – there are two sizes of machine frame, designated C100 and C200.

The former is the host for the 30mm and 42mm bar capacity spindles.

The latter (to be shown at MACH 2008) is for the 65mm and 90mm spindles.

Distance between the main and counter spindles is 510mm and 710mm respectively.

All models are fast acting, with 1G acceleration in X and Z up to 60m/min for the smaller machines and 50m/min for the larger models.

Main spindle rating varies from 9,000 rev/min/20kW for the smallest machine to 3,500 rev/min/23kW for the largest.

C-axis resolution is 0.001 deg.

The patented spindles are manufactured in-house and are liquid-cooled.

The liquid passes continuously through a chiller unit and is used to keep the electrical cabinet cool also.

* Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools at MACH 2008, NEC, Birmingham, UK, April 21-25, Hall 5, Stand 5190.

CNC multi-spindle automatic lathes have been regarded by many machine shops as too expensive.

Now, Index in Germany said that the cost of such machines is constantly reducing. It is now possible to buy a six-spindle CNC automatic (multi) for around twice the cost of a high-end sliding-head lathe, said Richard Kingsbury, managing director of the UK agent for Index turning machines, Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools.

The machine in question is the Index MS22C CNC six-spindle automatic intoroduced at EMO 2007 for milling and turning parts up to 22mm diameter.

While it is true that CNC multi-spindle automatics are not cheap machines, the price in real terms has been coming down steadily over the years.

The MS22C brings the technology within reach of a much wider section of manufacturing industry.

Kingsbury said: ‘The CNC multi-spindle range is proving so popular that Index will increase production in 2008 to 200 units across all sizes of multi.

Of these, 80 will be in the 22mm category.

Four fifths of them are destined for Germany, France, Switzerland and Italy’.

Kingsbury commented that British manufacturers have been falling behind in adopting the technology, but that he has high hopes for an increased level of order conversions in 2008, due to the introduction of the competitively priced MS22C.

OEMs and subcontractors alike are beginning to see the productivity advantages, having noted the big advances in capability of the machines.

Kingsbury said that he is particularly encouraged by the fact that, once a customer has been ‘won over’, not one has stopped at a single multi; they have all gone on to buy a second, third, fourth and even a fifth machine.

He continued, ‘A few years ago, people cottoned to the fact that modern CNC sliding-headstock lathes could make a lot of money.

Many firms invested, mostly in multiple machines and some subcontractors have as many as 25 or more.

But where is the competitive edge now that so many firms use them?

I suggest that if component length-to-diameter is 4:1 or less, the next big thing in British turned parts manufacture will be the CNC multi, with its extensive prismatic machining and endworking capabilities, coupled with the flexibility to run batch sizes of just a few thousand’.

Kingsbury added that competitive pricing has placed these machines in the ‘mainstream’ of manufacturing, and programming and operation have been ‘demystified’ to the point where operation is almost as simple as running a single-spindle CNC lathe.

* About the Index MS22C multi-spindle automatic – the six-spindle mill-turning centre has been added to the lower end of the Index range, which until now comprised machines with maximum bar capacities of 32, 42 and 52mm.

According to configuration, the MS22C can have up to 62 CNC axes, including 12 compound slides with X and Z travels of 62 and 85mm.

Each spindle is configured with a full C-axis and a number of Y-axis slides can be added.

Simultaneous back-working is achieved using one or two scara robot arms carrying synchronous pick-up spindle(s) that present the parted-off components to six separate tools, four of which can be driven.

As the MS22C’s tool carriers/slides are arranged in a V shape, two CNC slides can work on one spindle simultaneously.

This is in contrast to the configuration of multi’s from other manufacturers.

Each of the 12 slides can perform internal or external turning, or boring, or driven tool work.

Workshops are therefore not locked in to running one kind of tool in one position, because there is no set order as to where to run which tool.

Only the toolholder determines the type of machining.

This flexibility of tool layout plays a key role in optimising machining times, according to Index.

Although the machine can be extended to the full 62 axes, this is rare in practice.

The standard configuration would be with a single NC system capable of controlling 31 programmable axes, more than adequate for the vast majority of small turned parts, said Kingsbury.

It is a specification that offers all the benefits of phenomenal production rates without the restrictions in flexibility that are normally associated with multis.

* feed rates and cutting speeds optimised at each spindle – in common with other Index CNC multis, the MS22C has the ability to optimise feed rates and cutting speeds at each 14kW/10,000 rev/min spindle, avoiding compromised machining conditions and so maximising productivity as well as tool life.

The MS22C is therefore ideal for economical production of components in materials such as high temperature alloys that previously could not easily be machined on a multi.

Control is by the INDEX C200-4D, a derivative of the Siemens 840D CNC, which is easy to program on the shop floor and automatically performs collision checking including for the pick-up spindle(s).

Comprehensive diagnostics for the machine and control are included, and it is possible to specify tool monitoring and a teleservice connection to an Index engineer for troubleshooting.