Newport CNC has partnered with tooling
expert ITC from day one
Inset, right: an ITC roughing end-mill in cut
reducing the cost per insert against the
previous tool. The VSM11 80 mm diameter
face-mill has subsequently been added.
As a relatively small subcontract machine
shop that serves a multitude of industry
sectors, Newport CNC can never second
guess what type of work will be coming
through the door next. Referring to this,
Knowles says: “We have a standardised
tooling strategy on each of our machining
centres. Each machine has a 24-tool
capacity and the rst 10 positions are
standardised across all machines. The rst
tools will be the 80 mm and 40 mm Widia
VSM11 face-mill cutters, we can change the
inserts from the XDCT aluminium grade and
geometry to the XDPT steel insert
designation in a matter of minutes and this
prepares us for rough machining and facing
every job that comes through the door,
regardless of whether its aluminium, steel,
stainless or heat-resistant alloys. It also
keeps our inventory and costs to a
manageable level.
“Positions three through 10 will be ITC
solid carbide end-mills. Once again, the
3081 Series plays a prominent role with a
16 mm diameter end-mill with a 1 mm
radius slotting into position three with tool
positions four, ve and six also being 3081
Series end-mills in diameters reducing from
10 to 3 mm. The rst six positions give us
complete exibility for everything from high
feed roughing and facing, down to slotting
and nishing.
“In our other prominent tooling positions,
we will have 3 and 6 mm ballnose tools that
support all our needs when it comes to
intricate machining, pro ling and nishing of
precision features. Beyond these positions,
we will have a spot drill, chamfer tool and a
couple of standard tap sizes, which leaves
many carousel positions free. We can rapidly
ll these positions if new jobs with
challenging features or material types arrive.
“This strategy
allows us to
standardise our
tool positions and
overhang lengths
whilst giving the staff familiarity with the
system. This streamlines our programming
and set-ups and we can thank ITC for having
an extremely diverse range of high quality
tools that can support our business,
regardless of what comes through the door.”
IN SUPPORT OF INNOVATION
In Germany, Schuster Maschinenbau GmbH
has worked with Ceratizit ( www.is.gd/daxita )
to develop a tooling concept for the
company’s brand new and innovative
‘Schuster nxt’ vertical lathe, which is
intended for the production of complex
workpieces at highest quality levels.
The Ceratizit project engineering team
took on the challenge, as Steffen Baur, head
of technical management at Ceratizit
explains: “Our project engineering team is
happy to step in. Why? Because we have
years of experience in developing innovative
tool solutions and have the technical knowhow
to consider the machining processes
holistically and in depth. Often precisely the
things that machine operators simply do not
have enough time for in their daily work.”
Being able to think outside the box in
engineering is what distinguishes those who
want better (are ambitious) from those who
do better (are successful), so it is worthwhile
making use of more than just your own
expertise and instead expanding your
thinking a little – when it comes to machine
size, for example, says Ceratizit. “Every day,
during our machining trials, we see a variety
of different machining centres and lathes in
operation. Schuster Maschinenbau GmbH
from Denklingen near Landsberg am Lech is
a respected but no less innovative
engineering company with whom we rst
came into contact years ago. They were
looking for the perfect tooling to produce a
complex demonstration part to highlight the
capability of their brand new ‘Schuster nxt’
vertical lathe,” adds Baur.
Schuster Maschinenbau has
been famous for 40 years for
clever engineering solutions that
appear in a variety of different
industries. The company enjoys a
leading position, thanks to
constant innovation in terms of
quality and precision, and the
products developed at its
headquarters are exported throughout the
world. The nxt lathe continues in that
innovative mould.
“Unlike the conventional horizontal
arrangement, this actually has a vertical
orientation. Therefore, the key role is played
by the main spindle, which in vertical pick-up
lathes such as the Schuster nxt is
responsible both for machining the
workpiece – turning, drilling, milling – and for
all the automation. The advantages are
obvious, because suddenly, several,
different machining steps can be combined
into a single process, which ultimately
saves a vast amount of time,” explains
Matthis Rühle, head of sales at Schuster
Maschinenbau GmbH.
A demanding demonstration piece was
required to highlight the new machine’s
capabilities, as Andreas Schuster,
application engineer at the machine tool
company reveals: “We deliberately came up
with a highly demanding part that would give
our machine the chance to show what it is
capable of. But it was only in conjunction
with the impressive tool performance that
the potential – even for future challenges –
of this machine/tool combination became
apparent.”
A total of nine individual machining steps
was needed to make the demonstration
piece: roughing, drilling, nishing, eccentric
milling and trochoidal turning. “A bit of
everything, you might say, and therefore an
ideal arena for our tool expertise,”
Armbruster says, who was in charge of
project development at Ceratizit.
And the package took several of the star
performers from Ceratizit’s extensive range.
This includes, for example, the MaxiMill
491, an eight cutting edged 90° shouldertool
34 December 2020 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
/daxita
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