Magnetic workholding
using a Walmag Mastermill
on a vertical machining
centre
A jaw being removed from a Kitagawa QJR
quick-change chuck
Productivity
and effi ciency gains
1st MTA takes on a range of electro-permanent magnetic workholding and handling equipment from
Walmag; the Irish Manufacturing Research (IMR) facility places workholding technology from Hainbuch at
the heart of an installation; and new products arrive on the market
Improvements in productivity and ef ciency
are essential for industry in the UK and
Ireland now and post-pandemic, as
businesses need to save on lead-time and
costs in order to maintain competitiveness in
a global marketplace.
Salisbury-based workholding and
automation specialist 1st Machine Tool
Accessories (1st MTA) ( www.is.gd/VtADPt ) is
taking on the challenges facing industry – and
looking at them as though they are
opportunities.
The company has taken on a range of
electro-permanent magnetic workholding and
handling equipment from Walmag, which the
manufacturer believes bring a range of
bene ts.
The Czech Republic-based rm has the
view that swapping from the use of
conventional vices to a magnetic solution
allows ve sides of a components to be
machined in one hit, typically raising output
by a quarter for no increase in production
cost.
Further bene ts of the technology include
shorter lead-times, allowing jobs to be
invoiced more quickly, and no deformation of
workpieces while they are being held for
milling, drilling or grinding.
COST SAVINGS
Walmag has calculated the comparative cost
bene t of producing a part in one operation
using magnetic workholding rather than in two
operations using compressive clamping. The
analysis is based on milling a 400 x 600 x 20
mm component on a vertical machining
centre in a 30-minute cycle. The company
said it makes a saving, derived from being
able to xture the billet once in one minute
instead of twice in a total of eight minutes.
1st MTA offers a portfolio of workholding
equipment for securing components on
machining centres during 3- to 5-axis
machining operations from across the globe,
including Tecnomors (Italy), Chick (US), Leave
(Taiwan), Abbott (US), OK-Vise (Finland), BEST
(Germany).
Another example of monetary savings in
manufacturing through reducing job set-up
times, this time when turning or turn-milling,
comes from the use of quick-change chucks
by Kitagawa, supplied by 1st MTA, who is the
sole agent for distribution.
Switching from hard jaws for a rst
operation (op one) to soft jaws for a second
(op two) requires removing them, cleaning the
serrated interface, bolting on the soft jaws,
inserting the boring ring and skimming the
jaws. It all takes time, during which the
spindle is not turning and production stops.
A quick-change chuck, on the other hand,
has the ability to eliminate a majority of this
wasted time, decreasing the delay between
the end of op one and the beginning of op
two by as much as 90 per cent. Instead of
wasting 20 minutes, changeover typically
takes just two minutes.
Apart from the signi cant nancial
advantage, 1st MTA points out that secure,
high quality workholding is an essential facet
of cost-effective turning and can enhance a
lathe’s performance, whereas poor retention
of a workpiece can reduce output, lower
quality and compromise safety.
30 February 2021 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
/VtADPt
/www.machinery.co.uk