MACHINING CENTRES LATEST CASE STUDIES & PRODUCT NEWS
Industry & product news in brief
■ Holland’s Unisign’s Unimast CNC moving table machining
centre is specially developed for efficiently milling forklift truck
masts. More and more forklift truck manufacturers are using the
dedicated Unimast CNC machines to mill their mast profiles, the
company claims. www.is.gd/siyalu
■ The largest vertical machining centre in Okuma’s MB-V series,
the MB-80V has table dimensions of 1,600 by 800 mm and X-Y-Z
travel of up to 1,600 by 1,050 by 600 mm (NCMT is the UK
agent). www.is.gd/evifih
■ The Brother Speedio M300X3 30-taper, 5-axis mill-turn centre
joins the smaller M200X3 model. The new model boasts a 300
by 440 by 305 mm working volume versus the latter’s 200 mm
of X-axis travel. www.is.gd/sotaca
■ Starrag UK has announced a host of innovative improvements
to its Ecospeed and Ecoforce machines aimed at aluminium and
titanium aerostructure component machining, bringing improved
cutting performance in terms of both reduced cycle times and
consistency of production. Included are: a more powerful spindle
saving that he describes as “immense”.
As regards energy consumption, the
Spinner draws between 10 and 20 amps,
whereas an HMC pulls 30 to 40 amps.
Murphy estimates that overall electricity
usage will fall by two-thirds using the new
pump body manufacturing process.
At Stroud-based Howdon Power
Transmissions, an XYZ 1000 LR vertical
machining centre supplied by XYZ Machine
Tools (www.is.gd/oxorop) has been installed
to support product development and
testing.
Founded over 40 years ago, the
company is the originator of the patented
Wedge Pin system for mechanical overload
protection. Patented back in 1978, this
remains central to the company’s range of
Wedgegard Torque Limiters. New
applications arise on a regular basis and
product updates are a common occurrence
– time to market is crucial.
Production of these parts is given over
to long-term subcontract partners, but
Howdon Power Transmission needed
greater flexibility and versatility when it
came to machining for research and
development, as well as for low volume
production to meet urgent demand from
Starrag UK Ecospeed & Ecoforce
machines benefit from a
host of innovative
improvements
– 150 kW for the Ecospeeds; enhanced software routines.
For example, for optimised chatter control and adaptive jerk feed
control on both Ecospeeds and Ecoforces; and new pallet
options on the Ecoforce Ti 9 and Ti 13 models to accommodate
larger workpieces, particularly in structural aerospace
components. www.is.gd/gequza
customers for bespoke applications.
“Our products cover such a wide range of
applications, from steel mills through food
production to on-vehicle installations,
therefore we are constantly looking to
develop the design and, while subcontract
manufacture for production is ideal for us,
we needed faster reactions when it came to
product development and testing,” says
company founder and managing director
Howard Miles.
While the search for a lathe and
machining centre saw the company look
geographically widely, Howdon Power
Transmission settled on XYZ Machine
Tools, just down the M5 near Tiverton.
For the lathe, the company opted for an XYZ
SLX 1630 ProTURN lathe, with Howdon
Power Transmission’s works manager Neil
Hussey won over by the ProtoTRAK control
and its ease of use, which lends itself to
the one-off and low volume machining that
he had in mind.
For the machining centre, the company
opted for an XYZ 1000 LR vertical spindle
model. Part of the XYZ LR series that
makes use of linear rail technology for axis
travel, this provides a lower cost
introduction to machining centre ownership,
although price was not a major
consideration for Howdon Power
Transmission. “Performance and
specification were our main priorities when
choosing a machining centre,” says Miles.
“We then wanted the security of local
support and training, which we get from XYZ
Machine Tools. Neil had one day of training
down at XYZ in Burlescombe and we still
have two days of free training left, which we
will undertake on-site here when we need it,
but so far we are managing to achieve
everything we want with the machines and
knowledge that we have.”
The XYZ 1000 LR comes with an
18 hp/13 kW, 8,000 rpm spindle and has
axis travels of 1,000 by 500 by 500 mm
(X, Y, Z) plus a table size of 1,060 by
500 mm. Also specified as an option was a
fourth-axis unit to add greater versatility and
productivity. One key feature was the
24-position arm-type tool magazine, as
Hussey explains: “It seemed like a sensible
option to specify, we have a machining
centre that is quick to program and set-up,
so to be constantly changing tools would be
time consuming, so to keep the magazine
full, with a variety of tools makes
changeovers even quicker.” ■
24 July/August 2020 | www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets
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