MACHINING CENTRES SUPERIOR SPINDLES DELIVER
Singer opted for 5-axis technology from
Spinner and is benefi ting from reduced
set-ups, cycle times and more
manufacture bespoke systems and further
develop our own product range with a view to
expanding our market reach to beyond the
10% of the sector that we already serve,”
Ian Bullock says: “One unforeseen
advantage of the XYZ 750 LR was the effect
it has on customers. We regularly get visits
from NHS trusts and wheelchair
manufacturers, and the machine makes a
distinct impression on them, we are selling
them a premium product and having the
machine enhances that perception in their
eyes.”
At Somerset-based Singer Instruments,
the manufacture of aluminium components
has been streamlined through the
introduction of the company’s rst 5-axis
machining centre. A manufacturer of medical
equipment, the company has traditionally
been a 3-axis machining centre user.
Investment in 5-axis capacity was
instigated by Steve Maconnachie, CNC
machinist, who previously ran his own
subcontract machining business with his
brother, in the Midlands, and had used
5-axis technology for many years. He was
familiar with all the leading makes of
machine, many of which were reviewed
before deciding on the Spinner purchased
by Singer.
The Germany-built Spinner U5-630, a 40-
taper, nominally half-metre-cube machine,
was supplied through sole UK agent
Whitehouse Machine Tools (https://is.gd/
iyiqug). It is equipped with high pressure
coolant through the spindle and a separate
clean tank, as well as Blum spindle-mounted
workpiece probing and a tool setting probe.
And it has a compact footprint of a little over
2.7 by 2.4 m, which is bene cial, as factory
space is limited.
ACCURATE & AFFORDABLE
Comments Maconnachie: “Some of our
components are tightly toleranced to
±5 microns, so we maintain the temperature
of our production area to within a couple of
degrees Celsius. It is true that many of the
5-axis machines we considered could hold
this tolerance, as does the Spinner, whose
price was also competitive. It was little more
than half the cost of one of the other
production centres we shortlisted.”
Cycle time savings have been dramatic
and there has been a considerable reduction
in the number of set-ups needed across a
raft of different parts. In one case, a table
for Singer Instruments’ world-leading ROTOR
automated screening instrument used in the
biological sciences sector is produced in
three set-ups versus the nine separate
prismatic machining operations required
before when using 3-axis VMCs.
More typically, components previously
requiring six operations are now produced in
two. In one such example, for producing
another integral part for the same genomic
screening instrument, machining cycles
totalling three quarters of an hour have been
reduced to just eight minutes.
In addition to higher production output,
other bene ts of fewer set-ups include less
handling, lower xturing costs and enhanced
accuracy through fewer clampings. And with
average batch sizes of 10- to 20-off, much
work in progress is eliminated.
And this is before the full capability of the
machine is being exploited. Currently, all
5-axis cycles involve 3+2-axis cutting
strategies, as components have historically
been designed for production on 3-axis
machining centres. But as the Spinner
machine is capable of fully interpolative
5-axis machining, parts being designed for
new electronic workstations and laboratory
automation equipment, used worldwide for
research into genetics, neuroscience,
cancer, biofuel engineering and microbiology,
will make use of the Spinner machine’s
enhanced capability.
Apart from its performance, Maconnachie
praises Whitehouse Machine Tools’ service,
which included helping to remove the
54-pocket tool magazine and Z-axis motor so
that the machine would pass through the
door to the building.
22 www.machinery.co.uk @MachineryTweets October 2019
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