accounted for, attention turned to gear cutting. The
acquisition of Kenward brought with it several specialist
gear-cutting, shaping and hobbing machines, but Westin
Engineering was looking for greater versatility. Especially
for one-off or low volume manufacture, where the cost of
specialist gear-cutting tooling was prohibitive. Smaller
shaft and pinion work could be accommodated on the
XYZ 1020 VMC, but larger diameter gears posed a
problem. The solution was an XYZ UMC-5X simultaneous
5-axis machining centre (600 by 600 by 500 mm in X, Y
and Z, plus a 600 mm diameter trunnion rotary table
capable of 90 rpm).
“We discussed our requirement with the applications
team at XYZ Machine Tools and through their
recommendation we contacted Don Tyne Gear Systems,
a specialist gear design company whose software can
generate gear data that can be transferred to our Open
Mind CADCAM www.is.gd/lamemu allowing the
machining of the full tooth form utilising the
simultaneous 5-axis capability of the XYZ UMC-5X,”
he continues.
The combination of software and the Siemens control
on the UMC-5X make gear design and manufacture
almost conversational. By eliminating the reliance on
highly skilled personnel, time-consuming calculations
and expensive gear-cutting tooling, it meant Westin
Engineering could provide a quick response and
dramatically shorten lead times for this type of work.
A further advantage is that by making use of sister
tooling in the UMC-5X toolchanger (with up to 60
positions), the machine can run lights out.
Concludes Lynch: “Using the standard probing and
the integrated Smart Machining Technology on the
UMC-5X, we can monitor tool wear or set the machine to
switch to sister tooling after a set number of teeth have
been cut to maintain production overnight, all while
using standard tooling, such as ballnose cutters.
“We see a lot of potential on the machining side and
we are identifying a lack of supply capability for
machining, especially where it involves more than just
making to print and there is a requirement for
engineering input. Our investment is enabling us to cut
lead times on work such as this and working with XYZ
Machine Tools has additional bene ts through their
close working relationships with other suppliers; such
as Open Mind and Ceratizit www.is.gd/daxita , while
the ProtoTRAK and Siemens controls bring added
exibility to our work. Add to that the cost-bene t of the
XYZ machines and it all makes perfect sense.”
Spinner 5-axis brings massive
& bene cial change to pump
machining at Metaltech
A fundamental change to the way stainless steel pump
bodies are machined by subcontractor Metaltech
Precision Engineers is resulting in far-reaching
benefi ts. They include a drastic reduction in set-up
time that lowers economic batch size by a factor of
four, shorter lead times, faster cycles, savings in the
cost of tooling and less wear on the machine tool.
Additional advantages of the new production route
are reductions in power consumption and in space
taken up on the shop oor – both are in short supply at
the rm’s Hailsham, East Sussex, factory and were the
main drivers in the company’s search for an alternative
manufacturing process.
Expensive 500 or 630 mm twin-pallet, 50-taper
horizontal machining centres (HMCs) with boxways and
high spindle torque, of which there are nine on site,
together with CNC lathes, have underpinned pump body
production since the company was established in 1976.
The components are typically produced in ve operations
on three machines.
A 40-taper, 5-axis, vertical-spindle machining centre,
a German-built Spinner U-620 without a pallet changer
(620 by 520 by 460 mm in X, Y and Z; C-axis of 360°
and B-axis of +50°/-110°), supplied as a turnkey
package by sole UK agent Whitehouse Machine Tools
( www.is.gd/bupuju ), now machines the components in
two operations. Installed and made operational within
one week during November 2019, the cell heralds a
progression at Metaltech from the use of raw power to
smart machining.
The pump bodies in question, of which there are
eight types ranging in diameter from 160 to 280 mm
with numerous different port details, are produced for a
customer in batches of 50 to 60 to a monthly schedule
that might include as many as 15 component variants.
www.machinery.co.uk | MachineryMagazine | @MachineryTweets | September 2020 35
/lamemu
/daxita
/bupuju
/www.machinery.co.uk