Supporting acts
Obviously the heart of any metalcutting subcontract business, machine tools require
the support of workholding and CADCAM and control software to do their work
Subcontractor DW Engineering has
trebled business since the beginning
of the decade, with most of that
growth taking place last year, which saw a
doubling of turnover.
Owner David Watt puts this success
partly down to winning contracts for
machining batch sizes up to 10 times larger
than previously, which he largely ful ls using
four Hurco (https://is.gd/utebev) vertical
machining centres (VMCs). Orders are now
frequently received for thousands-off rather
than hundreds.
New work in the electronics and gas
detection sectors has been won, as well as
in the resurgent oil and gas industry, while
80% of throughput is repeat business, some
of which has been retained almost since the
company was formed.
A particular feature of the latest Hurco
machines, three VM10i models, is cited as
supporting this increased growth –
Adaptipath high speed machining software,
which includes novel routines for rest
material removal, in the latest version of
Hurco’s WinMAX conversational control.
Program cycles are signi cantly faster,
especially when pocket milling.
On the earlier model running a previous
release of WinMAX programming software,
a nine-year-old VM1 that included Ultipocket
milling routines, total cycle time was 165
minutes. That was before Hurco introduced
Ultimotion software to control axis
movements on its machines, without relying
on hardware-based motion control. It has
helped to reduce the cycle time for
producing the electronics housing to 120
minutes, a saving of more than 27%.
Adaptipath pocket milling software,
a module within Ultipocket in WinMax 10
with its new rest machining routines,
contributes bene ts of the type mirrored in
high-end CAD systems. It smooths the
motion of the toolpath and keeps chip load
between a user-de ned maximum and
minimum, improving surface nish and
extending tool life. Watt says metal removal
rates can be up to double.
SUBCONTRACTING BEHIND THE MAIN EVENT
MATERIAL VARIETY CHALLENGE
Looking back at his Blantyre, Scotland-based
company’s progress over the past 14 years,
he observes: “The variety of materials we
are asked to process is vast, ranging from
stainless and mild steels through titanium,
copper, bronze, brass and aluminium to
PTFE, PEEK, acetal and nylon. Accuracies
routinely achieved are ± 0.1 mm, but some
parts have drawing tolerances down to
± 10 microns.
“We have never needed a CAM system to
prepare programs for the Hurcos, as their
on-board conversational software is so
powerful at creating the cutter paths – and
there is no need for post-processing.
“If any particularly complex geometry is
included in a CAD model supplied by a
DW Engineering praises the
control features of its Hurco
machining centre fl eet
customer, we use AutoCAD or SolidWorks to
produce a DXF le that WinMAX imports
directly.
“The Hurco machines, which continue to
evolve and improve, have supported our
diverse work and underpinned our success.
They are key to our ability to offer top quality
work, quick turnaround and competitive
prices,” he concludes.
At Stratos Precision Engineering,
a particular challenge was the need to
machine around 5,000 plastic parts per
year. The solution that eased this was a
Chick Indexing Subsystem supplied by 1st
MTA (https://is.gd/wexohi).
An acrylic manifold block for a ow control
device previously had to be clamped three
times in conventional vices mounted side by
side on the table of a Haas (https://is.gd/
fucuba) VF4 vertical machining centre. This
process has been replaced by a more
modern clamping system based on Chick’s
Stratos Precision
Engineering has boosted
output with Chick
workholding
www.machinery.co.uk @MachineryTweets October 2019 53
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