Posts Tagged ‘CNC lathes’

Jordan Engineering has recently invested in a high-performance Puma 700LM CNC lathe

Thursday, April 23rd, 2009

Subcontract manufacturing company has invested in a Doosan 3.2m Puma 700LM lathe to machine complex high-precision components used in the oil/gas sector.

Jordan Engineering has recently invested in a high-performance Puma 700LM CNC lathe supplied by Mills Manufacturing Technology, Leamington, UK.

Installed at Jordan’s Gateshead facility in May 2008 the Puma is machining complex high-precision components used in the oil/gas sector.

Jordan’s operations director, Ian Scurfied, said that the company was already a leading supplier to the sector but for smaller components.

The investment in the Puma 700LM (3.2m bed) lathe is part of Jordan’s business strategy to help it capitalise on the continued buoyancy and development in the oil/gas sectors and other growth areas.

they explained: “We were confident that, with larger CNC capacity at our disposal, combined with the in-house experience and knowledge of the industry they have built-up over recent years, they could increase our presence and reputation, and achieve significant growth in the sector”.

Mills told manufacturingtalk that although the Puma had only been installed for a few weeks it is already working to near full capacity machining large, complex sub-sea parts.

These parts are required in small batches, typically three- to five-off.

Parts include valves, shafts and housings from a variety of difficult-to-machine materials, including Duplex and stainless steels, Inconel and so on.

they are large generally around 2500mm in length and 500mm in diameter.

They weigh around 1200kg and need a surface finish of 16-32 micron Ra/CLA.

Scurfield said that the Puma 700, with its driven tools (12 tools/11kW 3,000 rev/min), tailstock and steady, allows Jordan to machine large parts in a single setup.

* ‘One-hit’ machining – the parts are machined on the Puma 700LM in ‘one-hit’ from solid stock on average in five operations, with cycle times varying 6-10h, said Mills.

they added that such parts used to be problematical: “They required us to perform and, allow for, multiple machine set-ups because the parts needed to be moved from one machine to another (i e, from lathes to milling machines).

This in turn meant increased operator involvement, and extra resources and costs to be spent on work-holding and fixtures”.

they are now able to cut lead times because they can manufacture parts more quickly in one-hit and the cost-per-part has improved because there is less work-holding and work-handling required”.

Scurfield continued: “The situation has been reversed with the Puma investment.

To optimise the productivity of the Puma the machine was supplied to Jordan with a 30in chuck and integrated tool-setting probe.

These options, mean that large complex parts can be machined with total confidence, said Mills.

* 3.2m between centres.

The machine’s high-performance and high-productivity capabilities include the following.

* Heavy-duty 45kW 1500 rev/min main spindle with full C-axis functionality.

* 1030mm swing.

* Powerful, easy-to-use Fanuc 21iTB CNC with conversational programming.

Mills added that the investment in the Puma 700LM is  one example of how Jordan aims to grow its business over the next few years.

* About Jordan Engineering – already a leading specialist in the manufacture of complex, precision components for the defence, power generation, yellow-goods (construction/excavation plant and equipment), rail and oil/gas sectors, the company has a comprehensive machine tool park of CNC and conventional machine tool technology at its disposal.

Machines include the following.

* 5-axis milling machines.

* Vertical and horizontal machining centres.

* Ccylindrical, surface and centreless grinding centres.

* 2/3-axis lathes.

* EDM (wire and spark erosion) machines.

To meet its customers’ ‘one-stop-shop’ requirements Jordan also provides (in-house) comprehensive fabrication and (MIG/TIG) welding services, as well as offering turnkey services that include expertly project-managed sub-assembly work.

Jordan has a comprehensive quality and inspection department located in a temperature-controlled environment and has invested in the latest CAD/CAM packages (such as SolidWorks), which are DNC linked.

Managing director at Jordan Engineering, Peter Jordan, said: “We are a dynamic and ambitious company with a focus that’s  much on the future.

By investing in the latest machine tool technologies and by the constant improvements they make in our manufacturing processes and systems they are determined to grow and strengthen our business to maintain our competitive edge”.

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The new livery and ergonomic guard design of the Lights-out package comprises the Colchester

Thursday, March 5th, 2009

The ‘Lights-out’ unmanned turning package developed by Colchester Lathe is the flagship for its Tornado range of lathes.

A ‘lights-out’ unmanned turning package enables highly automated production across a range of two-axis and three-axis machines at a very competitive price starting at under GBP 53,000.

It enables highly automated production across the range of two-axis and three-axis machines at a very competitive price which starts at under GBP 53,000.

The new livery and ergonomic guard design of the Lights-out package comprises the Colchester developed MBF 1000 integrated barfeed, parts-catcher, swarf conveyor, tool monitoring and sister tool replacement.

In-process gauging and production scheduling application are also included in the purpose-developed, competitively priced unit.

The T2 two-axis 60 (degrees) slant bed machine package using Colchester’s Duo-stable construction that provides thermal and dynamic stability up to 300 percent greater than cast iron, has a 42mm bar capacity and 5.5kW, 6,000 rev/min spindle with 12 position VDI 30 turret.

As each bar is measured, the onboard machine application computes the number of pieces from each bar and recalculates when to stop the automatic production cycle.

The MBF 1000 bar magazine is fully integrated with the Fanuc control and as a result has no mechanical stops, takes minutes to change over from, say, hexagon to round bar and programming is speedy by using dialogue input.

The production schedule application enables direct on-machine control over workpiece batches while the tool monitoring, based on axis torque loading, will initiate sister tool replacement from the 12 station VDI turret or stop the machine if the problem is deemed more serious.

To help with program generation, on-board Colchester create COLCAM application gives quick and simple machining cycles.

Through Renishaw’s LT02 optical transmission probing technology for comparison against drawing limits and feed-back to control, any deviation for automatic tool offset correction can be made.

Automatic alarm generation and call out is included in the event of cycle stoppage from the Fanuc 21i-TB Series control with 10.4 inch colour LCD display.

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Boosting the productivity of a lathe operation by at least 50 percent is as

Tuesday, February 24th, 2009

Boosting the productivity of a lathe operation by at least 50 percent is as

easy as adding a barfeeder. Such productivity gains stem from the fact that barfeeders provide a constant supply of raw part material to lathes, allow for unattended operation and lend support for machining at fast speeds.

Without barfeeders, a shop has to cut raw stock into manageable slugs, move them to the turning machine and manually load and unload the machine. Those activities diminish machine throughput because they extend non-cut times between parts.

Barfeeders, on the other hand, automatically feed long lengths of barstock into lathes for hours of unattended operation, freeing machine operators for other duties such as secondary operations, part cleaning and packaging.

Lathes basically cost about the same no matter where they are purchased, but the cost of operating them varies when factoring in labor, or a manufacturing facility’s burden rate. Affordable automation, such as barfeeders, eliminates the manual burden rate and allows shops to compete globally with countries that have low labor rates. In addition, manufacturing facilities can continually improve throughput with such automation.

The goal is not necessarily to replace operators with barfeeders, but to set up machines with a constant source of raw materials that allows them to run unattended at night and on weekends. So shops can schedule and set up work during the day shift and run the jobs at a low cost per-hour while increasing their cutting times and getting a greater return from their investment in the machine tool.

With a $15,000 barfeeder, using it over a five-year period for 35 hours per week, 50 weeks of the year — for a total of 8,750 hours — the hourly cost of ownership is $1.71 per hour. However, that is a conservative estimate. With careful scheduling, their use can be extended to nights, weekends and holidays, and the hourly cost could drop as low as $0.34 per hour. No operators in the world work for such a low hourly rate.

The long and short of it
Two common styles of barfeeders are single-bar tube and magazine, and the magazine styles are available as long or short versions. Single-bar tube feeders typically work with Swiss-style sliding-headstock machines for loading wire-gage material and barstock measuring up to 1.750 in. in diameter. While these feeders require shops to load bars one at a time, the machines they feed are typically running small, short complex parts with long cycle times out of 12-ft.-long bars that provide one or two shifts of unattended operation.

Magazine-style barfeeders hold multiple pieces of barstock in different shapes and diameters and feed one bar after the other into a lathe. Changeovers from different bar sizes and shapes are quick, easy and automatic, taking as little as 15 seconds for some models. Loading magazines can be done while the barfeeder and lathe are working. Such fast changeovers mean barfeeders could be used on low and medium-volume jobs as well as the high-volume jobs they are usually associated with.

The long styles of magazine barfeeders handle 12-ft.-long barstock and can keep lathes running unattended for multiple shifts. Short-style magazine feeders provide up to 8 hours of unattended lathe operation feeding bar lengths typically 3 or 4 ft. long. The bar lengths are determined by the headstock lengths in the lathes that they feed because machine headstocks support bars when running a short-version feeder.

By not having to rely on the barfeeder for back-end bar support, shops can run lathe spindles to their maximum speeds. That is especially beneficial when using carbide, ceramic and Cermet cutting tools that excel at high speeds for producing precision surface finishes. Short-version magazine barfeeders also take up less floorspace.

Some styles of single-bar tube and long-version magazine barfeeders offer significant back-end bar support, so shops are not limited in the turning speeds they run when they use them. In some instances, shops can double spindle rpm to increase surface feeds and decrease part cycle times.

Barfeeders are equipped with either hydrodynamic or hydrostatic support systems. In ideal conditions, hydrodynamic systems offer stability at turning speeds up to 1,600 sfm, while hydrostatic ones handle speeds up to 3,000 sfm.

http://www.americanmachinist.com/304/Issue/Article/False/13668/Issue

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Powerful CNC lathes machine ‘difficult’ alloys

Tuesday, November 11th, 2008

CMZ said that its powerful TL CNC lathes have a box-section guide design for maximum rigidity and accuracy, which makes they are ideal for machining difficult aerospace alloys.

Spanish machine tool manufacturer, CMZ, offers 24 models of its TL series of CNC lathes and turning centres.

These machines, said the company, combine speed, power and accuracy in a compact and cost-effective package.

The TL range includes driven tool versions with C-axis, sub-spindle versions, servo tail-stock options and chuck sizes ranging from 165mm up to 250mm.

The TL lathes can be fitted with CMZ’s GL20 gantry robot, which provides unmanned operation machining billets or shafts, as well as machining from bar.

* Lot of power from a small machine tool ‘footprint’ – the largest, and best-selling, machine in the range is the TL 25, said CMZ to manufacturingtalk.

The TL 25 is available in two spindle sizes for machining from 66mm or 77mm diameter bar and has a 250mm chucking capacity.

The machine has a massive 40kW oil-cooled integrated spindle motor, combined with 17kW of power on the driven tools, giving it exceptional power in a small footprint.

The TL 25 BMS model features a 12kW sub-spindle powered by an oil-cooled integrated motor.

* Structure – the TL machines have a box-section guide design for maximum rigidity and accuracy, which, combined with the power of the spindle and driven tooling, means they are ideal for machining difficult materials such as aerospace alloys, said CMZ.

The main spindle, and where fitted, the sub-spindle, have oil-cooled integrated spindle motors, which provide exceptional accuracy and surface finish while contributing to the compact design of the machines.

The TL machines are competitively priced, because CMZ uses common components as far as possible across the range.

Common components include the cast iron base, which is machined and heat treated and ground in house on CMZ’s Favretto grinders.

* Largest machines – the larger machines in the range offer a choice or 10 or 12-station high-speed, non-lift servo turrets – rotating 180 deg in just 0.5s and giving adjacent tool change times of just 0.15s.

A 12-station radial or axial VDI 40 turret is offered as an alternative at no extra cost.

The machines are supplied as standard with the latest Fanuc HVi motors – with 1 million pulse/rev encoding for high precision.

Included are the latest Fanuc 30 series CNCs with Manual Guide i conversation programming.

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Okuma reluctance motor used on CNC

Sunday, September 21st, 2008

Okuma has announced that its reluctance motor is to be used as a drive for the main spindle and optional counter spindle on its LB lathes, replacing conventional brushless AC motors.

Previously the reluctance motor’s high torque made it unsuitable for applications where accurate speed control is essential The torque ripple and speed control problems have been overcome using modern, computer-aided methods for designing the motors, and by embedding controllers that harness algorithms and real-time computing to tailor drive waveforms according to rotor position and current or voltage feedback Okuma said the cost of the drive electronics is offset by the simplicity of motor construction, as it uses no brushes, commutator, rotor windings or permanent magnets.

This also makes the motor reliable and maintenance-free.

Compared with brushless motors, the moment of inertia of the rotor is only half, wihch makes it high revving and easy to accelerate and decelerate. As with an induction motor, the output can be precisely controlled over a range of speeds.

Comparative tests with conventional AC motors of the same class carried out at Okuma showed that PREX achieves 30 per cent higher power and a maximum efficiency of 90-95 per cent, with minimal heat generation even under peak load.

Okuma said the motor is powerful for its size, rigid, thermally stable, energy efficient, durable and can be controlled with high precision using modern electronic technology.

It is also easy to recycle as it only contains copper and iron.

The company offers its LB lathe spindles with bores of 80mm, 91mm or 100mm diameter.

On the Okuma LB3000 lathe, the PREX spindle motor provides an output of 30kW and develops a torque of up to 700Nm at 3,000 rev/m, accelerating up to 5,000 rev/min in 3.4s.

The larger motor on the LB4000 offers 37kW/1,200Nm/3,000 rev/m.

As gears and belts are dispensed with, the switchover between speed ranges takes less than 0.5s, reducing unproductive idle time.

When functioning as a C-axis, the spindle rotates at 200 rev/m and is indexed with a repeatability of 0.005 deg.

A PREX motor continues to be used in the 12-station turret, offering 7.1kW of servo power and generating 50Nm of rotary tool torque, allowing high metal removal during prismatic machining parts of a cycle.

Maximum tool rotational speed is 6,000 rev/m.

The smaller LB2000 lathe models are similarly fitted with PREX motors in the turret and to drive the spindle(s).

In a further development, Okuma has started installing two motors in the turret, one for indexing and another for tool drive, to increase the milling and drilling power.

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