Friday, July 24, 2009

Okuma extends spare-parts warranties

Okuma America Corporation (OAC) has announced that, effective from 27 May 2009, all spare-part purchase warranties have been extended.

New and exchange spare parts now carry a one-year warranty and select OSP (electronic) items in the after-market carry a five-year warranty.

Previous warranties were either 90 or 180 days, depending on the component.

The warranty extension applies to spare-part purchases as well as parts in the Spindle Exchange and Board Repair programmes.http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/oka/oka101.html

CNC turning centres halve machining times

RandG Precision Engineering has invested in Mori Seiki CNC machinery and realised savings in inter-operation handling, reduction of tool set-up times and higher metal removal rates.

RandG services clients in oil and gas, defence, medical and telecommunications industries.

It has been using CNC machinery since 1990 and has a plan of continuous investment - GBP600,000 in 2008 and a further GBP275,000 in 2009 - to maintain and improve its service.

As part of this programme, it purchased a Mori Seiki NL2500 turning centre with driven tool turret and Y axis in 2008 and a Mori Seiki NZ2000 twin-spindle twin-turret turning centre with a 65mm bar feed in January 2009.

Joe Giammasi, managing director of RandG, said: 'The live tools enable us to complete parts in one operation.

'Savings in handling between operations, elimination of associated tool set-up times and the much higher material-removal rates, achievable on the NL2500 and the NZ2000, have cut machining times in half.' RandG Precision's close relationship with its customers has benefited from the reduced cycle times and the increased flexibility provided by the Mori Seiki machines, enabling it to offer ex-stock delivery on many parts.

The rigidity of the Mori Seiki machines has also increased tool life.

Giammasi added: 'The NL2500 is reducing our tool usage by 25 per cent on average, while on some jobs we are enjoying as much as 50 per cent improvement in tool life.

'We anticipate that tool usage will be even lower on the NZ2000.' The reliability of Mori Seiki's machines and the service it provides were important factors in RandG Precision's investment decision.

http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/fre/fre186.html

Doosan CNC lathe machines complex parts

Classic Precision Engineering, a UK precision manufacturing subcontract specialist, has recently invested in two Doosan CNC lathes from Mills CNC.

The two new machines, a Lynx 220B two-axis lathe and a DNM 500 vertical machining centre (fourth-axis-ready), were installed at the company's Kirby-in-Ashfield facility in June 2009 and are being used to manufacture high-precision complex parts (one-offs and small batches right through to medium-to-high volumes) for a diverse range of customers operating in the aerospace, electronics, water, automotive, medical and packaging sectors.

Classic Precision has now invested in five Doosan CNC machines in recent years: the other three are a Puma 2000SY multi-tasking (Y-axis and sub-spindle) turning centre; a Lynx 220LM three-axis lathe, and an Ace twin-pallet vertical machining centre.

http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/mil/mil187.html

Dugard turn-mill cuts R and D Marine's cycle times

R and D Marine designs and produces flexible shaft couplings, anti-vibration mountings and damper drive plates used in marine and industrial applications.

It recently invested in a turn-mill centre from C Dugard of Hove.

The centre combines turning and milling operations in just one set-up and has reduced component lead times.

This has allowed R and D Marine to instigate new and more effective single set-up machining practices.

Roger Firth, who co-founded the business with his brother David, said: 'We needed a lathe with powered tooling to try and reduce the time-absorbing second operation set-ups on machining centres, which extended the waiting times for our throughput of work.

'We short-listed three suppliers for demonstrations and time studies.

'It was the C Dugard solution that came to the fore, both in effort and execution.

'The trials demonstrated how well the machine performed overall, not only in terms of 'significant' cycle-time savings but also because in operation it exhibited far lower levels of vibration than other machines we had seen, which was reflected in the samples we tested.

'The components had first-class results with regard to surface finish and accuracy.

'It was also very noticeable that the machine was much quieter during cutting, compared with other machines we had seen, especially when producing the predominantly steel workpieces we require.

'The machine was able to complete a lot of work using solid-carbide end mills, making full use of work offsets, which meant we could avoid the added cost of multi insert tools.' Able to handle bar of 65mm diameter, the 12-tool turret has a maximum turning diameter and length of 350 and 530mm, with travels in X- and Z-axis of 220 and 550mm, rapid traverses of 36m/min in both axes and a 15kW machine spindle with a maximum speed of 4,000rev/min.

C Dugard made a few additions to the basic specification, including an extra stop on the tailstock to help avoid tool collisions, a larger parts-catcher and machine-guard modifications to accept a special magazine bar feed.

Flexible couplings are produced in batches of 300 to 1,000, of which some go into stock in readiness for a quick response to any customer's requests.

R and D Marine supplies flexible coupling components and spares for power-transmission applications from 5 to 1,500HP.

The component count, including more than 150 different types of back plates and spline plates, as well as torsional dampers, extends into the hundreds.

The variety of marine products also includes shaft couplings and bespoke couplings produced from solid for installations in units such as water pumps.

R and D Marine also developed a range of competitively priced damper drive plates that can be utilised in most types of engine/gearbox combinations and effectively reduce gear noise.

Other advantages of the R and D Marine designs include the ability to allow engines in both pleasure and work boats to run at lower speeds.

The damper drive plates are machined complete and are ready to install on engines up to 800HP.

A further example of R and D's specialist service capability is the design and manufacture of a special coupling for the Godiva fire pump, which carries the permanent magnets of a rotating field alternator to power emergency lighting.

Due to the ultra-responsive attitude of the two directors and their works-manager Terry Course, the customer base now extends from blue-chip companies through to one-man fishing operations.

For example, fishermen regularly drive down from the east coast to pick up new replacement parts.

Roger Firth added: 'Alternatively, we'll ship components out immediately, if required, because we have to help customers overcome breakdowns as soon as possible.

'For fishermen, a breakdown can really threaten their livelihood.'.

Wednesday, July 22, 2009

New CNC machining centres from Hardinge

New CNC machining centres from Hardinge

Hardinge has introduced a new range of compact, high-performance five-axis CNC machining centres.

The GX 250 5-AX range offers customers the productivity and performance of five-axis CNC machining technology from machines with a compact footprint and at a competitive price, the firm explains.

Ideally suited to the manufacturing of complex, small and high-precision parts, the CNC machining centres offer reduced set-ups and operator interventions while improving part accuracy and increasing work throughput.

Available in three models, the five-axis machines have a rigid C-frame fixed column design, different spindle options and a 20-station, swing-arm, bi-directional ATC, as well as in-built Dynamic Collision Protection for greater security.

"The GX 250 5-AX's introduction demonstrates and confirms Hardinge's position as a supplier of high-technology machine tools," commented Hardinge Europe sales, marketing and service director John McTernan.

Hardinge began manufacturing precision machines in 1890 and now operates manufacturing facilities worldwide.

If you're searching for machining centres visit our preferred supplier list.ADNFCR-1982-ID-19272170-ADNFCR


http://www.machinetooldirect.co.uk/machine-tool-news/New-CNC-machining-centres-from-Hardinge-2009-7-20.asp