Product category:
CNC turning centres, mill/turning, multi-tasking centres, horizontal and VTLs.
News Release from: Colchester-Harrison | Subject: Tornado T8MS mill-turn centre
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 22 August 2007
Mill-turn centre does jobs in one set-up
A mill-turning centre with a sub-spindle has taken multi-operational work away from a conventional CNC lathe and machining centres to finish jobs complete in a single set-up, said a subcontractor.
A Colchester-Harrison Tornado T8MS with C-axis, driven tools and sub-spindle has combined five previous operations into one The machine has slashed production lead and cycle times at the factory of Genesis Precision Engineering
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 5 Jul 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Installed by RK International of Erith (the Southern Technical Centre for Colchester-Harrison), Genesis Precision Engineering's investment in the Tornado mill-turn centre is producing in 'one-hit' those parts that previously were progressed in a number of operations through 3- and 4-axis machining centres.
In some instances, the mill-turn centre has helped to win back business that had been placed with competitors.
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The running of a secondhand Tornado T100 CNC lathe for the past few years (also sourced via RK International), is one of the reasons the company opted to re-approach the supplier.
Said Genesis Precision Engineering's director Paul Barlow: "The Tornado T100 has been a good 'workhorse', producing a considerable amount of tight tolerance work for us and so we put Colchester at the top of the list when we were looking for another machine.
We also looked at American and Japanese machines but based on experience, we were very confident of the performance we would achieve with the Tornado T8MS".
Barlow admited that Genesis Precision is run by 'milling people', so it took a little while for the six-year-old company to finally concede that many components being processed using 3- and 4-axis machining centres, would benefit from the technology of a CNC mill-turn centre.
Barlow said: "We are using the Tornado T8MS for jobs that would previously have been directed towards our milling machines.
We can now produce these parts complete from bar using the integrated Colchester-Harrison MBF1000 barfeed unit.
The machine enables us to look at components from a totally different perspective and is ideal for intricate, small parts and especially where high surface finish is imperative for the customer".
Starting Genesis Precision 'from scratch' in 2001, Barlow and his business partner Les Kirby have progressively grown the company.
"With hindsight, 2001 wasn't a great year to launch a subcontracting engineering company," he said, "Especially considering the investment we had to make to get us up and running.
However, in the past 18 months we have seen a significant upturn and we are now able to win business with more competitive prices from existing customers and are drawing in totally new customers seeking a reliable and cost-effective supplier".
Genesis Precision now serves many of the high-tech industries that are prevalent in the local area, such as scientific, medical, pharmaceutical, optical, instrument and electronic while also supplying machined components to many of the research and development companies in and around Cambridge.
The company employs six people and plans are laid to extend the premises at Harston, just five miles south of Cambridge.
Said Kirby: "Our growth has been steady and controllable giving our employees the chance to adapt to increased responsibility and help grow with the firm.
We have a fortnightly meeting involving all staff to discuss current issues and debate ideas.
Getting the best from our Tornado T8MS has been high on the agenda since it was installed last year." The machine runs almost constantly during the company's working hours between 07:30-17:00, and is sometimes left running unmanned overnight on certain jobs, such as the production of a brass component.
This is rough turned in the 22kW, 5,000 rev/min main spindle before holes are drilled in the end and side faces.
The part is then finish turned before threads and grooves are added.
Transferring the component 'on-the-fly' to the 7.5kW, 6,000 rev/min sub-spindle, the back end is machined, including facing, drilling and tapping operations.
* Precision - illustrating the precision of the Tornado T8MS is the drilling of 0.8mm diameter holes and a 1.7mm diameter hole through the entire length of the 25mm part.
Cycle and lead times have been significantly reduced when compared with the previous sequence of operations using turning and milling machines.
Components machined on the Tornado T8MS are programmed off-line using Colchester's COLCAM programming software, which handles incoming files from customers in formats such as DXF and IGES.
A typical batch size at Genesis Precision is between 50 and 100 parts, with many dimensional tolerances in the realm of 0.010mm.
As Kirby explained: "We have gained a reputation for working closely with customers and providing a problem-free service based on quality, on-time delivery and competitive pricing which is really helping us in the market".
* Getting the best from the Tornado T8MS - one operator oversees the mill-turn centre and an existing 2-axis Colchester T100.
"We are fortunate in that Clive Haywood is extremely proactive in his outlook, he is always looking at milling jobs now to see if they would be more productive on the mill/turn centre.
He also scrutinises bar sizes and tries to maintain common tooling, so that collet changes and tool changes are kept to a minimum in order to maximise efficiency.
When he joined us he was very experienced on Japanese machines, but now he swears by Colchester-Harrison and the capability of the Tornado," said Barlow.
One job to migrate from the company's machining centres to the new Tornado T8MS is a precision latch manufactured from 316 stainless steel that has enabled five previous operations to be combined into just one.
The part is initially rough faced and turned, before the profile is roughed-out from the Tornado's 12-station, all-driven 3.7kW, 5,000 rev/min VDI turret.
The profile is then finish-machined and fully deburred in-cycle.
Following transfer to the sub-spindle the main bore is then drilled, reamed and chamfered before the part is indexed using the C-axis for further drilling, chamfering and tapping operations.
The cycle time is 14 min.
Although speed is important, surface finish is critical on this highly visible precision latch, as it is with many components produced by Genesis Precision, such as parts for pharmaceutical machines and optical industry equipment.
"Today we machine a lot of intricate parts where surface finish is a priority," said Barlow.
"Most of these parts now go on the new Tornado".
* About the Colchester-Harrison T8MS - the mill-turn centre can turn parts up to 300mm in diameter and has a main spindle bore capacity of 66mm.
What helps in achieving enhanced consistency and accuracy is the development of its 'Duo-Stable' construction, which provides thermal and dynamic stability up to 300% greater than cast iron.
The machine features full C-axis with the addition of a spindle disc brake and driven tooling, while the addition of a powerful second spindle allows users to enjoy the full benefits of single-hit machining.
The MBF 1000 barfeeder accompanying the T8MS at Genesis Precision is all-electric and fully integrated to the machine.
This enables additional functions to be carried out at the machine control such as work scheduling and automatic bar scheduling.
"Overall we are extremely pleased with the Colchester-Harrison Tornado T8MS," concluded Barlow.
"It has taken multi-operational work from our lathe and machining centres and finished it complete in a single set-up.
This fits in with our constant efficiency drive - we know that to remain competitive we can never 'take our foot off the gas'.".
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