Product category:
Vertical machining centres (VMC)
News Release from: Colchester-Harrison | Subject: VMCs, CNC lathes, mill-turn centres
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 20 September 2007
Vertical machining centres and CNC
lathes shown
Shown for the first time at EMO 2007 was range of vertical machining centres alongside CNC production and flat-bed CNC and combination lathes and mill-turn centres.
Colchester-Harrison used EMO 2007 to introduce a range of vertical machining centres (VMC) as well as lathes and mill/turn centres The machines are in the Tornado and Alpha product lines brought together under the joint branding of Colchester-Harrison
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 5 Jul 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
Related stories
Improved lathe at even more attractive price
The Tornado 220 two-axis CNC lathe range is faster, heavier by almost 20 per cent and more rigid, to provide a consistent turning operation from part to part
Solid base on which to turn one-offs
Colchester has combined the stability of a solid base and an advanced control and software package into the Combi K-Series CNC lathe for one-off components or batch production.
The Storm range of VMCs, represented by the top of the range SV 1100 and more general duty SP 1000, were joined by the first international appearance of the heavy duty Tornado T4-HD and greatly enhanced T8MS and T8MSY mill-turn centres.
On show too were the new, large capacity Alpha 1800XS-LB flat bed combination lathe and the new Alpha 1400XR combination lathe.
The addition of the new Storm range to the Colchester-Harrison machine tool portfolio provided a chance for visitors to see under power, the top of the range high performance Storm SV 1100.
Further reading
Toolroom made thorough evaluation of 3-axis lathes
An extensive search of three-axis lathes led to three UK suppliers of CNC mill/turn centres facing in-depth evaluation of machine, control, software and running economics before a choice was made.
Turning cells play central role in SME initiative
Two two-axis 'lights-out' turning cells have very quickly taken a central role in a GBP 500,000 automated machining initiative designed to present cost-effective manufacturing techniques to SMEs.
This machine is available with up to 15,000 rev/min spindle drive and up to 48m/min rapid traverse.
The Storm SP 1000 is a general purpose subcontractor targeted machine providing all the advantages of a heavy duty deep column construction.
The Storm machine has a 15kW, 10,000 rev/min spindle with axis travels of 1016mm in X, 610mm in Y and 6000mm in Z.
This machine also has the advantage of a combination of heavy duty box ways on the Z-axis and lower friction linear ways on X- and Y-axes.
The Tornado CNC slant bed range, with new guarding and livery moves the benchmarking target of performance to price ratio a step further with improved accuracy and metal removal power in the T4-HD heavy duty two-axis machine.
The T4-HD lists a power increase of over 35% to 15kW.
The Tornado T8MS features the latest design of high rigidity Sauter 12 station disc-type turret and introduces the benefit from the doubling of the driven tool power to 10kW and its maximum speed raised from 4,000 rev/min to 10,000 rev/min.
The Tornado T8MSY with +40mm Y-axis crossfeed to the turret is demonstrating in-cycle gear hobbing whilst upgraded software further enhances the unmanned 'lights-out' operation of the machine.
Improvements encompass tool life management, sister tooling, production scheduling and in-process gauging.
High pressure coolant systems up to 70 bar are now available.
* Combination (half-NC) lathes - among the latest Colchester-Harrison Alpha combination lathes under power, was the 3m bed, 800mm swing 1800XS with 170mm spindle bore, equipped with Parat four-way quick-change toolpost and made ready for a range of specialised rear boring toolposts and rear chucking.
The machine has Ethernet link to the Alpha system - Fanuc based 21 iTB control.
Also new, the Alpha 1400XR demonstrated the latest Siemens 802D-SL control with Manual Plus software able to accomplish fast and simple program generation with the advantage of repeat cycles under CNC.
• Colchester-Harrison: contact details and other news
• Email this article to a colleague
• Register for the free Manufacturingtalk email newsletter
• Manufacturingtalk Home Page
Search the Pro-Talk network of sites
