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Product category: Manufacturing industry news
News Release from: Delcam
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial Team on 31 January 2003

2003 will be "the year of five-axis
machining"

Note: A free brochure or catalogue is available from Delcam about its services. Click here to request a copy.

Leading CAM software developer is predicting that 2003 will be the year when five-axis machining becomes fully established among smaller sub-contractors and toolmakers.

Leading CAM software developer Delcam is predicting that 2003 will be the year when five-axis machining moves away from its niche applications in large aerospace and automotive applications and becomes fully established among smaller sub-contractors and toolmakers "Five-axis machines have had a reputation for being expensive and difficult to program," commented Delcam's PowerMILL Product Manager Chris Whittington

"Both these barriers are now coming down, allowing a much wider range of companies to take advantage of the benefits of the technology." "Firstly, the price of five-axis machines has been falling steadily and this trend is forecast to continue.

Five-axis capabilities that were once only available on large-scale machines for the aerospace industry are now becoming available on the smaller machining centres used by toolmakers and other sub-contractors.

In addition, developments in CAM systems like PowerMILL have made programming of five-axis machining much quicker and easier," claimed Mr.Whittington.

The major benefit of five-axis machining is the ability to machine complex shapes in a single set-up.

This gives greater machining productivity compared to performing the job in a series of set ups, as well as significantly reducing the time and cost of preparing fixtures.

Furthermore, with multiple set-ups, there is always a possibility of incorrect alignment each time the part is moved.

Another important advantage of five-axis machining is that it enables shorter cutting tools to be used since the head can be lowered towards the job and the cutter oriented towards the surface.

As a result, higher cutting speeds can be achieved without putting excessive load on the cutter, so increasing tool life and reducing breakages.

The use of shorter cutters also reduces the vibration of the tool that can result when machining deep cores or cavities with three-axis machines.

This allows a higher quality surface finish to be obtained, so reducing, or even eliminating, the need for time-consuming hand finishing.

Another major benefit from the use of five-axis machining is the ability to machine extremely complex parts from solid that would otherwise have to be cast.

For prototypes and very small runs, this approach is much quicker and cheaper.

It can give lead times of one or two weeks, instead of two months or more that would be needed for castings.

Five-axis machining can give also huge time savings in the drilling of holes.

While this may seem trivial in comparison to the difficulty of machining a complex core or cavity, drilling a series of holes with different compound angles is extremely time consuming.

If a three-axis machine is used, a different set-up must be used for each hole.

In addition to the extra time required, it is very easy to make a mistake when changing between a long series of complicated set-ups.

With a five-axis machine, the head can be oriented along the correct axis for each hole automatically allowing drilling to be completed much more quickly.

One common fear among companies new to five-axis machining is the fear of programming errors that could result in costly damage to the component or even the machine tool.

This is now much easier to avoid as new routines have been added to PowerMILL for the calculation of gouge-free leads and links as the machine tool moves between the various surfaces within a part.

These ensure that gouges are prevented and that collisions do not occur between the cutter and the part being machined.

To help companies looking to move into five-axis machining, Delcam has published a free guide in CD format containing details of the various strategies available, together with guidance on the selection of the most appropriate approach for different types of component.

Videos of a variety of machining operations are included to make it easy to compare the results possible with different approaches. Request free introductory details about products from Delcam ...

(This was Manufacturingtalk's Top Story on 30 January 2003).

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