Product category:
Abrasive machining - manual and CNC machines
News Release from: Holroyd | Subject: Edgetek range of superabrasive machining systems
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 03 July 2002
Superabrasive grinding reduces cycle
times by 80%
Superabrasive machining and turning systems deliver massive reductions in product cycle times - in some cases by over 80% - and equally impressive tool cost savings.
Holroyd's new Edgetek range of superabrasive machining and turning systems is providing European industry with a unique opportunity to improve competitiveness by delivering massive reductions in product cycle times - in some cases by over 80% - and equally impressive tool cost savings Designed for use on wide range of standard and ultra hard and exotic materials, including ceramics, nickel, tool steel, Waspalloy, Inconel, Hastelloy, powdered metals and Stellite, the Edgetek machines deliver improved quality and part consistency as well as offering simplified set-up to optimise manufacturing time
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 14 Aug 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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The launch of the Edgetek machines further strengthens Holroyd's position as the world leader in the manufacture of machines and turnkey manufacturing cells to produce worm and helical gears and helical screw rotors.
Manufactured in the UK, at Holroyd's factory in Rochdale, the multi-axis, CNC controlled machines deploy proven high efficiency deep grinding (HEDG) techniques, using Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN) wheels at surface speeds of up to 9000m/min.
This enables them to achieve high depths of cut and optimised metal removal rates far exceeding those of more conventional machines, such as CNC lathes, milling and machining centres and grinders.
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Wormgear Contact Analysis program has revolutionized the production of large centre-distance wormgears by reducing error margins and manufacturing leadtimes.
In addition to improving product cycle times, the "low heat" HEDG system also produces a stronger finished component that, when compared to those produced by other techniques such as creep feed grinding, is less likely to be deformed.
Fundamental to the Edgetek machines superior levels of performance and precision, is a unique granite polymer base and column.
Developed to satisfy the need for extreme rigidity and enhanced vibration damping, the polymer base typically weighs 3 tonnes and has no resonant frequency.
As a result, it enables higher precision machining to be achieved.
Like other unique components in the design, the base reflects the manufacturer's determination to develop a machine range that has been engineered specifically for high performance superabrasive machining.
Holroyd Sales Director, Paul Hannah, explains: "Unlike other manufacturers, Holroyd is not offering a range of existing machines that have been adapted.
Rather, we are providing a comprehensive product range that has been designed from scratch, incorporating new and sophisticated technology which has been developed specifically with superabrasive machining in mind." "Every aspect of Holroyd's Edgetek range has been engineered to provide unsurpassed performance coupled with a level of versatility that is sure to appeal to the widest possible range of manufacturing operations.
The massive productivity gains and cost savings experienced by those who have made the switch to superabrasive machining speak for themselves and prove that the technological developments pioneered by our machines represent a highly significant breakthrough for the future of machining." The flexibility of the Holroyd Edgetek design, and the huge variety of machine types and multi-axis configurations available, enables the machines to provide unparalleled levels of precision and productivity in the manufacture of almost any type of parts - gears and sprockets, rotors and impellers, medical instruments, hand tools, air foils and nozzle guides, airframe actuation components, ducting supports, mechanical seals - and many, many, more.
The machines serve a broad spectrum of industry types, including power generation, automotive, aerospace, medicals, tools and general engineering.
In all of these industries the simplified set-up of the Holroyd machines ensures that much production time is saved.
At the same time, tooling costs are much reduced as the CBN wheels do not suffer from excessive levels of wear as a result of being subjected to the interrupted cuts experienced on conventional machines, due to their set-up limitations.
Further emphasising the case for CBN wheels is the remarkable accuracy and metal removal rates that can be achieved by Holroyd Edgetek machines on a wide range of ultra hard and exotic materials and carbon-rich metals.
The large depths of cut that can be achieved, and the accompanying lower temperature of HEDG techniques are particularly relevant to aerospace manufacturing processes, promoting dramatically improved productivity, less surface deformation, improved accuracy and better surface finish.
Superabrasive technology using CBN grinding wheels is also a highly successful method of machining components made from powdered metals popular with automotive manufacturers.
Although valued for their homogeneous and stress-free composition, materials which have undergone the sintering process are notoriously difficult to machine and are totally unsuitable for conventional turning.
A combination of High Efficiency Deep Grinding techniques and CBN grinding wheels has proved extremely successful for the accurate and efficient machining of powdered metals and has earned Holroyd's Edgetek superabrasive machining centres growing support among manufacturers of components such as gears and sprockets.
Providing an ideal complement to the Edgetek machines manufacturing flexibility - while at the same time improving production rates, is a unique, Holroyd-designed, 3-dimensional scanning and measurement system.
Powerful in operation, the software based system measures 500 separate points and compares them against the perfect profile while the component is still in the machine.
Any deviations are corrected automatically before completion of the machine cycle.
If the deviation is greater than a set norm, however, then the system program alerts the operator to the fact that the wheel may need re-dressing.
Holroyd is manufacturing Edgetek machines in all types and configurations, 3, 4 or 5 axes.
The machines offer state-of-the-art control features such as Fanuc CNC controls, automated parts handling, customised workholding, cooling systems, programming and process development and CBN wheel development.
The machines can be tailored to suit specific applications and supplied as complete turnkey solutions as part of a manufacturing cell.
They are supported by a worldwide service network and benefit from manufacturer developed preventative maintenance plans.
(This was Manufacturingtalk's Top Story on 2 July 2002).
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