Product category:
Vertical machining centres (VMC)
News Release from: Hurco Europe | Subject: VMX range of vertical machining centres
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 19 February 2004
Small footprint VMC has good
price:performance
A vertical machining centre that offers high productivity in a small footprint and with a good price-to-performance ratio will be shown machining components and served by a manual pallet changer.
The Hurco stand at MACH 2004 will focus on new, high-speed versions of the company's own VMX range of vertical machining centres (VMCs), plus two recently launched, entry-level VMCs which will be exhibited for the first time at a national show In addition, a 5-axis machine will be shown from the German-built Roeders programme, for which Hurco was appointed sole UK agent last year
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 5 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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The company will be keen to focus upon the VM1, a low-cost machine that was a welcome best seller last year.
It contributed substantially to a very successful 2003 at Hurco, in spite of the tough trading conditions.
The VM1 will be demonstrated at MACH fitted with a Midaco manual pallet change system for producing the head of a Bobby Grace putter.
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Five vertical machining centres carrying the prefix VMX have been introduced by Hurco, four of which have considerably upgraded specifications in terms of speed and working envelope.
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The US company uses exactly this arrangement at its Florida production facility.
A Bobby Grace putter worth $250 will be given as a raffle prize every day on the Hurco stand throughout the show.
To complete the sporting theme, there will be a putting competition and an entertaining football-related demonstration emphasising the ease of programming of the Ultimax control.
The VM1 offers more working envelope per square metre of footprint than any other VMC on the market.
X, Y and Z travels are 660 x 356 x 457mm, giving a work cube of 0.11m3, yet the factory area occupied is only 1803 by 1600mm, ie 2.88m2.
The machine is similarly compact in respect of its height.
At just 2.16 metres, it may be sited in areas where headroom is restricted such as under mezzanine floors.
Yet despite its compact design, the machine has an impressive specification that includes an 11kW spindle motor delivering 8,000 rpm, 19m/min rapid traverse in X and Y (12.5m/min in Z), a cutting feed rate of up to 12.7m/min, and a 16-station magazine for 40-taper tools.
Optionally available are a 10,000 rpm spindle, 4th axis rotary table, flood coolant, chip auger with evacuation tray, and three competitively priced DIN tooling packs.
New also is an uprated version of Hurco's Ultimax single-screen control system, which now boasts a slimline touch-screen colour LCD.
Conversational control with scalable graphics is provided, as are most of the features associated with Hurco's patented, twin-screen Ultimax 4 CNC system, which is an option on the VM-1.
The larger VM2, introduced just six months ago, also offers a good price-to-performance ratio in a small footprint of 2.46 x 2.2 metres.
It has a 15kW/ 8,000 rpm (optionally 10,000 rpm) spindle capable of high metal removal rates.
Installed weight of the machine is over four tones, which together with the quoted +/- 0.005 mm positioning accuracy and +/-0.0025mm repeatability allows high machined tolerances to be held.
The demonstration at MACH will involve the use of a fourth, rotary axis.
Despite its compactness, the machine has a generous working envelope of 1016 x 457 x 457mm and a 1,170 x 457 mm table capable of supporting workpieces weighing up to 454kg.
Rapid traverse rates of 19m/min in X and Y (18m/min in Z) contribute to high productivity, as does the 16-station swing-arm ATC which exchanges adjacent 40-taper tools in 2.5 seconds.
Similar options apply as for the VM1, and the same Hurco's Ultimax single-screen CNC is fitted.
A modular series of additional packages allows hard drive capacity to be doubled to 2 GB and the 8MB of RAM to be increased to 256MB, while other upgrades include verification graphics, remote jog and a compact keyboard.
Software options are equally extensive.
They include high-speed profiling, pocket milling with helical ramp entry and island avoidance, direct DXF file translation, 3D mould software for creating three-dimensional parts from two-dimensional open contours, the Ultinet data communications interface, and conversational tool and part probing.
The first high-speed version of Hurco's mainstream VMX range, the VMX50HS, was introduced at the last MACH in 2002.
Similar uprating of the spindle speed by 50 per cent to 15,000 rpm has taken place throughout the range, finishing with the smallest VMX24HS, which will make its debut at MACH 2004.
It is a capable and fast machine offering 30m/min rapids around its 610 x 406 x 508mm working envelope, 24-position magazine for 40 taper tools, linear ways for superior contouring, comprehensive swarf management, and the full Ultimax 4 control as standard.
On show also will be the VMX42 machining a bolster plate from tough P20 tool steel, and the VMX50HS producing a 3D aluminium component.
Roeders high-speed VMCs are intended primarily for high-speed 3D contouring applications.
Representing the product range of nine models will be the 5-axis RFM 600DS, which will be making its first appearance in the UK.
Of bridge-type design with a 2-axis rotary table integrated into the X-axis, the machine offers 5-axis simultaneous roughing and finishing by a 14kW/42,000 rpm spindle at cutting feed rates up to 30m/min.
The 405mm diameter table rotates through 360 degrees and tilts from -2 to +92 degrees.
The tool magazine has 26 positions and includes a laser for tool measurement.
Workpieces up to 300kg may be accommodated on the table of this seven tonne machine.
MACH 2004 - April 19-23 - NEC Birmingham, UK.
Hall: 5, Stand 5281. Request a free brochure from Hurco Europe ...
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