Product category:
Sawing and cutting-off machines and automation systems
News Release from: Kasto | Subject: 4m capacity block bandsaw
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 20 October 2006
Block bandsaw speeds titanium plate
cutting
A 4m capacity block bandsaw raises titanium plate utting efficiency using tungsten carbide tipped blades at speeds up to four times higher than on the earlier block bandsaws.
Growth in the aerospace and medical sectors is fuelling demand for titanium, prompting major suppliers to invest in more efficient saws to cut and trim plate destined for customers Timet UK, for example, has installed plates, the latter supplied from the firm's sister operation in the USA
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 23 May 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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Cutting efficiency using tungsten carbide tipped blades is up to four times higher than on the earlier block bandsaws, as higher feed rates can be used.
Cutting of 100mm thick plate is typically performed at 6 to 8mm/min, while 40mm plate is cut at 20mm/min.
Productivity is further increased by ease of set-up to fulfil a new order, which is important to allow efficient multi-machine manning and to minimise machine idle time.
Whereas on the earlier saws it takes around 15 min to mark the plate, position it manually and set the stops by hand, all stops on the new machine can be adjusted in a matter of seconds directly from the control.
This has proved beneficial to Timet, as order sizes have been decreasing in recent years in line with just-in-time delivery practices and so that users can minimise the cost and space overheads of stocking large quantities of material.
Quality of edge finish is important, and so too is accuracy of cut, which is typically -0/+1.5mm.
Even the older Kasto bandsaws still achieve this tolerance, despite heavy use for up to 15 years.
The two older machines have been retro-fitted with a laser that projects a stripe on to the surface of the material to indicate if the saw blade starts to wander; the latest machine was factory-fitted with the same capability.
An improvement in the latest design is double rollers to hold the plate down whilst cutting is in progress, leading to more stable, vibration-free cutting.
A further Kasto bandsaw was installed last year in the plate section of the main Timet plant, adjacent to the service centre.
Designated hba U6x10, the horizontal bandsaw joined a similar, 15-year-old model for cutting blade material for aero engines.
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