Product category:
Tool and cutter grinding
News Release from: Koerber Schleifring UK | Subject: Walter Helitronic Power CNC 5-axis tool grinder
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 10 April 2008
Five-axis CNC tool grinder keeps prices
down
A UK tooling company has added on a second Walter Helitronic Power CNC 5-axis tool grinder to keep tooling prices down and maintain a healthy order book, said Koerber Schleifring.
Koerber Schleifring UK reported that UK cutting tool maker, Samwell Tooling in Kenilworth, has added on a second Walter Helitronic Power CNC 5-axis tool grinder The machine has an automated Loader that holds up to 280 tools
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 29 Sep 2005 at 8.00am (UK)
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Samwell Tooling said that the Helitronic Power - is helping to keep tooling product prices down and is helping Samwell to maintain a healthy order book.
Samwell Tooling employs eight and supplies and services special cutting tools for aerospace, medical and many other industries.
The company's managing director, Ian Wellman, said of the company's then existing Walter CNC tool and cutter grinder: "The machine had performed well over the past seven years, so when it came to specifying extra capacity we had no hesitation in returning to Walter".
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He added: "However, in an increasingly tough marketplace we appreciate the need to keep our prices down, a factor we are convinced will keep us busy.
We wanted to do this through the adoption of new technology and take a step towards greater automation by exploring the possibility of lights-out machining".
Samwell Tooling's average batch size is five-off but can be as high as 100-off, while 'one-offs' are frequent.
Such a wide variation in batch sizes determined the specification for a new CNC tool and cutter grinding machine.
Happily, the flexibility of the Walter Loader was sufficient.
Wellman said: "The Loader handles tools up to 220mm long and between 3mm and 32mm diameter, and its combination with the Helitronic Power has given us genuine competitive advantage," He added: "I can't think of many, if any, local competitors that can boast technology such as this." When compared with previous Walter Helitronic Power machine installed at Samwell Tooling in 2001, the latest version now has the following improvements.
* 24kW of power.
* Glass scales.
* High-speed workhead.
* Rapid traverse rates of 15m/min in all linear axes * Rapid traverse of 120 deg/s on the rotational axes.
* On-board wheel dresser allows a wider scope of tooling.
Wellman added that a number of software advances has enhanced ease-of-use and provided greater functionality.
Samwell Tooling grinds mainly rotary solid carbide cutters and a small selection of flat tooling on the Helitronic.
Wellman concluded: "The extra capacity we now have ensures there will be no slippage in the high standards of customer service and on-time delivery that our customers have come to expect over the past 25 years." He said that the use of the Walter Loader brings the company secure repeat business and new contracts.
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