Product category:
Vertical machining centres (VMC)
News Release from: 600 Centre | Subject: Fidia HS664 vertical machining centre
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 30 March 2004
High speed VMC mills tool steels better,
quicker
Needing a better and faster method of making tool sets an injection moulding company installed a high-speed VMC to machine mould tool steels up to 65Rc and to very tight tolerances.
Needing a better and faster method of making tool sets an injection moulding company installed a high-speed VMC to machine mould tool steels up to 65Rc and to very tight tolerances UK toolmaking is alive and well at Partridge Plastics, a Worthing-based injection moulder with a rapidly expanding order book and making the most of its newly acquired high-speed Fidia HS664 vertical machining centre from 600 Centre of Shepshed
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 22 May 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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"We are competing against the Chinese," explains managing director Terry Heryet, "so needed a better and faster method of making tool sets for our injection moulding operation.
While we had bought machines from 600 Centre before, we decided to look at a few other suppliers but could not find a machine to compare against the Fidia HS664." The HS664 is the latest Fidia vertical machining centre that is available in three, four or five axes.
The Partridge Plastics machine is the first to be installed in the UK and with linear axis travels of 600mm by 560mm by 400mm and acceleration of 5m/sec2 to rapid feed rates of 30m/min.
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The machine has a high-speed 30,000 rev/min spindle and a laser tool-measuring probe in a total package worth over GBP 110,000.
Maintains Heryet: "In combination with the laser tool setter, the Fidia is proving to be a very fast and highly accurate machine for producing 3-D mould tool shapes in hardened steel to very tight tolerances.
When we initially bought the machine, we started to try out a number of different steels to see which would suit it best, but to be honest, there was never a problem cutting any of them.
We now regularly cut anything from 35 to 45HRC steel as well as up to fully hardened tool steel at 65HRC and achieve very accurate profiles and to a mirror finish." Partridge Plastics is equipped with a comprehensive range of injection moulding machines, many with automatic colour dosing units providing capacity between 250kN and 2500kN.
For certain applications, the company is able to offer the use of a standard mould base system with quick-change inserts.
All tooling is manufactured in-house and, by operating a fast and efficient on-the-spot toolmaking service, this obviates any misunderstandings that can be associated with using outside suppliers, such as delays due to modification.
The Partridge Plastics' philosophy is to provide lower cost tooling solutions and shorter lead-times than the competition, which was one of the justifications to buy the Fidia.
According to Heryet, since installation, the machine has performed superbly: "The commissioning period passed-off very smoothly due to excellent support from 600 Centre.
As it was the first high-speed machine we had ever purchased, the on-site training was very useful, although we now feel the programming was fairly easy to understand." Heryet maintains that business is very healthy at present allowing full use of the latest acquisition and maintain a nose in front of the competition.
"In toolmaking, if you start to fall behind in terms of technology, it will be hard to get back on top.
And here the HS664 has provided us with no end of advantages.
Apart from the cycle times being much shorter, the 30,000 revs/min spindle means that we can use smaller cutters very effectively," he says.
As a result Partridge Plastics can now generate more accurate pockets and slots.
"Previously, we had to rely on spark erosion for lots of features, which also meant we had the additional task of manufacturing electrodes.
This has been totally eliminated from our costs and has of course helped to reduce lead time," he says.
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