Product category:
Vertical machining centres (VMC)
News Release from: StarragHeckert UK | Subject: Hermle 600V vertical machining centre
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 17 January 2003
Complex testpiece settled machining
centre choice
The need to machine highly intricate mould and electrode details to short lead time schedules, led Pascoe Engineering to challenge would-be high speed M-C suppliers with a complex testpiece.
The need to machine highly intricate mould and electrode details, such as a keypad for a mobile telephone to short lead time schedules, led Pascoe Engineering to benchmark would-be high speed machining centre suppliers As a result, each short listed supplier was issued with a challenging test piece made from copper that enabled Bob Smith its Technical Director to see how well each machine performed on the type of task that it would require to work on in the future
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 9 Dec 2002 at 8.00am (UK)
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As Bob Smith, explained: "We supplied the material, tooling and part programs and personally witnessed the trials making judgements in terms of accuracy, surface finish capability and speed.
In our view, the Hermle 600V, in standard specification and with a 12,000 revs/min spindle best met our criteria and outclassed the other machines." Winning the 'head to head' contest, StarragHeckert UK of Brackley installed the Hermle at the Glasgow site where it sits alongside four other Hermle CNC milling machines.
The 600V is the most compact of the Hermle vertical machining centre range with a working envelope of 600mm by 450mm by 450mm.
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A joint technology agreement will explore the theory that the more aggressively metal is removed, so tool life will be improved along with productivity and component quality.
HMCs provide new slant on high speed machining
Dynamic high speed machining centres have T-type slant bed to provide excellent swarf control for wet or dry machining of steels, CI and aluminium.
Heavy duty HMCs offer even less down time
Breaking new ground for a machine tool company is a range of four axis heavy duty HMCs for the five-side machining of components weighing up to 8 tonnes and edge lengths up to 3000mm.
Because the design of the machine makes wide use of the static and dynamic properties of a mineral cast structure to create a gantry format, with the guideways and drives mounted outside the working area high stability and maximum potential is achieved for accuracy, high surface finish and metal removal.
This is why Bob Smith's trials were so successful and indeed, the resulting machining of mould cores, cavities and copper electrodes are now able to be completed in half the time taken before.
As Pascoe Engineering produces tooling for external customers as well as servicing its own plastics injection moulding requirements, moulds and cores are machined from a wide variety of materials including D2, H13, P20 and stainless steel.
Meanwhile, electrodes for its electro-discharge sinking operations are produced from copper.
The dimensions of milled cavities tend to be up to a maximum size of a telephone handset but in terms of accuracy they can often be required to be produced within five microns but mainly, to the order of 0.025mm.
Here Bob Smith defines the advantage of using the Hermle and the 9kW, 12,000 revs/min spindle which he says: "For the type of detailed work we carry out the Hermle is ideal, not only is it halving our machining times, but enables us to reduce the amount of finishing and fitting work and quite often saves having to add a finishing operation on our vertical EDM machines." While Pascoe is well-established as precision machinists, it is still pursuing a continuous investment policy in machining and support which has enabled it to progressively develop from being a toolmaker.
Established in the early 1970s by its current managing director, Finlay Patterson, it became very successful in the manufacture of lost wax moulds for producing heads for golf clubs.
During the 1980s it developed into CNC machining and grew rapidly on the back of the telecommunications and electronic sector booms.
Part of the company's strategy from the early golf club days is the creation of its own plastics injection moulding business and here it has developed a service based on providing customers with a full range of injection moulding solutions including a comprehensive design-to-manufacture service.
As a result, Pascoe has kept in a strong business position to survive the general downturn that has hit the Scottish electronics manufacturing sector and has diversified into tooling and component supply to other manufacturing sectors.
Here, Bob Smith comments how the Hermle fits into the scheme of diversification for Pascoe: "Over the past few years the lead time on tooling and mouldings has become unbelievably important but if you are not prepared to invest in the right equipment it could quickly cripple a business.
This is why we elected to invest in the high speed milling capability and were so concerned that we bought the right machine to suit our needs.
We just have to be as competitive as we can to produce tools and electrodes!" he emphasises.
He then follows on to describe a recent automotive project for pre-production prototype development followed by supply of finished production tooling: "We had only eight weeks to complete each stage which involved producing single cavity soft tooling to prove the tooling concept which had to achieve a 25 second cycle time.
We then had to adjust the accuracy of the tool and then manufacture the finished, fully hardened tooling." He says: "The Hermle certainly proved to be an asset to our business in a situation such as that and the higher accuracy and faster cutting capability paid dividends.
As a result, our increased competitiveness has bought in new customers and proved our capability with this automotive industry client." .
(This was Manufacturingtalk's Top Story on 16 January 2003).
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