Roger Street, managing partner of LMS, contacted LMT for threading expertise after receiving an enquiry for 4,000 connectors in ENIA.

Production at precision subcontractor LMS is geared to consistency and utilising the commitment and flexible working practices of the 10-man team to service its customers.

‘We are always tooling for total consistency over a batch of components and are able to predict tool changes when we are running out of hours,’ said Street.

‘Although we only run a single shift, everyone has keys to the factory and we are willing to come and go according to the priorities of the day,’ he added.

Street’s working practice is one reason for his conversion to thread rolling in preference to thread cutting, not only due to the stronger thread as a result of the cold forming process, but also the level of consistency, long tool life, minimal adjustment and the positive contribution to ‘bottom line’ costs.

Street qualifies his reasoning with a long-standing aerospace customer that specifies rolled threads on its drawings for parts in stainless steel and inconel.

He added that the level of quality and consistency provided for the customer could never be maintained by any other method of threading.

So when he received an enquiry for 4,000 connectors in ENIA from a new customer, he turned to LMT UK of Meriden, and drew on the expertise of its in-house threading specialist to help with the quotation.

They discussed screw-cutting on Street’s Citizen L20 CNC sliding head turn-mill centre with rolling the M3 thread by 10mm long, which could be carried out in under one second against almost seven seconds for the more conventional threading.

‘I reckon other suppliers quoted against screw cutting because the customer said we were so competitive and we would never have won the contract if like-for-like comparisons were made,’ said Street.

‘Once we produced initial samples the order was increased to 40,000 rather than the customer having to split source,’ he added.

LMS was also able to back up the initial quality in production.

‘The Citizen and the thread rolling was so consistent and once up and running it never stopped for a month, with the part requiring turning on the outside diameter and the thread diameter to 0.025mm and a large conical taper,’ said Street.

Two flats were milled, a cross hole drilled and deburred and the M3 thread rolled at 2,000rev/min before parting-off and being picked up by the sub-spindle to machine a spherical radius.

The thread-rolling process or ‘chipless’ cold forming is quicker to produce external threads, which can be run at up to five times the normal machining speed for thread cutting.

As the material is cold formed under mechanical pressure from the three profiled rollers, the thread is far stronger than when the fibres of the material are cut.

The resulting thread is more accurate, consistent and durable because of the burnished finish of the surface.

LMS has a portfolio of machines carefully chosen to service its covered sectors.

These include two Citizen L-Series CNC sliding-head mill-turn centres, three Nakamura TW and WT mill-turn centres, a twin-spindle, twin turret gantry loaded Takisawa TT200G lathe, one Matsuura horizontal and two vertical machining centres, the former with six pallets and 240 tools.

The most recent installations also include an Aberlink co-ordinate measuring machine, ultrasonic cleaning and an integrated MRP system.

A recent batch of 150 eye bolts in 316 stainless steel was produced on the larger capacity Citizen L32 in a single hit cycle.

Each part 12mm diameter by 70mm overall length required turning, the milling of a 30mm long flat, an 8mm-long angled flat and two shorter flats across the bolt head.

This was followed by the drilling and coning of a 5mm cross hole between the flats then the rolling of an M5 thread 30mm long at 2,200rev/min.

After parting-off, a spherical radius form was machined on the head of the bolt in the subspindle.

Once set and proven in a 4.5 min cycle, Street maintained they had total confidence to run it through the night.

In the morning, with the batch completed, the difference between the first and last part was undetectable.

The use of thread rolling was also employed in the production of high-specification eye bolts for an aerospace contract produced from 718 inconel on the Nakamura WT-150 turning centre.

The MJ6×1.0-4h thread was 28mm long with a surface finish specified at 0.8 micron CLA.

The setters throttle back cutting speeds for greater consistency and run the thread rolling head at 1,910rev/min.

‘This was still very competitive in producing the complete part within seven minutes and maintains that the inconel material rolled extremely well to meet the requirements even with soluble coolant,’ said Street.

http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/lmt/lmt157.html

UK company Lincoln Crankshaft & Machine (LC&M) says it has purchased a new 11,000mm capacity CNC orbital shaft & crankshaft grinding machine. Believed to be among the largest in existence, it was recently installed at LC&M’s Lincoln manufacturing facility.

First quarter sales of Doosan milling machines outstripped Doosan lathe and turning centre sales, for the first time in Mills CNC’s history. Mills continuing growth in the wider milling markets was also reflected in the sales figures, with three horizontal machining centres and a large horizontal boring machine sold in the same period.

Nick Frampton (pictured), managing director at Mills CNC said: “During the January – March period over 55 per cent of company sales were milling machines, which has substantially increased our market share in this sector”

“Particularly pleasing were sales of our 3- and 5-axis vertical machines which numbered 20 in total, and included 4 from our new range of DNM Heidenhain-controlled machines.”

“Whilst milling machine sales just about beat lathe and turning centre sales, we did sell significant numbers of the Lynx and Puma lathes, and 2 MX-series mill-turn centres. This definitely provides an optimistic outlook on the general manufacturing recovery in the UK and Ireland.”

“Another interesting aspect to our sales performance has been the continued success of our SMART Options Rental Scheme, which has helped encourage (often new) customers to invest in Doosan Technology for the first time.”

Mills CNC will be at MACH 2010, where 8 Doosan machine tools will be making their debuts on Mills’ stand (Hall 5, Stand 5430).

http://www.machinery.co.uk/article/24600/Doosan-vertical-machines-sales-boosts-Mills-CNCs-first-quarter-performance.aspx

Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, is showcasing four CNC milling machines (including two brand new models), from its extensive ranges of vertical CNC milling machines and horizontal (3- and 5-axis) CNC milling machines, at MACH 2010.

Exhibiting 13 Doosan machines in total, on stand 5430, the four CNC milling machines being exhibited by Mills are:

The VC 630/5AX 5-axis machining centre which can handle workpiece sizes of 730 mm diameter x 500 mm, with maximum workpiece weights of 500 kg, on its 630 mm diameter table. The CNC machining centre has a powerful, high-torque 12,000 rpm, 32 kW spindle, axis travels of 650 mm, 765 mm, 520 mm in X, Y and Z, and traverse rates of 40 m/min, 40 m/min and 36 m/min, respectively.

The DNM 650 vertical machining centre which is the largest in the DNM range has a 32 kW, 12,000 rpm spindle generating 203 Nm torque, with a 1,300 mm by 670 mm work table.

The DNM 400 machining centre with X, Y and Z-axis travels of 762 mm, 435 mm, 510 mm respectively, plus a 15 kW, 12,000 rpm spindle and 30-position ATC.

The HP 5100 horizontal machining centre with a pallet size of 500 mm and X, Y and Z traverses of 850 mm, 700 mm, 750 mm respectively, has a powerful 22 kW, 14,000 rpm, 40 taper spindle (BIG Plus standard). Non-cutting time is minimised with 60m/min rapid traverses and one second tool change time.

http://www.machinery.co.uk/article/24537/CNC-milling-machines-CNC-machining-centres.aspx

The Soraluce CNC milling machine range, available from Ward CNC, is represented at MACH, stand 5350, by the TA-35A travelling table CNC milling centre featuring 20-station automatic toolchanger and Heidenhain iTNC-530 CNC.

This high-end CNC milling machine which will be displayed under power, and ‘”cutting dry”, is equipped with a fully programmable 2.5° by 2.5° automatic universal milling head, offering high accuracy via its 18.5/22 kW motor, with through-spindle coolant facility and auto tool clamping.

The CNC milling machine has a table size of 3,700 mm by 1,000 mm, can accommodate workpieces of 7,000 kgs, and travels of 3,500 mm by 1,250 mm by 1,000 mm, with rapid traverse rates of 25 m/min. Cutting feed rate on all axes is 10,000 mm/min.

Soraluce was the first European CNC milling machine manufacturer to obtain ISO 9001 quality certification in 1994, then in 2002, it was the first to obtain ISO14.001 and it was the first to be awarded the Silver-Q for quality management in 2003. In 2007, Soraluce was also awarded OHSAS 18.001 certification.

Ward CNC’s MACH stand will also feature Hyundai-Kia turning centres/machines, Hartford vertical machining centres and Hankook turning machines.

Ward CNC’s range of large-capacity Union machines will be represented by graphics displays and video footage

Details of Ward CNC Finance and the Ward CNC Retrofit Division, will also be available.

[Products covered: CNC milling machines, CNC milling centres, turning centres, machining centres]

http://www.machinery.co.uk/article/24503/CNC-milling-machines.aspx

Bearing surfaces on a massive 7.4 tonne rotor have been precision machined by BEP Surface Technologies – www.bep-st.com - in preparation for final turning operations by Boro Foundry who manufactured the shaft for energy conversion technology specialists Converteam.

Designed for use in a gas turbine power plant, the rotor is 5.6m long and has an outside diameter of 475mm. To facilitate the installation of vibration monitoring equipment BEP ground all the bearing diameters and thrust faces to 0.005mm TIR and ground the outside diameter to a surface finish < 16CLA.

Boro Foundry, a specialist manufacturer and supplier of a wide range of castings and machined parts, produced the rotor from a pre-machined forging supplied by Converteam. Machining operations included turning, milling, thread milling, milling keyways, drilling and boring to produce the finished shaft ready for the fixing of the ‘pole shoes’ and windings which were also subsequently machined. Turning operations were carried out on an 8m long Tuscan LL950 CNC lathe, the only one of its kind in the UK. Following grinding work by BEP, vibrator probe tracks with a surface finish > 0.063 RA, 0.025mm deep x 30mm wide were diamond burnished into the shaft at Boro Foundry’s Stourbridge, West Midlands factory.

Accuracy to these tolerances is essential to balance the shaft and to ensure it fits into a bearing that houses two vibration transducers. The probes read the highly polished surface of the shaft and take a reference that checks any movement which might affect electrical and mechanical characteristics and hence performance efficiency. Proximity probe transducers are widely used to measure shaft vibration, radial and axial shaft positions as well as differential expansion between case and rotor where they can detect shaft misalignment, rotor imbalance and abnormal bearing wear.

Handling items of this size and weight require especially robust lifting systems, suitably large turning and grinding equipment as well as engineers with expertise in working with large components. Machining to tight tolerances on this scale presents unique challenges. For example, even though the rotor is supported during machining it could not be left on the plant overnight as it would sag and this would alter the machine set up.

BEP has expertise in turning and grinding all kinds of large diameter, heavy rolls, cylinders and shafts to very fine tolerances. Its grinding machinery can handle steel mill rolls and large chill rolls up to 10 tonnes in weight. Diamond turning and polishing can be carried out on diameters up to 1100mm. In addition to the usual finishes on steel and cast and chilled irons, the company can grind copper, chrome, nickel and even rubber. Diamond grinding of plasma sprayed coatings such as tungsten carbide and ceramics can also be undertaken.

The completed rotor was shipped to a Converteam customer in the USA.

ENDS.

Caption to image ref: rotor shaft
Bearing surfaces on this 5.6 m long 7.4 tonne rotor for a gas turbine power plant have been precision machined by BEP Surface Technologies

http://www.responsesource.com/releases/rel_display.php?relid=55734

Chicago, IL - Siemens Industry, Inc. announced today a new, economical CNC machine tool retrofit package based upon its Sinumerik 802D sl system platform that will bring end-users new levels of efficiency and productivity for less cost. This retrofit service is ideal for three-axis milling or true two-axis turning machines.

The Sinumerik 802D sl is an operator panel-based control system that combines the numerical control (NC), the programmable logic controller (PLC) and the human machine interface (HMI) in a single, maintenance-free unit. It has been engineered with a 10.4-inch color TFT display, graphical support for machining cycles and simulation, a USB-interface built into the enclosure for simple program handling and transfer, intuitive help screens and remote diagnostic capabilities.

Pre-configured to meet the majority of current applications in the market, this space-saving and cost-effective retrofit package consists of a control-only retrofit, which maintains and integrates a machine’s current motors and drives. A complete Sinumerik 802D sl CNC package with new Siemens motors and drives is also available to meet specific customer needs.

Professional installation by a certified Siemens machine tool retrofit solution partner makes the Sinumerik 802D sl retrofit package virtually “plug-and-play” with reduced machine downtime.

http://www.machinetoolsonline.com/article.mvc/New-Sinumerik-CNC-Retrofit-Package-Brings-New-0001?VNETCOOKIE=NO

The SMX 2500 CNC/manual bed mill, one of 15 machines displayed by XYZ Machine Tools on Stand 5460, joins three larger models in the SMX bed mill range, with all four models equipped with the latest generation ProtoTRAK SMX3 three-axis control.

The XYZ ProtoTRAK SMX 2500 is a 3 hp/2.25 kW variable spindle speed head machine, 50 to 3,500 rpm in two speed ranges, with a 1,245 mm by 228 mm table holding components weighing up to 400 kg. X, Y and Z axes travels are 780 mm, 390 mm and 560 mm respectively.

Mechanical handwheels allow the machinist to feel the cutting process when manual machining is the preferred option but are disengaged automatically when the machine is running under CNC control.

The optional “TRAKing” facility allows the operator to verify a program by using an electronic handwheel, instead of the mechanical one, to wind the SMX 2500 through the program step-by-step. The operator can check for possible collision points or other programming errors without the risk of damaging tooling, fixturing and workpiece, or the machine itself.

http://www.machinery.co.uk/article/24395/XYZ-bed-mill-suited-for-small-batch-work-on-display-at-MACH-2010.aspx

FICEP will present a variety of CNC machines, including the Gemini 254 PG and the 601 DE Excalibur 6, on Stand 4740 at Mach 2010, which is due to be held at the NEC in Birmingham on 7-11 June.

The Gemini 254 PG is an advanced, multi-function and flexible system for profile cutting, drilling, machining and scribing, with a bevelling capability and an advanced material cutting capability using either HT2000 or HPR260 Hypertherm plasma-arc systems.

The Ficep Gemini 254 PG multi-fuction plate working system performs plasma-arc profile cutting, drilling, machining, scribing and bevelling.

The machine, which has a compact footprint, can produce flat metal parts from plate, measuring 5mm up to 75mm in thickness, in one setup, more economically but with the same or greater accuracy than using more expensive separate cutting and labour-intensive machining centres, according to the company.

FICEP claims that the 601 DE Excalibur 6 can provide additional capacity for companies looking for a low-cost solution to increase productivity.

The new small-footprint drilling line features a moveable spindle that rapidly travels the entire length of the material and has the ability to drill a hole (up to 40mm in diameter) every five seconds or 500 holes in 43 minutes and 26 seconds.

This CNC system is suitable for flange drilling, web drilling, angles, plate detail and structural tubes measuring up to 610mm in height and 610mm in width.

http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/ifj/ifj102.html

After almost three years since it acquired France-based Huron Graffenstaden, Rajkot-based Jyoti CNC Automation Pvt. Ltd., one of the leading CNC machine manufacturers, has lined up investment worth Rs 250 crore for expansion of its manufacturing capacity and introduction of new product range in three years. The company’s future plans are directed towards exploring the international market through its French company.

“We are in the process of expanding our product range and production capacity. For this we will be investing Rs 250 crore in the coming three years. With this expansion, our production capacity will reach from 1,500 units to 5,000 units per annum,” said Parakramsinh Jadeja, managing director of the company.

Talking further about the plans, he said, “The company will upgrade the technology to manufacture CNC machines for international market. We have our own company Huron Graffenstaden in France. We will manufactures parts here and assemble it in France for hi tech machinery. Our R&D team is also designing new products.” Jyoti CNC had takeover France based Huron Graffenstaden with an investment of Rs 150 crore in 2007.

Price of a CNC machine in India is about Rs 20-50 lakhs while in the European market it is about Rs 3-5 crore. “With new design and state of art technology we will strengthen our position to compete in global market,” said Jadeja.

On further expansion plans Jadeja told Business Standard, “We are also looking for more acquisitions in European market in the near future. We are checking out various options to raise funds as well. We will raise fund through IPO or private equity, however, that’s yet to be decided.”

Since last three years company’s turn over sustain on Rs.400 crore per year due to recession in global market. Company’s expanding footprint ensures its global presence with export operations in countries like Italy, Russia, Poland, Argentina, Brazil and rest of South America, Tanzania and some African countries, Middle East and Other Asian Countries like Malaysia.

http://www.business-standard.com/india/news/jyoti-cnc-to-invest-rs-250-crore-for-capacity-expansion/392031/