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Five-Axis Machining Has Special Workholding Needs
This clamping system allows a workpiece to be rigidly clamped while raised up from the surface of the worktable on a five-axis machining center. Moving the workpiece away from the table creates clearance for the spindle nose and cutting tool when the table swivels the workpiece for multi-sided machining, or when the spindle head rotates and swivels to do contouring or sculptured surfaces. Without this clearance, the user may be forced to refixture the part or to switch to a longer, less rigid tool.
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RAMTIC System Still Ticking
When it first appeared in the early 1990s, RAMTIC (Renishaw’s Automated Milling, Turning and Inspection Center) pioneered the use of portable carrousels for palletized workpieces and the use of artifacts, or master components, by which a machine tool could check its own dimensional calibration. This innovative approach to process control is still highly effective as applied in the company’s most advanced machine shop, which opened in 2006. Carrousels and artifacts are very much a part of this new shop’s remarkable success.
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Double-Sided Productivity
Having a bar feeder on one side and a parts carrousel on the other side ensures that a turn-mill machine will achieve maximum productivity, whether the workpieces are mostly milled or mostly turned. In general, smaller parts are machined from bar stock, even if only milling operations are involved. Larger parts are loaded an unloaded by a transfer device fed by the carrousel.
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A Machine Tool Show In Moscow
The market for metalworking equipment in Russia is enticing but complex.
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More Turrets, More Tools, Less Cycle Time
On this model, the builder is arranging spindles and tool turrets to reduce cycle time, although flexibility stands to gain as well. The result, the company says, is a turn-mill that can offer cycle times comparable to those acheived on a multi-spindle automatic.
Read MoreEMO: A Very Relevant Show
EMO, Europe’s big machine tool and manufacturing technology show, takes place this month in Hanover, Germany. The dates are September 17-22.
Read MoreHeaded In The Right Direction
Proponents of lean manufacturing often speak in terms of a “journey. ” They see lean manufacturing as an ongoing, ever-evolving process.
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Cells To The Max
Brad Hart, president of Roberts Tool Company, in Chatsworth, California, believes that automated cells are the key to survival for companies likes his that machine complex, high-precision parts for aerospace and defense. Cellular manufacturing makes it possible to reduce lead times dramatically and minimize labor input while increasing throughput and improving quality, he says. In his shop, a cell consisting of two Toyoda HMCs and a dozen pallet stations epitomizes the lean manufacturing concepts that Mr. Hart finds so compelling. However, he says that shop owners have to get out of the business of making parts and into the business of building processes--processes such as those embodied in a lean manufacturing cell.
Read MoreLarry Rhoades, 1945-2007
Writers often look for the one detail that reveals the whole picture or the single fact that tells the full story. Many times, that one detail or single fact is not very obvious or prominent.
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Desktop 3D Scanner Captures Part Shapes
This desktop laser scanning system allows 3D objects to be digitized so that the data can be used to create part geometry for tool path generation. The system's ease of use and low cost make reverse engineering available to machine shops that could not previously access this technology.
Read MoreWhiners Or Winners?
Two important events happen this time of year. In May, the annual National Apprentice Contest (sponsored by the National Tooling & Machining Association) was held in Pittsburgh.
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