The CNC routers are used for sign making or for other types of general jobs. The router is going to double when used for engraving equipment. It will be easily used for many things.
The big interest in this equipment is for home and for small business use. People are finding out that these machines can be used for many things and make their life easier.
Most of these items are going to come with a high price tag. There are going to be different plans that are out there for people to choose from in order to afford what they need.
Different ways to use a CNC Router
A CNC router can be helpful in many different projects. They are going to cut time in half and you will be able to make so many new things with this machine. The harder designs are now going to be much easier to do and you will have better control of the machine.
Making furniture is so fast and easy with a CNC router. You will find that you are going to get more professional results with it as well. there is software that will help you find your depth for each use and this will give you better results. You also can engrave just about anything from larger things to something that is very small. The machines are so easy and great to use once you know what to do.
Even the smaller machines are going to be a great help. You will find that they are going to run on 120 volts and will work in any household. they are a great choice for a workshop. The motors are going to have one or two horsepower in them. the smaller models that fit on a table top are going to be more affordable and will cost around $7000. however the larger machines are going to run about $20,000. getting a used machine may be better as this will cost you about $3500. it may sound costly but you can make so much more furniture and save yourself so much time with one.
Getting a Used CNC router
Getting a used machine may be more cost effective for you. you should really shop around and look for the best deals that are out there. Make sure that you are getting one that is going to offer the best possible performance.
Some of the used machines are refurbished and are inspected for any damage. You can find out where the parts where fixed and see if you can get a warranty on them.
There may be some support that comes along with the company that refurbished your CNC router. Many will give you the advice and help that you are looking for to keep your equipment working properly so that you can protect your investment.
Concentrating on latest developments in cnc wood routers, the reviewer writes articles largely for http://www.insidewoodworking.com His contributions on cnc router bit can be encountered on his webpage and also many different online publications.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linden_A._Walhard
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Sunday, August 24, 2008
CNC Router Gets in the Groove
The CNC routers are used for sign making or for other types of general jobs. The router is going to double when used for engraving equipment. It will be easily used for many things.
The big interest in this equipment is for home and for small business use. People are finding out that these machines can be used for many things and make their life easier.
Most of these items are going to come with a high price tag. There are going to be different plans that are out there for people to choose from in order to afford what they need.
Different ways to use a CNC Router
A CNC router can be helpful in many different projects. They are going to cut time in half and you will be able to make so many new things with this machine. The harder designs are now going to be much easier to do and you will have better control of the machine.
Making furniture is so fast and easy with a CNC router. You will find that you are going to get more professional results with it as well. there is software that will help you find your depth for each use and this will give you better results. You also can engrave just about anything from larger things to something that is very small. The machines are so easy and great to use once you know what to do.
Even the smaller machines are going to be a great help. You will find that they are going to run on 120 volts and will work in any household. they are a great choice for a workshop. The motors are going to have one or two horsepower in them. the smaller models that fit on a table top are going to be more affordable and will cost around $7000. however the larger machines are going to run about $20,000. getting a used machine may be better as this will cost you about $3500. it may sound costly but you can make so much more furniture and save yourself so much time with one.
Getting a Used CNC router
Getting a used machine may be more cost effective for you. you should really shop around and look for the best deals that are out there. Make sure that you are getting one that is going to offer the best possible performance.
Some of the used machines are refurbished and are inspected for any damage. You can find out where the parts where fixed and see if you can get a warranty on them.
There may be some support that comes along with the company that refurbished your CNC router. Many will give you the advice and help that you are looking for to keep your equipment working properly so that you can protect your investment.
Concentrating on latest developments in cnc wood routers, the reviewer writes articles largely for http://www.insidewoodworking.com His contributions on cnc router bit can be encountered on his webpage and also many different online publications.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linden_A._Walhard
The big interest in this equipment is for home and for small business use. People are finding out that these machines can be used for many things and make their life easier.
Most of these items are going to come with a high price tag. There are going to be different plans that are out there for people to choose from in order to afford what they need.
Different ways to use a CNC Router
A CNC router can be helpful in many different projects. They are going to cut time in half and you will be able to make so many new things with this machine. The harder designs are now going to be much easier to do and you will have better control of the machine.
Making furniture is so fast and easy with a CNC router. You will find that you are going to get more professional results with it as well. there is software that will help you find your depth for each use and this will give you better results. You also can engrave just about anything from larger things to something that is very small. The machines are so easy and great to use once you know what to do.
Even the smaller machines are going to be a great help. You will find that they are going to run on 120 volts and will work in any household. they are a great choice for a workshop. The motors are going to have one or two horsepower in them. the smaller models that fit on a table top are going to be more affordable and will cost around $7000. however the larger machines are going to run about $20,000. getting a used machine may be better as this will cost you about $3500. it may sound costly but you can make so much more furniture and save yourself so much time with one.
Getting a Used CNC router
Getting a used machine may be more cost effective for you. you should really shop around and look for the best deals that are out there. Make sure that you are getting one that is going to offer the best possible performance.
Some of the used machines are refurbished and are inspected for any damage. You can find out where the parts where fixed and see if you can get a warranty on them.
There may be some support that comes along with the company that refurbished your CNC router. Many will give you the advice and help that you are looking for to keep your equipment working properly so that you can protect your investment.
Concentrating on latest developments in cnc wood routers, the reviewer writes articles largely for http://www.insidewoodworking.com His contributions on cnc router bit can be encountered on his webpage and also many different online publications.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Linden_A._Walhard
A CNC Router Can Be Useful At Home
You can use a cnc router table for cutting various types of materials. Depending on what kind of machine you buy you can cut, plastic, metal, or wood with your CNC router. You can use your machine for basic routing work or to make signage. Since your router also does engraves, it can be very versatile. So if you can only buy a single machine, you should be able to get many different uses from it.
In the past few years many people have considered purchasing a used cnc router or a new one for their home use. Some smaller shops have also bought them for a variety of purposes. You can save a lot if you go for a used machine instead of a new one.
You can also follow certain plans online that can teach you how to create your own. You can make one to suit your purposes from 15 x 15 up to 50 x 60 inches.
Using a cnc router can help you complete projects that you wouldn’t be able to on your own. You can create patterns and lay down metal inlays onto wood. Your creations will be smoothly done and correctly done. It will help you accomplish tasks you couldn’t do by hand alone.
If you want truly pro results when it comes to crafting furniture then a cnc router can help you out. Using special software will help you to program things exactly so you get the cuts you want. Use for engraving anything you want from a outdoor sign to the smallest cnc lettering. Once you know how to operate the machine and software, you can create virtually anything.
You can find a small machine that can be operated in your home with just a normal 120 voltage. This type of machine would be good for home use. These kind of machines have motors that range from 1-2 horsepower. These small models run about $3,500 used or $7,000 new. This makes buying a used machine a great option for your home. If you wanted to get a large machine this could cost $20,000! This is more than most people want to spend on their home equipment. If you are buying one for a potentially profitable business, then this might be a consideration.
You can save about half if you buy a router used. You can get all the power from it, a save twice as much! When you are looking around for a router shop carefully. You should determine your exact needs and then find a machine that will handle them. If you get a used router you should remember that it may be a bit slower than a new one, but if you don’t have large volume then it should be OK for you.
The free-lance writer Kurt Schefken is passionate about ideas relating to cnc machines.
You might find out more about his writings on cnc router over at http://www.insidewoodworking.com/cnc/cnc_router.html and different sources for cnc router news.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kurt_A._Schefken
In the past few years many people have considered purchasing a used cnc router or a new one for their home use. Some smaller shops have also bought them for a variety of purposes. You can save a lot if you go for a used machine instead of a new one.
You can also follow certain plans online that can teach you how to create your own. You can make one to suit your purposes from 15 x 15 up to 50 x 60 inches.
Using a cnc router can help you complete projects that you wouldn’t be able to on your own. You can create patterns and lay down metal inlays onto wood. Your creations will be smoothly done and correctly done. It will help you accomplish tasks you couldn’t do by hand alone.
If you want truly pro results when it comes to crafting furniture then a cnc router can help you out. Using special software will help you to program things exactly so you get the cuts you want. Use for engraving anything you want from a outdoor sign to the smallest cnc lettering. Once you know how to operate the machine and software, you can create virtually anything.
You can find a small machine that can be operated in your home with just a normal 120 voltage. This type of machine would be good for home use. These kind of machines have motors that range from 1-2 horsepower. These small models run about $3,500 used or $7,000 new. This makes buying a used machine a great option for your home. If you wanted to get a large machine this could cost $20,000! This is more than most people want to spend on their home equipment. If you are buying one for a potentially profitable business, then this might be a consideration.
You can save about half if you buy a router used. You can get all the power from it, a save twice as much! When you are looking around for a router shop carefully. You should determine your exact needs and then find a machine that will handle them. If you get a used router you should remember that it may be a bit slower than a new one, but if you don’t have large volume then it should be OK for you.
The free-lance writer Kurt Schefken is passionate about ideas relating to cnc machines.
You might find out more about his writings on cnc router over at http://www.insidewoodworking.com/cnc/cnc_router.html and different sources for cnc router news.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Kurt_A._Schefken
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Retrofit CNC upgrades large twin-gantry miller
A Marwin 40m long Alumax CNC twin-gantry milling machine, used for 'prepping' wing stringers, has been retrofitted with a user-friendly contouring CNC capable of controlling up to 13 axes
The 40m long by 3m wide bed of the Marwin Alumax CNC twin-gantry milling machine located in Hangar 14 on the 800 acre Cambridge site of Marshall Aerospace enables 'prepping' operations to be carried out on aircraft stringers up to 22m in length. Purchased initially as two separate machines, which were then dismantled, moved and re-installed as one machine by Electron Engineering Services, a Heidenhain-approved TNC retrofitter, this refurbished machine is playing a key role in the supply of 11,700 stringers destined for the Airbus range of aircraft.
This is under the terms of an initial two-year contract with CAV Aerospace that requires the Manufacturing 3rd Party Department of Marshall Aerospace to hold buffer stocks of 'prepped' stringers ready for supply to the Tier One supplier.
According to Colin Flack, business development manager (Manufacturing), it became a 'race against' time to complete both the extensive hangar refurbishment and the commissioning of the re-manufactured gantry mill.
In fact, the entire project was completed within the 24 week deadline, with the official opening taking place as planned in October 2006.
Since then, Hanger 14 has become home to several thousand 'prepped' stringers as well as to a sizeable quantity of free issue material and, says Colin Flack, the expectation is that the sizeable order from CAV Aerospace will be the precursor to further support work in the future.
Refurbishment of the gantry mill by Halifax-based EES involved the replacement of an obsolete Allen Bradley control with a Heidenhain iTNC 530 contouring control capable of controlling up to 13 axes.
This has been fitted into a new cabinet on the first travelling gantry, which is equipped with two spindle heads.
A new, heavy-duty, 40kW spindle complete with chiller unit carries a large indexable-insert face mill that machines the upper and lower faces of stringers, with a 3.4mm depth of cut on the first X-axis pass over the work piece and a 0.8mm depth of cut on the return pass completing the milling of each face.
A second Gamfior high speed spindle, which can also swivel (A axis) through +/-20 deg, traverses the Y-axis to machine profiles on the stringer, as and when required.
EES is one of Europe's leading machine tool CNC retrofit and refurbishment specialists, and its recommendation of the Heidenhain iTNC 530 CNC was accepted after in-depth discussions with Marshall Aerospace.
This was on the basis that future 'prepping' work involving more complex shapes and profiles will require a significant five-axis capability.
The intention is to equip the second travelling gantry, which has still to be refurbished, with two five-axis spindle heads that will be under the control of a second iTNC 530 CNC.
Operators report that the new control is extremely user-friendly, although Colin Flack says current machining operations are not especially complex.
Longer term, however, the decision to install the Heidenhain CNCs is regarded by Marshall Aerospace as essential to the cost-effective production of highly accurate, complex workpiece contours machined in the shortest possible time.
The iTNC's short block processing time of 0.5ms for a 3D line segment without tool compensation permits fast traversing speeds, even on complex contours, and with its optimised tool path control, pre-calculation of the contour, and algorithms for 'jerk limitation', it ensures that the end result is a perfect mirror surface finish.
According to Heidenhain, this reflects the fact that for more than 20 years TNC contouring controls have been proving themselves in daily use on milling, drilling and boring machines and machining centres.
The iTNC 530 is the latest version and features a more powerful processor architecture.
However, like its predecessors, the iTNC 530 is both easy to use and flexible as it can be programmed remotely on a CAD/CAM system or on the shopfloor, with complex programs verified quickly and simply by way of the control's optimised graphics build-up.
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/hei/hei156.html
The 40m long by 3m wide bed of the Marwin Alumax CNC twin-gantry milling machine located in Hangar 14 on the 800 acre Cambridge site of Marshall Aerospace enables 'prepping' operations to be carried out on aircraft stringers up to 22m in length. Purchased initially as two separate machines, which were then dismantled, moved and re-installed as one machine by Electron Engineering Services, a Heidenhain-approved TNC retrofitter, this refurbished machine is playing a key role in the supply of 11,700 stringers destined for the Airbus range of aircraft.
This is under the terms of an initial two-year contract with CAV Aerospace that requires the Manufacturing 3rd Party Department of Marshall Aerospace to hold buffer stocks of 'prepped' stringers ready for supply to the Tier One supplier.
According to Colin Flack, business development manager (Manufacturing), it became a 'race against' time to complete both the extensive hangar refurbishment and the commissioning of the re-manufactured gantry mill.
In fact, the entire project was completed within the 24 week deadline, with the official opening taking place as planned in October 2006.
Since then, Hanger 14 has become home to several thousand 'prepped' stringers as well as to a sizeable quantity of free issue material and, says Colin Flack, the expectation is that the sizeable order from CAV Aerospace will be the precursor to further support work in the future.
Refurbishment of the gantry mill by Halifax-based EES involved the replacement of an obsolete Allen Bradley control with a Heidenhain iTNC 530 contouring control capable of controlling up to 13 axes.
This has been fitted into a new cabinet on the first travelling gantry, which is equipped with two spindle heads.
A new, heavy-duty, 40kW spindle complete with chiller unit carries a large indexable-insert face mill that machines the upper and lower faces of stringers, with a 3.4mm depth of cut on the first X-axis pass over the work piece and a 0.8mm depth of cut on the return pass completing the milling of each face.
A second Gamfior high speed spindle, which can also swivel (A axis) through +/-20 deg, traverses the Y-axis to machine profiles on the stringer, as and when required.
EES is one of Europe's leading machine tool CNC retrofit and refurbishment specialists, and its recommendation of the Heidenhain iTNC 530 CNC was accepted after in-depth discussions with Marshall Aerospace.
This was on the basis that future 'prepping' work involving more complex shapes and profiles will require a significant five-axis capability.
The intention is to equip the second travelling gantry, which has still to be refurbished, with two five-axis spindle heads that will be under the control of a second iTNC 530 CNC.
Operators report that the new control is extremely user-friendly, although Colin Flack says current machining operations are not especially complex.
Longer term, however, the decision to install the Heidenhain CNCs is regarded by Marshall Aerospace as essential to the cost-effective production of highly accurate, complex workpiece contours machined in the shortest possible time.
The iTNC's short block processing time of 0.5ms for a 3D line segment without tool compensation permits fast traversing speeds, even on complex contours, and with its optimised tool path control, pre-calculation of the contour, and algorithms for 'jerk limitation', it ensures that the end result is a perfect mirror surface finish.
According to Heidenhain, this reflects the fact that for more than 20 years TNC contouring controls have been proving themselves in daily use on milling, drilling and boring machines and machining centres.
The iTNC 530 is the latest version and features a more powerful processor architecture.
However, like its predecessors, the iTNC 530 is both easy to use and flexible as it can be programmed remotely on a CAD/CAM system or on the shopfloor, with complex programs verified quickly and simply by way of the control's optimised graphics build-up.
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/hei/hei156.html
Retrofitting CNC Machining Center With Auxiliary High RPM Spindle Adds Greater Productivity And Flexibility
Adding a high-speed electric-spindle system to an existing CNC vertical machining center can improve the machine's productivity by providing quick, infinitely variable speed selection and higher rpm capabilities. Integrating the auxiliary spindle permanently onto the machine allows a company to meet the constantly changing demands of machining fine details and still retain the main spindle's capabilities for larger cutters.
In a typical application, one company recently purchased a five-axis Fadal VMC 4020 vertical machining center and modified it so it could also be used for machining fluidic circuit prototypes. Modifications include a Precise SC 102-O high speed electric spindle system (Precise Corp., Racine, Wisconsin), a special mounting plate that allows the spindle to remain in place while the main spindle is in use, some tool changer and programming adaptations, and cable carriers to keep all fluid and electrical lines neat and manageable.
The high rpm capability makes it possible to use carbide end mills from as small as 0.009" diameter up to about 1/4-inch. To make the high spindle rpm needed for small diameter cutters readily available, the auxiliary Precise spindle is mounted permanently on the side of the machine's column. Offset approximately ten inches, the spindle's fixed location enables it to be programmed into operations with little or no special accommodation. The machine's main spindle remains intact to provide the higher power and lower speed range needed to use larger diameter cutters.
With the auxiliary spindle, tools are set up in their own quickchange toolholders. This makes it possible to preset all of the tools and quickly change from tool to tool as needed, roughing with a larger diameter end mill for part of the program and finishing with smaller diameter end mills.
The machine can be programmed so switching from the main spindle to the high speed spindle can be done quickly, without interruption. When the operator specifies a speed above the main spindle's 10,000 rpm limit, the custom postprocessor recognizes the condition and applies the fixture offset, negates the main spindle, turns on the auxiliary spindle, turns it off when the cycle is through and returns to the main spindle.
The Precise spindle is equipped for automatic tool changing but the toolholder release can also be operated manually. A conveniently located pushbutton that releases the toolholder is tied to a zero-speed sensor so the tool will not be released until the operator is ready. Pre-set tooling allows the cutters to be changed quickly.
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0995bp3.html
In a typical application, one company recently purchased a five-axis Fadal VMC 4020 vertical machining center and modified it so it could also be used for machining fluidic circuit prototypes. Modifications include a Precise SC 102-O high speed electric spindle system (Precise Corp., Racine, Wisconsin), a special mounting plate that allows the spindle to remain in place while the main spindle is in use, some tool changer and programming adaptations, and cable carriers to keep all fluid and electrical lines neat and manageable.
The high rpm capability makes it possible to use carbide end mills from as small as 0.009" diameter up to about 1/4-inch. To make the high spindle rpm needed for small diameter cutters readily available, the auxiliary Precise spindle is mounted permanently on the side of the machine's column. Offset approximately ten inches, the spindle's fixed location enables it to be programmed into operations with little or no special accommodation. The machine's main spindle remains intact to provide the higher power and lower speed range needed to use larger diameter cutters.
With the auxiliary spindle, tools are set up in their own quickchange toolholders. This makes it possible to preset all of the tools and quickly change from tool to tool as needed, roughing with a larger diameter end mill for part of the program and finishing with smaller diameter end mills.
The machine can be programmed so switching from the main spindle to the high speed spindle can be done quickly, without interruption. When the operator specifies a speed above the main spindle's 10,000 rpm limit, the custom postprocessor recognizes the condition and applies the fixture offset, negates the main spindle, turns on the auxiliary spindle, turns it off when the cycle is through and returns to the main spindle.
The Precise spindle is equipped for automatic tool changing but the toolholder release can also be operated manually. A conveniently located pushbutton that releases the toolholder is tied to a zero-speed sensor so the tool will not be released until the operator is ready. Pre-set tooling allows the cutters to be changed quickly.
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0995bp3.html
Retrofit CNC converts lathe into user-friendliness
A retrofitted CNC has transformed an ageing, 'difficult-to-operate' manual lathe into a user-friendly, fully-functional CNC turning machine
By retrofitting an Anilam 4200T CNC to an ageing lathe, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) has transformed what was 'a difficult-to-operate piece of equipment that technicians were hesitant to use' into a user-friendly, fully-functional CNC turning machine. As a result, CNC turning with the Anilam control is now the preferred route for two-axis turning at the centre.
Reflecting on the problems caused by the old controller Ewan Marshall, project technician at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh ATC, says 'Despite the fact that all the turning work is fairly straightforward two-axis machining, the old control was difficult to program, therefore it was not the most cost-effective method to manufacture the components, resulting in the machine not being used to its full potential.' Today, however, after Anilam's local agent, Inscot, retrofitted the 4200T, ATC engineers have at their disposal a powerful yet user-friendly (full-screen editing and conversational help menu) CNC system featuring G code input with full text editor for cut, paste, search and replace, for example, plus interactive conversational G code help graphics and CAM programming.
Program utilities on the 4200T include create, delete/undelete, list, copy, rename and print, and the system also features constant surface speed as standard, to help guarantee consistent surface finish and extended tool life.
Also, the control can run in several operational modes - including teach mode achieved via single or dual handwheel operation with dual axis interpolation.
Being well-versed in G code programming, the ATC operators describe the Anilam as a vast improvement compared to the former control, as technician George Davidson confirms: 'In comparison to the previous CNC, which was a real nightmare, the Anilam guides us through everything.
We have extensive G code experience, so we tend to code in the job as we see it, rather than drawing it on the screen first.
'The Anilam CNC is really easy-to-use, so much so that the machine is now in more frequent use across a range of parts - which wasn't the case previously.' One example of the work being put through the new-look lathe is the beam steering mirror blanks required for the spectrometer focal plane unit within SPIRE (Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver), one of three instruments that will be carried on the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory (formerly the Far Infra-Red and Sub-millimetre Telescope) scheduled for launch in 2007.
With its 3.5m primary mirror, it will be the biggest space telescope yet flown.
Designed for spectral and photometric observations at far infra-red and sub-millimetre wavelengths, SPIRE will investigate the statistics and physics of galaxy and structure formation in the early universe, and study the earliest stages of star formation.
SPIRE's focal plane unit - and therefore the mirror blanks - are critical components, and the blanks are rough and finish turned from 60mm diameter 6061 aluminium billets 90mm long before being switched to one of several milling machines-manual/DRO lathes for a variety of profile boring and milling, as well as part-off operations before being outsourced for diamond machining.
Machining includes the creation of a 'spectacle' feature and an opposing 'clamp' feature, as well as the production of a cavity face, various slots and the mirror face to an intermediate thickness of 10.55mm before diamond machining to create the mirror finish of 2 microns.
The turning and milling sequences are interspersed with two thermal cycling routines to stabilise the material structure for low temperature use.
With its mission 'to help keep the UK at the forefront of world astronomy by providing a UK focus for the design, production and promotion of state-of-the-art astronomical technology', the ATC shares the old Royal Observatory Edinburgh site at Blackford Hill with the Edinburgh University Institute for Astronomy, and with 11 employees the machine shop plays a key role in the manufacture of the various spectrometers, telescopes and infra-red cameras produced for customers the world over, including the Isaac Newton Group, UKIRT and Gemini telescopes.
No two projects are the same, so batch sizes through the machine shop are small - often one-offs - and Ewan Marshall says ATC is like every other manufacturing organisation in that each contract has to be competitively priced, produced on time and delivered to specification (even though ATC operates with Government funding and in a non-profitmaking mode).
As well as the impressive machine shop, ATC maintains its centre of excellence mantle via expert teams covering project science, project management, applied optics, and electronic and software engineering, and it invariably acts as the turnkey player in developing the specific solutions and designs (often in conjunction with universities at home and abroad) then determining and managing the appropriate manufacturing processes and lead time schedules.
Including administration, around 100 people are employed in the centre's CAD/CAM and electronic CAD, optical design, optical test laboratory, detector test facility and cleanroom, software development, machine shop, cryogenic and vacuum facilities, as well as the telescope simulator and fixture testing areas.
Many of the components produced are tested at -260deg and 25G before final commissioning on site by ATC staff.
The machine shop traditionally handles the production of all components within a 500mm3 envelope; anything larger that needs to be either machined or fabricated is outsourced along with specialist tasks such as gold plating and mirror-finish machining.
However, within the next few years the completion of a GBP 4 rebuilding project to create new workshops, laboratories and office space will enable ATC to handle larger projects, say up to 2 m3.
'There are no plans to extend our machining capacity,' says Ewan Marshall, 'rather, the expansion will enable us to cope more easily with the assembly and test of larger projects, through the construction of buildings with high-ceilings and heavy overhead cranes.' Most of the material processed by the machine shop is aluminium (in addition to lightness it exhibits good thermal characteristics at low temperatures), with stainless steel and copper processed in lesser quantities and, interestingly, each operator is held totally responsible for the complete machining and resulting quality of the components he produces.
Every technician can work across either the CNC milling machines (which all feature Heidenhain CNCs) or the manual/DRO and CNC lathes in addition to handling a myriad of inspection routines as well as operating the co-ordinate measuring machine and assimilating the resultant QC data.
Also, each technician will plan and manage the production route of 'his' components to align with the master production schedule.
Machining work is evenly split between turning and milling.
'So,' says Ewan Marshall in conclusion, 'the updating of the lathe with the Anilam CNC was met with a huge sigh of relief by everyone.
Nobody had wanted to use the machine, but after Anilam's recommended training session, we were all conversant and comfortable with the control.
We now confidently use the machine whenever we can.'
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/aie/aie148.html
By retrofitting an Anilam 4200T CNC to an ageing lathe, the UK Astronomy Technology Centre (ATC) has transformed what was 'a difficult-to-operate piece of equipment that technicians were hesitant to use' into a user-friendly, fully-functional CNC turning machine. As a result, CNC turning with the Anilam control is now the preferred route for two-axis turning at the centre.
Reflecting on the problems caused by the old controller Ewan Marshall, project technician at the Royal Observatory, Edinburgh ATC, says 'Despite the fact that all the turning work is fairly straightforward two-axis machining, the old control was difficult to program, therefore it was not the most cost-effective method to manufacture the components, resulting in the machine not being used to its full potential.' Today, however, after Anilam's local agent, Inscot, retrofitted the 4200T, ATC engineers have at their disposal a powerful yet user-friendly (full-screen editing and conversational help menu) CNC system featuring G code input with full text editor for cut, paste, search and replace, for example, plus interactive conversational G code help graphics and CAM programming.
Program utilities on the 4200T include create, delete/undelete, list, copy, rename and print, and the system also features constant surface speed as standard, to help guarantee consistent surface finish and extended tool life.
Also, the control can run in several operational modes - including teach mode achieved via single or dual handwheel operation with dual axis interpolation.
Being well-versed in G code programming, the ATC operators describe the Anilam as a vast improvement compared to the former control, as technician George Davidson confirms: 'In comparison to the previous CNC, which was a real nightmare, the Anilam guides us through everything.
We have extensive G code experience, so we tend to code in the job as we see it, rather than drawing it on the screen first.
'The Anilam CNC is really easy-to-use, so much so that the machine is now in more frequent use across a range of parts - which wasn't the case previously.' One example of the work being put through the new-look lathe is the beam steering mirror blanks required for the spectrometer focal plane unit within SPIRE (Spectral and Photometric Imaging Receiver), one of three instruments that will be carried on the European Space Agency's Herschel Space Observatory (formerly the Far Infra-Red and Sub-millimetre Telescope) scheduled for launch in 2007.
With its 3.5m primary mirror, it will be the biggest space telescope yet flown.
Designed for spectral and photometric observations at far infra-red and sub-millimetre wavelengths, SPIRE will investigate the statistics and physics of galaxy and structure formation in the early universe, and study the earliest stages of star formation.
SPIRE's focal plane unit - and therefore the mirror blanks - are critical components, and the blanks are rough and finish turned from 60mm diameter 6061 aluminium billets 90mm long before being switched to one of several milling machines-manual/DRO lathes for a variety of profile boring and milling, as well as part-off operations before being outsourced for diamond machining.
Machining includes the creation of a 'spectacle' feature and an opposing 'clamp' feature, as well as the production of a cavity face, various slots and the mirror face to an intermediate thickness of 10.55mm before diamond machining to create the mirror finish of 2 microns.
The turning and milling sequences are interspersed with two thermal cycling routines to stabilise the material structure for low temperature use.
With its mission 'to help keep the UK at the forefront of world astronomy by providing a UK focus for the design, production and promotion of state-of-the-art astronomical technology', the ATC shares the old Royal Observatory Edinburgh site at Blackford Hill with the Edinburgh University Institute for Astronomy, and with 11 employees the machine shop plays a key role in the manufacture of the various spectrometers, telescopes and infra-red cameras produced for customers the world over, including the Isaac Newton Group, UKIRT and Gemini telescopes.
No two projects are the same, so batch sizes through the machine shop are small - often one-offs - and Ewan Marshall says ATC is like every other manufacturing organisation in that each contract has to be competitively priced, produced on time and delivered to specification (even though ATC operates with Government funding and in a non-profitmaking mode).
As well as the impressive machine shop, ATC maintains its centre of excellence mantle via expert teams covering project science, project management, applied optics, and electronic and software engineering, and it invariably acts as the turnkey player in developing the specific solutions and designs (often in conjunction with universities at home and abroad) then determining and managing the appropriate manufacturing processes and lead time schedules.
Including administration, around 100 people are employed in the centre's CAD/CAM and electronic CAD, optical design, optical test laboratory, detector test facility and cleanroom, software development, machine shop, cryogenic and vacuum facilities, as well as the telescope simulator and fixture testing areas.
Many of the components produced are tested at -260deg and 25G before final commissioning on site by ATC staff.
The machine shop traditionally handles the production of all components within a 500mm3 envelope; anything larger that needs to be either machined or fabricated is outsourced along with specialist tasks such as gold plating and mirror-finish machining.
However, within the next few years the completion of a GBP 4 rebuilding project to create new workshops, laboratories and office space will enable ATC to handle larger projects, say up to 2 m3.
'There are no plans to extend our machining capacity,' says Ewan Marshall, 'rather, the expansion will enable us to cope more easily with the assembly and test of larger projects, through the construction of buildings with high-ceilings and heavy overhead cranes.' Most of the material processed by the machine shop is aluminium (in addition to lightness it exhibits good thermal characteristics at low temperatures), with stainless steel and copper processed in lesser quantities and, interestingly, each operator is held totally responsible for the complete machining and resulting quality of the components he produces.
Every technician can work across either the CNC milling machines (which all feature Heidenhain CNCs) or the manual/DRO and CNC lathes in addition to handling a myriad of inspection routines as well as operating the co-ordinate measuring machine and assimilating the resultant QC data.
Also, each technician will plan and manage the production route of 'his' components to align with the master production schedule.
Machining work is evenly split between turning and milling.
'So,' says Ewan Marshall in conclusion, 'the updating of the lathe with the Anilam CNC was met with a huge sigh of relief by everyone.
Nobody had wanted to use the machine, but after Anilam's recommended training session, we were all conversant and comfortable with the control.
We now confidently use the machine whenever we can.'
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/aie/aie148.html
CNC Retrofit For Boring Mills - Vega MLM-B Mill CNC
The Vega MLM-B Mill CNC was specifically designed as a retrofit package for older boring mills. Combining the manual operations that operators want with thc automatic cycles and full 3D CNC programming, this new CNC is just what shops need to rejuvenate their older machines and remain competitive in today's market, the company says.
The CNC is easy to use and learn, which lowers the learning curve, making operators productive right away. It has a host of features, including handwheel, joystick and pushbutton jog interfaces, manual tapping, programmable cycles, mirroring, scaling, and many other features that help reduce setup time, improve quality and reduce scrap.
Additional standard features include a color LCD display, 32-bit CPU, hard disk, floppy disk, CD ROM, hand held pendant, full keyboard and a user-friendly keyboard.
The retrofit package includes on-site installation and operator training and usually takes 7-15 days. The Vega MLM-B can interface with both AC and DC servo systems, which means that current motors and drives don't have to be replaced. This reduces typical retrofit costs by as much as 40 percent.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3101/is_6_74/ai_79900939
The CNC is easy to use and learn, which lowers the learning curve, making operators productive right away. It has a host of features, including handwheel, joystick and pushbutton jog interfaces, manual tapping, programmable cycles, mirroring, scaling, and many other features that help reduce setup time, improve quality and reduce scrap.
Additional standard features include a color LCD display, 32-bit CPU, hard disk, floppy disk, CD ROM, hand held pendant, full keyboard and a user-friendly keyboard.
The retrofit package includes on-site installation and operator training and usually takes 7-15 days. The Vega MLM-B can interface with both AC and DC servo systems, which means that current motors and drives don't have to be replaced. This reduces typical retrofit costs by as much as 40 percent.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m3101/is_6_74/ai_79900939
CNC Retrofits Answer Scarcity Of Manual Machinists
By retrofitting CNCs to three manual Hardinge lathes, Mansfield Screw Machine Products Co. (Lexington, Ohio) increased the throughput on these machines by about 15 percent. That's the estimate of shop floor supervisor Keith Reed, who performed the retrofits, and now writes the machines' NC programs. But improving performance was not the main reason for the retrofits; the machines were always productive. Instead, retrofitting was a way to keep them productive, even without an experienced machinist in control. That became important when one of the company's best Hardinge operators retired. "We just can't find machinists with those skills anymore," Mr. Reed says. So the company purchased retrofit kits from OmniTurn (Farmingdale, New York), a supplier offering these kits for a variety of Hardinge lathes.
Now, the upgraded machines run more productively. The underlying lathes were all over ten years old. With the newer, more rigid axis drives, the machines cut accurately at higher speeds and feedrates than the previous drives would permit. At the same time, there is now far less time lost to manual toolchanges. The retrofit kit includes a gang tooling system allowing the machine to employ several tools in one cycle, like almost any CNC lathe. And because the machines are now NC, they deliver these performance gains regardless of the skill level of the operator.
The retrofitted machines also improve the efficiency of the shop's process overall. A part featuring a surface finish requirement of 15 microinches illustrates this. Using the manual machines, the shop couldn't hold this finish consistently, so bench work was needed. But since the retrofit, "those parts come off of the lathes smooth enough to ship," Mr. Reed says. Benching has been eliminated.
For other parts, savings come from eliminating expensive time on more costly machines. Like many automatic machining contractors, Mansfield Screw Machine uses CNC equipment for secondary operations. However, to provide customers with just-in-time delivery, this shop routinely runs blanks in large volumes on the automatic machines, then performs the CNC machining in small batches, to complete the parts only as the customer needs them. But now there is an alternative to higher-end CNC equipment for some of this work. The retrofitted lathes have the capability to perform many of the same complex machining routines as a full CNC lathe, including single-point threading.
The retrofit kits came largely pre-assembled. Working with an electrician, Mr. Reed performed each retrofit in about a day and a half. He writes the NC programs for these machines on a PC at his desk, using software which also came with the kit. Once the program is written and the correct tools are loaded, he says, the operator's only role is to load each workpiece, start the cycle, and check parts against the specification.
This simplicity, combined with the efficiency gains, has convinced Mr. Reed that CNC retrofitting was the right investment to make. At least one other manual Hardinge lathe operator in the shop is nearing retirement, he says. "And when he goes, I think we'll retrofit two more machines."
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0598bp1.html
Now, the upgraded machines run more productively. The underlying lathes were all over ten years old. With the newer, more rigid axis drives, the machines cut accurately at higher speeds and feedrates than the previous drives would permit. At the same time, there is now far less time lost to manual toolchanges. The retrofit kit includes a gang tooling system allowing the machine to employ several tools in one cycle, like almost any CNC lathe. And because the machines are now NC, they deliver these performance gains regardless of the skill level of the operator.
The retrofitted machines also improve the efficiency of the shop's process overall. A part featuring a surface finish requirement of 15 microinches illustrates this. Using the manual machines, the shop couldn't hold this finish consistently, so bench work was needed. But since the retrofit, "those parts come off of the lathes smooth enough to ship," Mr. Reed says. Benching has been eliminated.
For other parts, savings come from eliminating expensive time on more costly machines. Like many automatic machining contractors, Mansfield Screw Machine uses CNC equipment for secondary operations. However, to provide customers with just-in-time delivery, this shop routinely runs blanks in large volumes on the automatic machines, then performs the CNC machining in small batches, to complete the parts only as the customer needs them. But now there is an alternative to higher-end CNC equipment for some of this work. The retrofitted lathes have the capability to perform many of the same complex machining routines as a full CNC lathe, including single-point threading.
The retrofit kits came largely pre-assembled. Working with an electrician, Mr. Reed performed each retrofit in about a day and a half. He writes the NC programs for these machines on a PC at his desk, using software which also came with the kit. Once the program is written and the correct tools are loaded, he says, the operator's only role is to load each workpiece, start the cycle, and check parts against the specification.
This simplicity, combined with the efficiency gains, has convinced Mr. Reed that CNC retrofitting was the right investment to make. At least one other manual Hardinge lathe operator in the shop is nearing retirement, he says. "And when he goes, I think we'll retrofit two more machines."
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0598bp1.html
Retrofit Using Six-Axis DRO Offers Flexibility
Following a retrofit using Heidenhain's (Schaumburg, Illinois) Positip 880 six-axis readout on a partial machine rebuild of a vertical milling/boring machine, UKAEA Fusion Special Purposes Workshop in England is now benefiting from greater flexibility on existing machinery.
The BOKO WF1 vertical milling machine has been a machine shop favorite because of its integrated rotary table, swivelling head and Z-axis capacity from either the head or quill. This translates to four axes of linear movement and two rotary axes.
Retrofitting an encoder to the rotary table allows the rotary movement of the table to be shown on the readout, which offers greater positional accuracy and ease of positioning. On the BOKO, however, this usually requires the removal and re-engineering of the underside of the table to accept the encoder. When the Special Purposes Workshop of UKAEA Fusion decided to get some rebuild work and have a new five-axis readout fitted to its 20-year-old machine, Eric Clarke from Promtech Services (Milton Keynes, United Kingdom), Heidenhain's regional retrofit distributor in the United Kingdom, suggested a new approach. This approach incorporates an encoder retrofitted to the end of the rotary table's worm gear, combined with some reworking of the existing worm gear to remove excessive backlash.
“We are now positioning the rotary table to within 5 arcseconds, with backlash of less than 10 arcseconds,” comments Dave Langridge, workshop supervisor at UKAEA. “A recent job involved 40 holes around a flange at a nine-degree pitch angle. Having the angular display on the readout made the job much quicker to produce.” Mr. Langridge described the ability to sum both the head and quill movements into one Z-axis display, which allows either the head or the quill to be used without losing the Z-axis display value, as “fantastic.”
Specializing in R&D work for the fusion research program worldwide, the Special Purposes Workshop provides the machining expertise for the UKAEA (Fusion) Special Techniques Group based at the Culham Science Center near Abingdon. Gordon Harrison is the manager of the Special Purposes Workshop.
“Promtech had previously undertaken two Bridgeport Interact CNC upgrades with Heidenhain controls—both with four-axis capability,” Mr. Harrison says. “This gave us the confidence in its ability to undertake the work on the BOKO that has now returned the machine to ‘as good as new' condition with the retrofit, adding more flexibility in the type of work undertaken on the machine. This helps us to be competitive in bidding for work in our specialist field.”
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0305bp3.html
The BOKO WF1 vertical milling machine has been a machine shop favorite because of its integrated rotary table, swivelling head and Z-axis capacity from either the head or quill. This translates to four axes of linear movement and two rotary axes.
 |
| UKAEA Fusion Special Purposes Workshop's BOKO WF1 is more than 20 years old. Following the Positip 880 retrofit, the machine is said to be in “as good as new” condition. |
“We are now positioning the rotary table to within 5 arcseconds, with backlash of less than 10 arcseconds,” comments Dave Langridge, workshop supervisor at UKAEA. “A recent job involved 40 holes around a flange at a nine-degree pitch angle. Having the angular display on the readout made the job much quicker to produce.” Mr. Langridge described the ability to sum both the head and quill movements into one Z-axis display, which allows either the head or the quill to be used without losing the Z-axis display value, as “fantastic.”
Specializing in R&D work for the fusion research program worldwide, the Special Purposes Workshop provides the machining expertise for the UKAEA (Fusion) Special Techniques Group based at the Culham Science Center near Abingdon. Gordon Harrison is the manager of the Special Purposes Workshop.
“Promtech had previously undertaken two Bridgeport Interact CNC upgrades with Heidenhain controls—both with four-axis capability,” Mr. Harrison says. “This gave us the confidence in its ability to undertake the work on the BOKO that has now returned the machine to ‘as good as new' condition with the retrofit, adding more flexibility in the type of work undertaken on the machine. This helps us to be competitive in bidding for work in our specialist field.”
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0305bp3.html
Faster Milling Of EDM Electrodes With Retrofit CNC Package
Dana Heckendorf of D. Heck Tool LLC (Thompson, Connecticut), a precision moldmaker working out of his garage, wanted to compete with bigger shops that had Computer Numerical Control (CNC) equipment. This led him to consider retrofitting his manual Kent milling machine with a CNC retrofit package. With a Mitutoyo MillStar CNC from Mitutoyo Corp. (Aurora, Illinois), the shop owner can program the shape of a complex EDM electrode in 45 minutes and mill the part in 30 minutes. According to Mr. Heckendorf, the single electrode does the work of a dozen simpler ones that would take most of a day to mill or grind manually.
"Basically, we've boosted electrode throughput more than seven to one and streamlined our EDM die sinking as well," Mr. Heckendorf says. With two-axis CNC, the moldmaker quickly mills the more intricate electrodes he needs to cut mold cavities faster and with a better finish than before. Faster electrode milling and subsequent cavity cutting trimmed delivery time on what was a six-week job by seven days. "With the MillStar, I'm doing very high quality EDM electrodes in far less time," says Mr. Heckendorf.
D. Heck Tool specializes in prototype and small production molds for plastic parts. Much of the tooling produces tiny medical and switch components. The stainless and tool steel mold frames are generally about 8 inches square by 10 inches high. While mold cavities are usually cut by a Hansvedt 201 CNC EDM, the graphite electrodes used to cut the pockets must be milled.
The smallest electrodes used by D. Heck Tool are just 0.010 inch wide. "I could mill them manually," says Mr. Heckendorf, "but electrodes are very time consuming parts to make manually."
When Mr. Heckendorf started his business three years ago, he thought CNC conversion was the smart way to go. "It's hard to sell mold-making services without talking CNC," he says. "The first question they ask you is, `what do you have for CNC equipment?'"
Sophisticated computer control was a new endeavor for the small shop owner. As a lead moldmaker, Mr. Heckendorf had long made molds with a manual finish grinder and knew nothing about CNC programming. However, the milling machine he'd bought had a bolt-on power feed and Mitutoyo digital readout, so he spoke to his MTI representative about a new CNC retrofit package.
About a year ago, he upgraded his milling machine with the Mitutoyo MillStar control package. The expandable two-axis control promised the right capability, given the type of work to be done and the background of the user. "I knew I wanted a two-axis CNC because I had no hands-on experience programming," says Mr. Heckendorf.
Mr. Heckendorf visited surrounding job shops and tried several CNC packages. "The Mitutoyo package was one of the very few to run through Windows 95, which is an easy operating system to learn," he says. "It's also got good graphics and can be programmed in G-code or plain shop language."
In addition, canned cycles automate routine operations such as hole patterns, lines and arcs. More complex jobs are set up through drop-down menus on the 10-inch color screen. Function keys let the user override the automatic control and change feed rates and other parameters on the fly. Mr. Heckendorf was able to use the control after only four hours of instruction.
Precision EDM electrodes for cutting molds are milled to the shape of the finished plastic part. Customers typically supply Mr. Heckendorf with hard copy drawings of their molded parts. Mr. Heckendorf extrapolates electrode dimensions from the drawings allowing for plastic shrinkage, overburn, and other factors.
Most electrode jobs at D. Heck Tools are programmed in conversational mode. Programs stored in the MillStar memory or on disk also give D. Heck Tool repeatability difficult to achieve with manual operation.
The EDM uses the precision electrodes to cut mold contours within 0.0002 inch. Using more complicated electrodes closer to the shape of the finished part burns away more of the mold cavity faster and leaves better quality finishes.
One complex mold for a speedometer/tachometer case previously required 28 different electrodes that were set up and machined manually. By comparison, a similar gage case mold required just 12 electrodes milled under CNC. As a result, the typical six-week job was shortened by seven working days. For D. Heck Tool, the switch to CNC is paying off in shorter mold delivery times and lower costs.
Time saved in setup also means more effective use of the milling machine. Mr. Heckendorf estimates his milling machine actually ran just four days a month in the days of manual setups. Setup occupied the rest of the time. With CNC operation and stored programs, the same machine now makes chips three weeks a month, a great increase.
For a one-man shop in a competitive market, a CNC retrofit package has proven itself a powerful business advantage. "The control allows me to quote five weeks on a job someone else is quoting nine weeks on. That's what my business is built on," he says.
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0599bp1.html
"Basically, we've boosted electrode throughput more than seven to one and streamlined our EDM die sinking as well," Mr. Heckendorf says. With two-axis CNC, the moldmaker quickly mills the more intricate electrodes he needs to cut mold cavities faster and with a better finish than before. Faster electrode milling and subsequent cavity cutting trimmed delivery time on what was a six-week job by seven days. "With the MillStar, I'm doing very high quality EDM electrodes in far less time," says Mr. Heckendorf.
D. Heck Tool specializes in prototype and small production molds for plastic parts. Much of the tooling produces tiny medical and switch components. The stainless and tool steel mold frames are generally about 8 inches square by 10 inches high. While mold cavities are usually cut by a Hansvedt 201 CNC EDM, the graphite electrodes used to cut the pockets must be milled.
The smallest electrodes used by D. Heck Tool are just 0.010 inch wide. "I could mill them manually," says Mr. Heckendorf, "but electrodes are very time consuming parts to make manually."
When Mr. Heckendorf started his business three years ago, he thought CNC conversion was the smart way to go. "It's hard to sell mold-making services without talking CNC," he says. "The first question they ask you is, `what do you have for CNC equipment?'"
Sophisticated computer control was a new endeavor for the small shop owner. As a lead moldmaker, Mr. Heckendorf had long made molds with a manual finish grinder and knew nothing about CNC programming. However, the milling machine he'd bought had a bolt-on power feed and Mitutoyo digital readout, so he spoke to his MTI representative about a new CNC retrofit package.
About a year ago, he upgraded his milling machine with the Mitutoyo MillStar control package. The expandable two-axis control promised the right capability, given the type of work to be done and the background of the user. "I knew I wanted a two-axis CNC because I had no hands-on experience programming," says Mr. Heckendorf.
Mr. Heckendorf visited surrounding job shops and tried several CNC packages. "The Mitutoyo package was one of the very few to run through Windows 95, which is an easy operating system to learn," he says. "It's also got good graphics and can be programmed in G-code or plain shop language."
In addition, canned cycles automate routine operations such as hole patterns, lines and arcs. More complex jobs are set up through drop-down menus on the 10-inch color screen. Function keys let the user override the automatic control and change feed rates and other parameters on the fly. Mr. Heckendorf was able to use the control after only four hours of instruction.
Precision EDM electrodes for cutting molds are milled to the shape of the finished plastic part. Customers typically supply Mr. Heckendorf with hard copy drawings of their molded parts. Mr. Heckendorf extrapolates electrode dimensions from the drawings allowing for plastic shrinkage, overburn, and other factors.
Most electrode jobs at D. Heck Tools are programmed in conversational mode. Programs stored in the MillStar memory or on disk also give D. Heck Tool repeatability difficult to achieve with manual operation.
The EDM uses the precision electrodes to cut mold contours within 0.0002 inch. Using more complicated electrodes closer to the shape of the finished part burns away more of the mold cavity faster and leaves better quality finishes.
One complex mold for a speedometer/tachometer case previously required 28 different electrodes that were set up and machined manually. By comparison, a similar gage case mold required just 12 electrodes milled under CNC. As a result, the typical six-week job was shortened by seven working days. For D. Heck Tool, the switch to CNC is paying off in shorter mold delivery times and lower costs.
Time saved in setup also means more effective use of the milling machine. Mr. Heckendorf estimates his milling machine actually ran just four days a month in the days of manual setups. Setup occupied the rest of the time. With CNC operation and stored programs, the same machine now makes chips three weeks a month, a great increase.
For a one-man shop in a competitive market, a CNC retrofit package has proven itself a powerful business advantage. "The control allows me to quote five weeks on a job someone else is quoting nine weeks on. That's what my business is built on," he says.
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0599bp1.html
Profile follower burner can be CNC retrofitted
For those fabricators looking to move away from employing sub-contract plate profiling services, a co-ordinate gas cutting machine is being offered at a low 'entry level' price
For those fabricators looking to move away from employing sub-contract plate profiling services, the Ultrarex UXB co-ordinate gas cutting machine is being offered at 'entry level prices - an economical way of bringing plate profiling in-house. Esab Automation, Andover, said the machine has low capital investment cost, low maintenance needs, high speed cutting and precise guiding accuracy.
It is offered with photo-electric tracing or can be fitted with CNC.
Capacity is for cutting metals from 3mm to 200mm in thickness, depending upon the model purchased.
The tracer control system copies outlines or silhouettes on a 1:1 basis.
The drawings are not needed for linear cutting or rectangular bevelling of plates.
Up to four oxy-fuel gas torches can be fitted.
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/eab/eab101.html
For those fabricators looking to move away from employing sub-contract plate profiling services, the Ultrarex UXB co-ordinate gas cutting machine is being offered at 'entry level prices - an economical way of bringing plate profiling in-house. Esab Automation, Andover, said the machine has low capital investment cost, low maintenance needs, high speed cutting and precise guiding accuracy.
It is offered with photo-electric tracing or can be fitted with CNC.
Capacity is for cutting metals from 3mm to 200mm in thickness, depending upon the model purchased.
The tracer control system copies outlines or silhouettes on a 1:1 basis.
The drawings are not needed for linear cutting or rectangular bevelling of plates.
Up to four oxy-fuel gas torches can be fitted.
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/eab/eab101.html
CNC Retrofits Answer Scarcity Of Manual Machinists
By retrofitting CNCs to three manual Hardinge lathes, Mansfield Screw Machine Products Co. (Lexington, Ohio) increased the throughput on these machines by about 15 percent. That's the estimate of shop floor supervisor Keith Reed, who performed the retrofits, and now writes the machines' NC programs. But improving performance was not the main reason for the retrofits; the machines were always productive. Instead, retrofitting was a way to keep them productive, even without an experienced machinist in control. That became important when one of the company's best Hardinge operators retired. "We just can't find machinists with those skills anymore," Mr. Reed says. So the company purchased retrofit kits from OmniTurn (Farmingdale, New York), a supplier offering these kits for a variety of Hardinge lathes.
Now, the upgraded machines run more productively. The underlying lathes were all over ten years old. With the newer, more rigid axis drives, the machines cut accurately at higher speeds and feedrates than the previous drives would permit. At the same time, there is now far less time lost to manual toolchanges. The retrofit kit includes a gang tooling system allowing the machine to employ several tools in one cycle, like almost any CNC lathe. And because the machines are now NC, they deliver these performance gains regardless of the skill level of the operator.
The retrofitted machines also improve the efficiency of the shop's process overall. A part featuring a surface finish requirement of 15 microinches illustrates this. Using the manual machines, the shop couldn't hold this finish consistently, so bench work was needed. But since the retrofit, "those parts come off of the lathes smooth enough to ship," Mr. Reed says. Benching has been eliminated.
For other parts, savings come from eliminating expensive time on more costly machines. Like many automatic machining contractors, Mansfield Screw Machine uses CNC equipment for secondary operations. However, to provide customers with just-in-time delivery, this shop routinely runs blanks in large volumes on the automatic machines, then performs the CNC machining in small batches, to complete the parts only as the customer needs them. But now there is an alternative to higher-end CNC equipment for some of this work. The retrofitted lathes have the capability to perform many of the same complex machining routines as a full CNC lathe, including single-point threading.
The retrofit kits came largely pre-assembled. Working with an electrician, Mr. Reed performed each retrofit in about a day and a half. He writes the NC programs for these machines on a PC at his desk, using software which also came with the kit. Once the program is written and the correct tools are loaded, he says, the operator's only role is to load each workpiece, start the cycle, and check parts against the specification.
This simplicity, combined with the efficiency gains, has convinced Mr. Reed that CNC retrofitting was the right investment to make. At least one other manual Hardinge lathe operator in the shop is nearing retirement, he says. "And when he goes, I think we'll retrofit two more machines.
http://www.productionmachining.com/articles/mms014.html
Now, the upgraded machines run more productively. The underlying lathes were all over ten years old. With the newer, more rigid axis drives, the machines cut accurately at higher speeds and feedrates than the previous drives would permit. At the same time, there is now far less time lost to manual toolchanges. The retrofit kit includes a gang tooling system allowing the machine to employ several tools in one cycle, like almost any CNC lathe. And because the machines are now NC, they deliver these performance gains regardless of the skill level of the operator.
The retrofitted machines also improve the efficiency of the shop's process overall. A part featuring a surface finish requirement of 15 microinches illustrates this. Using the manual machines, the shop couldn't hold this finish consistently, so bench work was needed. But since the retrofit, "those parts come off of the lathes smooth enough to ship," Mr. Reed says. Benching has been eliminated.
For other parts, savings come from eliminating expensive time on more costly machines. Like many automatic machining contractors, Mansfield Screw Machine uses CNC equipment for secondary operations. However, to provide customers with just-in-time delivery, this shop routinely runs blanks in large volumes on the automatic machines, then performs the CNC machining in small batches, to complete the parts only as the customer needs them. But now there is an alternative to higher-end CNC equipment for some of this work. The retrofitted lathes have the capability to perform many of the same complex machining routines as a full CNC lathe, including single-point threading.
The retrofit kits came largely pre-assembled. Working with an electrician, Mr. Reed performed each retrofit in about a day and a half. He writes the NC programs for these machines on a PC at his desk, using software which also came with the kit. Once the program is written and the correct tools are loaded, he says, the operator's only role is to load each workpiece, start the cycle, and check parts against the specification.
This simplicity, combined with the efficiency gains, has convinced Mr. Reed that CNC retrofitting was the right investment to make. At least one other manual Hardinge lathe operator in the shop is nearing retirement, he says. "And when he goes, I think we'll retrofit two more machines.
http://www.productionmachining.com/articles/mms014.html
Choosing A Retrofit CNC
Intel co-founder Gordon Moore predicted the growth rate which now bears his name. Moore's Law suggests that the state of the art in computer processing power will double every 18 months.
This exponential pace of development affects computers everywhere. But on the floor of a machine shop, the impact is particularly striking. Here, rapidly evolving computer numerical controls (CNCs) meet machine tools whose basic structures have changed little since before these controls were introduced. The lopsided rate of change often means that the machine tool remains mechanically sound and serviceable long after its control has been eclipsed by newer models. There is no Moore's Law for the iron. As a result, some shops find themselves saddled with inoperative machines, idled only because the control is obsolete and replacement components can no longer be found. Still more shops use CNC machines whose mechanical structures could be employed much more effectively if only the controls had access to the power and features of more recently developed models. In each of these cases, one option is to scrap the old machine in favor of an entirely new one, with its own new control. However, another option is to retain the mechanical structure, and retrofit a replacement CNC.
Conserving the iron in this way is not always the more economical choice. CNCs are not simply plug-in devices. Any combination of CNC and machine tool is in fact a carefully engineered system, and the work of integrating this system is typically more expensive than the CNC itself. A new, mass-produced machine tool carries almost none of this engineering cost. The OEM spreads the one-time expense for system integration across the entire run of that machine. That option is not available for most retrofit jobs, where the "production run" typically amounts to just one unit.
Because of this integration expense and its effect on overall cost, many shops don't even consider CNC retrofitting. And perhaps rightly so; retrofitting instead of buying new is still cost-effective only for a minority of machine tools. However, retrofitting today may be worth a second look. The economics have changed significantly, even in just the last five years. There is an expanded range of choices among retrofit CNCs, and this has produced an expanded range of machine tools for which retrofitting now makes sense.
CNC
Today, two things can be said of the CNC retrofit market:
1. Machines that were once too old to justify a CNC retrofit now make excellent candidates.
2. Machines that were once too new to justify a CNC retrofit also make excellent candidates.
In the case of the older machines, today's controls are more forgiving of ballscrew error, backlash, way friction and other symptoms of mechanical wear. By compensating electronically for these errors, the right CNC alone may be enough to return a worn machine to like-new precision. Thus, the retrofit may not have to include costs for replacement bearings, ballscrews, or gearing, or for scraping the ways or other mechanical service.
In the case of the newer machines, recent improvements in control technology can make a more recent or more specialized CNC far more productive for the machine than its standard control unit, even when that older control is still functioning well. The retrofit CNC may offer important capabilities the standard one does not, including:
* High-feed rate, high-accuracy machining, particularly during contour milling. This can be the result of features including look-ahead, faster servo updates, and curve interpolation. It can also be the result of expanded program storage capacity or faster data transmission across a network.
* The ability to run third-party PC software directly on the control, for functions like shopfloor programming, or updating machining offsets based on trends in SPC data.
* Data exchange with networked PCs. Fast, two-way data transfer not only enables the CNC to obtain a part program quickly from a remote source, but can also let a remote PC monitor and react to the machine's status.
CNC Retrofit
Most of these benefits are products of increased computing power (a la Moore's Law), which has expanded the choices available to control buyers by allowing CNCs to deliver more sophisticated and specialized functions. However, there is another factor spurring CNC development. Some features, like memory and networking improvements, have grown from the low-cost platform now available thanks to the spread of non-proprietary, commodity PC hardware. And this PC hardware has also produced more choices, as different CNC vendors apply the hardware in different ways.
If you are shopping for a replacement control, should you choose one that is in some way PC-based or PC-interfaced? Today there is a good chance the answer is yes.
But does this mean you should favor the control that includes the most off-the-shelf PC hardware? Not necessarily.
No, the best way to choose a replacement CNC in today's market is to take advantage of the range of choice now available to find the right control for the application. This will mean selecting the one that best delivers the features—including price—which that application demands. However, it will also mean finding the most appropriate mix of proprietary and non-proprietary hardware.
Not "Either/Or"
There are varying degrees to which a control can employ widely available hardware. Thus "proprietary" and "non-proprietary" are not either/or conditions. They can better be imagined as opposite directions along a common axis.
At the extreme "proprietary" end of this axis would be the CNC which was essentially the only type available ten years ago. This control has hardware built or specified entirely by the manufacturer, and at best offers only a slow serial interface for (one-way) data exchange.
PC-based Control
PC-based Control
PC-based Control
PC-based Control
A PC front end can bring networking, memory, and third-party software benefits to a control system that still offers the advantages of single-source hardware. Illustration courtesy GE Fanuc.
Today, at or near the opposite end of this axis would be a control like the one offered by Manufacturing Data Systems, Inc. (MDSI; Ann Arbor, Michigan). Designed to permit a low-cost retrofit, or low-cost entry into CNC networking, MDSI's control consists of PC software running entirely on non-proprietary hardware. Its hardware requirements include a touch-screen monitor, and interface cards for encoders, servos, and I/O, all of which can be purchased from any of a variety of vendors. It has no motion control card. Instead, it closes the servo loop via algorithms in the software. For this reason, it requires just a digital-to-analog converter to interface with the servomotors.
Between these two extremes would be a CNC like the one offered by Creative Technology Corporation (Arlington Heights, Illinois). This is a control optimized to serve the needs of shops interested in milling intricate contoured forms at high feed rates. These include makers of molds, dies, and prototype parts. Accordingly, this PC-based control employs one particular vendor's motion control card, chosen for its fast servo cycle time, among other features. While this single-source card technically qualifies as proprietary hardware, the overall control is not as proprietary as the "extreme" proprietary control cited above. The customer does not have to return to the control vendor for replacement parts or upgrades. The maker of the motion control card has licensed the right to produce and market its hardware to a variety of competing manufacturers, and the rest of the control consists of generic PC hardware that is widely available.
This leads to another frequently used CNC term necessary to carry this discussion further. That term is open. (As in, "open architecture.") It is used together with "PC-based" so often that the two may appear identical in meaning. However, while the definitions may overlap, these two terms describe very different ideas.
In fact, different CNC vendors embrace any of at least two definitions for an open control. Some define this as a control using off-the-shelf hardware, which therefore (in theory) can be maintained and upgraded inexpensively, without the vendor's involvement.
Other vendors view an open control as one that can easily share information across a network. This information includes both input, like an NC program, and output, like machine status data.
These two definitions of open don't necessarily go together. A CNC can be open to hardware without being open to a network, and a CNC favoring proprietary hardware can be constructed to interface with a network freely. In the retrofit world, one example of this second case comes from Memex Electronics (Burlington, Ontario, Canada), which offers retrofit boards allowing older, "closed" Fanuc CNCs to connect directly to a PC network.
However, a more general example of a system delivering network openness to a proprietary CNC comes from yet another approach to a control employing PC hardware. This is an approach offered by GE Fanuc (Charlottesville, Virginia) and Siemens (Elk Grove Village, Illinois), among others. These companies place a PC front end on a control system in which all hardware comes from a single source—from pushbuttons through servomotors. This is the PC-enabled control system that most resembles the traditional, proprietary CNC. And for this reason, it may be the right approach for many applications.
Costs And Benefits
The determining factor, according to both GE Fanuc and Siemens, is the productive value of the machine tool.
For example, the purpose of a CNC retrofit may be to give new life to a machine that is non-critical and/or relatively inexpensive. The machine may be one that sits idle because needed hardware for its dated control can no longer be found, or because the control itself limits the machine's capabilities or makes it difficult to use. The machine may also be a low-cost vertical machining center that a different control might make faster or more accurate. In any of these cases, the shop will likely see the productivity gain from a retrofit as "gravy"—extra machining capacity acquired for significantly less than the cost of buying a new machine. If so, then the shop has to minimize the cost of the retrofit to make the upgrade cost-effective. This means finding the most inexpensive control that is feasible, and this may well mean choosing one that maximizes its use of widely available electronics.
But as the value of the machine tool increases, the outlook may change. There is no precise dollar value at which a machine can no longer be said to be "low cost." However, somewhere on an ascending scale of the machine's replacement cost—whether this is $200,000, $300,000, $500,000—there comes a point where the machine is valuable enough, and machine downtime is costly enough, that a compelling case can be made for proprietary hardware. With a single-source control system, the shop has the support of just one vendor behind all of the electronics that keep this costly machine productive.
Siemens marketing manager Peter Herweck adds another consideration when evaluating a largely non-proprietary control versus a largely proprietary one. A common selling point of the former option is its promise to let the buyer upgrade the control without the vendor's involvement, just as one would upgrade an office PC. The more proprietary controls do not promise this same freedom. However, Mr. Herweck cautions potential CNC buyers to weigh how valuable this promise really is. Questions he would have them ask include: "How often will I really want to upgrade this control? Can I truly perform this upgrade more economically in-house? And if so, am I willing to trade the support advantages of a single-source control to realize these savings?"
As for the other selling points of a non-proprietary control, he notes that a more proprietary control can also deliver these. He lists them: "Expanded part program storage; freedom to run third-party software; and data I/O, whether this is networking, zip or floppy drive, or a PCMCIA slot. A single-source control with a PC front end can provide all of these advantages," he says. And while the single-source system adds the support benefits to this, he notes that it also delivers these benefits not through general-purpose hardware, but via hardware that has been engineered around one function—reliably and repeatably controlling a machine tool.
The argument, in other words, is that you get what you pay for. However, today's market offers a corollary to this: If you don't want to pay for the advantages of a proprietary system, you no longer have to. Both of the less-proprietary systems mentioned in this article illustrate this, albeit in different ways. Using MDSI's control, shops have not only "resurrected" machines that were once too low-cost to justify retrofitting, but in some cases have realized performance benefits—including accuracy at higher feed rates—which the original control never permitted. And the specialized focus of the Creative Technology control has allowed die-mold shops to devote the price of a CNC retrofit to maximizing the control features most beneficial to the die-mold milling application. In fact, the control's benefits have proven profitable enough in this application that some die-mold shops have not waited for obsolescence, but instead have retrofitted the control to practically new vertical machining centers.
Upgrades like these illustrate how CNC technology has evolved rapidly in recent years. As to where this evolution might lead, the answer may lie no farther (from me) than my own fingertips.
Look To The Office
I am writing this article on a word processor. By this I mean a generic PC running word processing software. One generation ago, another person doing my job would have used a typewriter. A little later, that same editor might have used one of the early versions of the word processor. This first word processor was not an "open" system, but instead a dedicated machine. Its built-in logic could be upgraded only through a costly hardware replacement.
CNC vendors seem to agree: The development of technology for putting ideas on paper provides some insight into how CNCs will continue to develop. The two technologies could be said to have followed parallel courses already. The manual typewriter, for example, equates to a manual machine tool. In both cases, the operator pushed levers that directly corresponded to what he wanted the machine to do. Later, operators of both types of equipment acquired the ability to input commands all at once, and have the machine execute them in sequence later. The typist moved up to a word processor, and the manual machinist moved up to NC.
Today, the difference between these two technologies is that the word processor is now a software-only product that has made the jump completely away from proprietary hardware. The word processor today can run on any number of generic PCs, can have its documents printed on any commonly used printer, and can even interact with a variety of printers and other peripherals sharing a common network. Can we assume from this that someday we will see software-only CNCs, which run on any computer, and control any of a variety of machine tools without the need for costly system integration?
In short, will everything needed to install a CNC one day come in a shrink-wrapped box?
Probably yes. At least, that's what a variety of successful CNC vendors believe. However, one can only guess how soon that day will come. And it may not come for some time.
There is another piece of office equipment that offers a loose parallel to machine tool technology. This is the CAD plotter—the one used to make hard-copy prints of CAD drawings. This device looks a lot like a machining center. It has a tool (the pen) and a toolchanger (to switch to other pens). It interpolates in linear axes to draw complex lines. And it even has material handling, for loading the next sheet of paper.
With a machine tool, there is a difference of degree; the machining center requires more complex control functions than the plotter. However, the machine tool in service today is also different in a fundamental way: It was never designed with the intention that a plug-in PC would be running it.
That may change. The day may come when machine tool builders see their iron as PC peripherals similar to printers or plotters. However, because that day is not here yet, any shop looking at CNCs right now must give consideration to the different ways generic PC hardware is applied right now.
This is the nature of CNC shopping today. Exactly which strengths the control should deliver, and just how much non-proprietary hardware is right for the application, are choices which today's CNC market makes freely available to the consumer.
The vendors mentioned in this article can all provide more information on the CNC technology they offer.
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/059803.html
This exponential pace of development affects computers everywhere. But on the floor of a machine shop, the impact is particularly striking. Here, rapidly evolving computer numerical controls (CNCs) meet machine tools whose basic structures have changed little since before these controls were introduced. The lopsided rate of change often means that the machine tool remains mechanically sound and serviceable long after its control has been eclipsed by newer models. There is no Moore's Law for the iron. As a result, some shops find themselves saddled with inoperative machines, idled only because the control is obsolete and replacement components can no longer be found. Still more shops use CNC machines whose mechanical structures could be employed much more effectively if only the controls had access to the power and features of more recently developed models. In each of these cases, one option is to scrap the old machine in favor of an entirely new one, with its own new control. However, another option is to retain the mechanical structure, and retrofit a replacement CNC.
Conserving the iron in this way is not always the more economical choice. CNCs are not simply plug-in devices. Any combination of CNC and machine tool is in fact a carefully engineered system, and the work of integrating this system is typically more expensive than the CNC itself. A new, mass-produced machine tool carries almost none of this engineering cost. The OEM spreads the one-time expense for system integration across the entire run of that machine. That option is not available for most retrofit jobs, where the "production run" typically amounts to just one unit.
Because of this integration expense and its effect on overall cost, many shops don't even consider CNC retrofitting. And perhaps rightly so; retrofitting instead of buying new is still cost-effective only for a minority of machine tools. However, retrofitting today may be worth a second look. The economics have changed significantly, even in just the last five years. There is an expanded range of choices among retrofit CNCs, and this has produced an expanded range of machine tools for which retrofitting now makes sense.
CNC
Today, two things can be said of the CNC retrofit market:
1. Machines that were once too old to justify a CNC retrofit now make excellent candidates.
2. Machines that were once too new to justify a CNC retrofit also make excellent candidates.
In the case of the older machines, today's controls are more forgiving of ballscrew error, backlash, way friction and other symptoms of mechanical wear. By compensating electronically for these errors, the right CNC alone may be enough to return a worn machine to like-new precision. Thus, the retrofit may not have to include costs for replacement bearings, ballscrews, or gearing, or for scraping the ways or other mechanical service.
In the case of the newer machines, recent improvements in control technology can make a more recent or more specialized CNC far more productive for the machine than its standard control unit, even when that older control is still functioning well. The retrofit CNC may offer important capabilities the standard one does not, including:
* High-feed rate, high-accuracy machining, particularly during contour milling. This can be the result of features including look-ahead, faster servo updates, and curve interpolation. It can also be the result of expanded program storage capacity or faster data transmission across a network.
* The ability to run third-party PC software directly on the control, for functions like shopfloor programming, or updating machining offsets based on trends in SPC data.
* Data exchange with networked PCs. Fast, two-way data transfer not only enables the CNC to obtain a part program quickly from a remote source, but can also let a remote PC monitor and react to the machine's status.
CNC Retrofit
Most of these benefits are products of increased computing power (a la Moore's Law), which has expanded the choices available to control buyers by allowing CNCs to deliver more sophisticated and specialized functions. However, there is another factor spurring CNC development. Some features, like memory and networking improvements, have grown from the low-cost platform now available thanks to the spread of non-proprietary, commodity PC hardware. And this PC hardware has also produced more choices, as different CNC vendors apply the hardware in different ways.
If you are shopping for a replacement control, should you choose one that is in some way PC-based or PC-interfaced? Today there is a good chance the answer is yes.
But does this mean you should favor the control that includes the most off-the-shelf PC hardware? Not necessarily.
No, the best way to choose a replacement CNC in today's market is to take advantage of the range of choice now available to find the right control for the application. This will mean selecting the one that best delivers the features—including price—which that application demands. However, it will also mean finding the most appropriate mix of proprietary and non-proprietary hardware.
Not "Either/Or"
There are varying degrees to which a control can employ widely available hardware. Thus "proprietary" and "non-proprietary" are not either/or conditions. They can better be imagined as opposite directions along a common axis.
At the extreme "proprietary" end of this axis would be the CNC which was essentially the only type available ten years ago. This control has hardware built or specified entirely by the manufacturer, and at best offers only a slow serial interface for (one-way) data exchange.
PC-based Control
PC-based Control
PC-based Control
PC-based Control
A PC front end can bring networking, memory, and third-party software benefits to a control system that still offers the advantages of single-source hardware. Illustration courtesy GE Fanuc.
Today, at or near the opposite end of this axis would be a control like the one offered by Manufacturing Data Systems, Inc. (MDSI; Ann Arbor, Michigan). Designed to permit a low-cost retrofit, or low-cost entry into CNC networking, MDSI's control consists of PC software running entirely on non-proprietary hardware. Its hardware requirements include a touch-screen monitor, and interface cards for encoders, servos, and I/O, all of which can be purchased from any of a variety of vendors. It has no motion control card. Instead, it closes the servo loop via algorithms in the software. For this reason, it requires just a digital-to-analog converter to interface with the servomotors.
Between these two extremes would be a CNC like the one offered by Creative Technology Corporation (Arlington Heights, Illinois). This is a control optimized to serve the needs of shops interested in milling intricate contoured forms at high feed rates. These include makers of molds, dies, and prototype parts. Accordingly, this PC-based control employs one particular vendor's motion control card, chosen for its fast servo cycle time, among other features. While this single-source card technically qualifies as proprietary hardware, the overall control is not as proprietary as the "extreme" proprietary control cited above. The customer does not have to return to the control vendor for replacement parts or upgrades. The maker of the motion control card has licensed the right to produce and market its hardware to a variety of competing manufacturers, and the rest of the control consists of generic PC hardware that is widely available.
This leads to another frequently used CNC term necessary to carry this discussion further. That term is open. (As in, "open architecture.") It is used together with "PC-based" so often that the two may appear identical in meaning. However, while the definitions may overlap, these two terms describe very different ideas.
In fact, different CNC vendors embrace any of at least two definitions for an open control. Some define this as a control using off-the-shelf hardware, which therefore (in theory) can be maintained and upgraded inexpensively, without the vendor's involvement.
Other vendors view an open control as one that can easily share information across a network. This information includes both input, like an NC program, and output, like machine status data.
These two definitions of open don't necessarily go together. A CNC can be open to hardware without being open to a network, and a CNC favoring proprietary hardware can be constructed to interface with a network freely. In the retrofit world, one example of this second case comes from Memex Electronics (Burlington, Ontario, Canada), which offers retrofit boards allowing older, "closed" Fanuc CNCs to connect directly to a PC network.
However, a more general example of a system delivering network openness to a proprietary CNC comes from yet another approach to a control employing PC hardware. This is an approach offered by GE Fanuc (Charlottesville, Virginia) and Siemens (Elk Grove Village, Illinois), among others. These companies place a PC front end on a control system in which all hardware comes from a single source—from pushbuttons through servomotors. This is the PC-enabled control system that most resembles the traditional, proprietary CNC. And for this reason, it may be the right approach for many applications.
Costs And Benefits
The determining factor, according to both GE Fanuc and Siemens, is the productive value of the machine tool.
For example, the purpose of a CNC retrofit may be to give new life to a machine that is non-critical and/or relatively inexpensive. The machine may be one that sits idle because needed hardware for its dated control can no longer be found, or because the control itself limits the machine's capabilities or makes it difficult to use. The machine may also be a low-cost vertical machining center that a different control might make faster or more accurate. In any of these cases, the shop will likely see the productivity gain from a retrofit as "gravy"—extra machining capacity acquired for significantly less than the cost of buying a new machine. If so, then the shop has to minimize the cost of the retrofit to make the upgrade cost-effective. This means finding the most inexpensive control that is feasible, and this may well mean choosing one that maximizes its use of widely available electronics.
But as the value of the machine tool increases, the outlook may change. There is no precise dollar value at which a machine can no longer be said to be "low cost." However, somewhere on an ascending scale of the machine's replacement cost—whether this is $200,000, $300,000, $500,000—there comes a point where the machine is valuable enough, and machine downtime is costly enough, that a compelling case can be made for proprietary hardware. With a single-source control system, the shop has the support of just one vendor behind all of the electronics that keep this costly machine productive.
Siemens marketing manager Peter Herweck adds another consideration when evaluating a largely non-proprietary control versus a largely proprietary one. A common selling point of the former option is its promise to let the buyer upgrade the control without the vendor's involvement, just as one would upgrade an office PC. The more proprietary controls do not promise this same freedom. However, Mr. Herweck cautions potential CNC buyers to weigh how valuable this promise really is. Questions he would have them ask include: "How often will I really want to upgrade this control? Can I truly perform this upgrade more economically in-house? And if so, am I willing to trade the support advantages of a single-source control to realize these savings?"
As for the other selling points of a non-proprietary control, he notes that a more proprietary control can also deliver these. He lists them: "Expanded part program storage; freedom to run third-party software; and data I/O, whether this is networking, zip or floppy drive, or a PCMCIA slot. A single-source control with a PC front end can provide all of these advantages," he says. And while the single-source system adds the support benefits to this, he notes that it also delivers these benefits not through general-purpose hardware, but via hardware that has been engineered around one function—reliably and repeatably controlling a machine tool.
The argument, in other words, is that you get what you pay for. However, today's market offers a corollary to this: If you don't want to pay for the advantages of a proprietary system, you no longer have to. Both of the less-proprietary systems mentioned in this article illustrate this, albeit in different ways. Using MDSI's control, shops have not only "resurrected" machines that were once too low-cost to justify retrofitting, but in some cases have realized performance benefits—including accuracy at higher feed rates—which the original control never permitted. And the specialized focus of the Creative Technology control has allowed die-mold shops to devote the price of a CNC retrofit to maximizing the control features most beneficial to the die-mold milling application. In fact, the control's benefits have proven profitable enough in this application that some die-mold shops have not waited for obsolescence, but instead have retrofitted the control to practically new vertical machining centers.
Upgrades like these illustrate how CNC technology has evolved rapidly in recent years. As to where this evolution might lead, the answer may lie no farther (from me) than my own fingertips.
Look To The Office
I am writing this article on a word processor. By this I mean a generic PC running word processing software. One generation ago, another person doing my job would have used a typewriter. A little later, that same editor might have used one of the early versions of the word processor. This first word processor was not an "open" system, but instead a dedicated machine. Its built-in logic could be upgraded only through a costly hardware replacement.
CNC vendors seem to agree: The development of technology for putting ideas on paper provides some insight into how CNCs will continue to develop. The two technologies could be said to have followed parallel courses already. The manual typewriter, for example, equates to a manual machine tool. In both cases, the operator pushed levers that directly corresponded to what he wanted the machine to do. Later, operators of both types of equipment acquired the ability to input commands all at once, and have the machine execute them in sequence later. The typist moved up to a word processor, and the manual machinist moved up to NC.
Today, the difference between these two technologies is that the word processor is now a software-only product that has made the jump completely away from proprietary hardware. The word processor today can run on any number of generic PCs, can have its documents printed on any commonly used printer, and can even interact with a variety of printers and other peripherals sharing a common network. Can we assume from this that someday we will see software-only CNCs, which run on any computer, and control any of a variety of machine tools without the need for costly system integration?
In short, will everything needed to install a CNC one day come in a shrink-wrapped box?
Probably yes. At least, that's what a variety of successful CNC vendors believe. However, one can only guess how soon that day will come. And it may not come for some time.
There is another piece of office equipment that offers a loose parallel to machine tool technology. This is the CAD plotter—the one used to make hard-copy prints of CAD drawings. This device looks a lot like a machining center. It has a tool (the pen) and a toolchanger (to switch to other pens). It interpolates in linear axes to draw complex lines. And it even has material handling, for loading the next sheet of paper.
With a machine tool, there is a difference of degree; the machining center requires more complex control functions than the plotter. However, the machine tool in service today is also different in a fundamental way: It was never designed with the intention that a plug-in PC would be running it.
That may change. The day may come when machine tool builders see their iron as PC peripherals similar to printers or plotters. However, because that day is not here yet, any shop looking at CNCs right now must give consideration to the different ways generic PC hardware is applied right now.
This is the nature of CNC shopping today. Exactly which strengths the control should deliver, and just how much non-proprietary hardware is right for the application, are choices which today's CNC market makes freely available to the consumer.
The vendors mentioned in this article can all provide more information on the CNC technology they offer.
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/059803.html
Retrofit CNC adds life
Rather than replace an older, but very useful CNC horizontal machining centre, a vintage car restorer opted to retrofit an up-to-date CNC and so saved on machine tool replacement costs
The opportunity to turn a hobby into a business doesn't arise every day, but this is exactly what happened to Will Fiennes, a lifelong fan of Riley motor cars, 30 years ago he hung up his physicist boots to follow his passion of restoring vintage motor cars. Leaving behind his role with Smiths Industries - where he applied his degree in tribology, electrical engineering and physics - and upon establishing Fiennes Restoration because he 'preferred to get his hands dirty', he focused on the supply of new spare parts for, and the restoration of, pre-war Derby Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars.
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 12 March 2007 at 8.00am (UK)
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Such is the success of the operation that today he works for customers the world over.
'It was clear then that not many people knew too much about these cars,' said Fiennes, 'And that the supply of appropriate spares was dwindling.
So, having identified that demand, I set about satisfying it.' To give some idea of the scale of the operation, at any one time around 20 cars are at various stages of restoration, and the spares inventory now extends to an amazing 7,000 different line items, all computerised and 'accessible' online (www.fiennes.co.uk) via the company's website.
'The business hasn't changed that much during the past decades,' he reflected, 'Though CNC machines have helped us considerably to achieve consistently accurate and more cost-effective batches of machined parts.' He said: 'In this respect, CNC brings a new dimension to the word 'efficiency' even for a company like this (where a large batch may be just five-off components) though our manual machines do remain very effective for the production of suitable, relatively simple jobs.' He explained that the company havd a very old Britan capstan lathe, which it had bought secondhand with a new CNC lathe, and this wonderfully designed machine continues to reliably and accurately produce bushes and other small parts.
Fiennes said: 'I discovered during the early days of Fiennes Restoration that nothing is impossible; everything can be made if you have the right tools and attitude.
Further reading
'Go/no-go' component inspection made easy
Measurement and control specialist ACI (UK) has made available Metronics' Gage-Chek, a 'go/no-go' gauge for checking even the most complex components
Powerful digital readout system at low cost
Measurement and control specialist ACI (UK) has announced the one-/two-/three-axis Anilam Wizard 411 digital readout (DRO) system, an entry-level DRO with powerful functionality
CNCs, DROs give easy students' programming
A university engineering department didn't want students spending hours lwriting programs, so it sought machine tool control systems that allowed quick and easy programs development
But over the years it has become clear that the nation's craft skills have dwindled rapidly, though we've been lucky in being able to maintain a high skills base, even though we're based in the wilds of Oxfordshire.' This is certainly evident among the company's 23 employees, and particularly in the mechanical restoration, coachwork and spare parts machining activities, where a very high standard of manual dexterity combines perfectly with high-technology equipment, tools and materials to enable the workforce to achieve finished results that the original car manufacturers would envy.
CNC was introduced 18 years ago, following a contract to machine cylinder head castings.
But lead times were extended to 40 hours per head when machining these parts on a DRO-driven vertical milling machine, and then sub-contracting the thread milling content as well as combustion chamber machining.
One option was to invest in CNC machinery.
However, to some extent this required a leap of faith, machining components designed 60 or 70 years ago using modern technology.
'I was sure that the way to shorten such an extensive lead time was to machine as much as possible in-house by CNC; ideally by using a horizontal machining centre where all faces of the castings could be machined in a single set-up,' said Fiennes.
'But a horizontal would have cost us at least six times more than the route we adopted - a CNC Avon turret mill, fitted with Anilam GXM control.
The versatility of the Avon allowed us to machine all faces of the 28in long casting with appropriate fixtures, albeit with a sacrifice of rigidity.' He said: 'This served us well for 15 years, when we found that increasing demand could not be met by the now elderly Avon.
We then invested in a new VMC with full fourth axis, but did not dispose of the Avon.
In fact, the VMC could not do everything that the Avon did, and in particular the end faces of the cylinder head castings continued to be machined on the Avon.
It has to be said that the horizontal option, with a substantially greater investment, would have allowed all the machining to be achieved on the one machine.' However, while the Avon has remained mechanically sound (ballscrews and motors, for example, were fine), the G and M code programming routines via the original GXM control were, he says, obviously suffering from age and were proving tiresome.
But rather than invest in another new vertical mill or machining centre, Will Fiennes decided that an Anilam 3000 Series CNC upgrade from ACI (UK) would be an ideal solution - and at least 70% cheaper than investing in an equivalent new machine.
ACI (UK) simply replaced the control and wiring, and the machine - which suffered a downtime of no more than 48h - 'Has been given a new lease of life', Fiennes said.
With the switch to the three-axis Anilam 3000M CNC, and after suitable onsite training, the ease of use of Anilam's renowned Machinist's Language quickly came to the fore.
Of particular merit, said Fiennes, was the control's wide range of standard cycles such as 'peck' drilling, pocket milling and face milling, as well as its advanced cycles that include ellipse, spiral, helical, tapping, irregular pocket milling and profile milling.
The special cycles such as counterboring are also highlighted as being especially useful.
Illustrating the system's ease of use, he says, is the standard cycle for bolt hole patterns that enables patterns of any configuration to be quickly produced by answering five simple questions.
Likewise, after answering a few questions, the drill cycle takes users through simple drill, peck drill and boring routines.
'In addition to the continuation of the cylinder head work, the revitalised Avon is used for producing a myriad of parts including the machining of small castings and various moulds and tool steel components that utilise the machine/control combination's three-axis capabilities.' Fiennes said: 'I set up Fiennes Restoration with no formal business training, which is just as well, because we continue to this day to break every rule in the business book, particularly in terms of best practice work-in-progress and stock levels.' He concluded: 'But I'd like to think that I've learned a thing or two over the years, and the financial sense of adopting the ACI (UK) rebuild is one example.
It's a business I wouldn't change for the world - and when I do find time to retire, I've still got a Riley waiting at home for me to restore.'
Retrofit CNC raises long bed miller productivity
Control reliability and ease-of-use were the key factors in a subcontrac tor’s decision to change to GE Fanuc for the CNC and drives of a long-bed, travelling gantry Cincinnati machining centre. Gardner Aerospace-Hull, one of the seven businesses that make up Gardner Group in the UK, has called on the services of Halifax Numerical Controls (HNC) to retro-fit a 40m long travelling gantry Cincinnati Milacron machining centre with a GE Fanuc controller to manufacture parts for Airbus.
Both Gardner and HNC agreed that reliability and ease-of-use were key factors in the decision to change to GE Fanuc for the CNC and drives.
The Cincinnati Milacron machine has a 40m long x 4m wide horizontal bed machining area shared by two gantries each carrying 3 identical heads.
Each gantry can access up to 31m on the X-axis.
The 3 heads per gantry operate with identical motions across the 2m Y-axis, have 500mm travel in the Z-axis, and +/-20 deg movements on their A and B axes.
There are two synchronous motors for motion along the X-axis, one on either side to ensure positioning accuracy.
Mike Diskin managing director of HNC, explained the decision to fit GE Fanuc controls and drives.
‘The machine was imported from the US, and when unpacked it was obvious that one gantry controller needed replacement.
Gardner Aerospace came to us as we have been carrying out machine tool servicing for them for many years.
We enquired about replacing the numerical control with a similar product from the original manufacturer, but it was now an obsolete model which could be replaced only at a high price.
When we can, we recommend GE Fanuc products for retrofitting as we find them the most straightforward to install and commission, and also very reliable once in operation.
We were able to quote a good package price to our customer based on a Series 16i CNC with GE Fanuc 40Nm Alpha (HV)i Series servo motors on all axes.
The 16i also enables development of other facilities as the demand arises.’ Paul Smith, Engineering/Manufacturing manager at Gardner Aerospace, explained: ‘The Series 16i is fitted with a 64 Bit RISC processor, an option which is well suited to the machining of aluminium.’ He said: ‘It enhances our productivity as it processes the part programs at higher speeds enabling the cutting tools to traverse at higher rates, while at the same time maintaining the high accuracy of the machined profiles of the highly complex parts.’ Smith explained that the compact (HV)i version Alpha Series servo motors were chosen to provide the high speed and accuracy required for machining aluminium, which now makes up 99% of Gardner Aerospace’s work.
He said that productivity is further enhanced by the absolute encoders on the servo motors which ensure the machine can go straight into production on start up, without the need to reference the 40m long X-axis.
Smith continued, ‘Airbus has been a long-term customer for whom we manufacture precision engineered airframe parts.
We have been producing, for example, wing spars and wing skins around 16m long, cut from single pieces of aluminium.
With this additional machine we shall be able to manufacture parts for the new, largest planes, including the A380, which are now starting to fill the Airbus order books.
Our productivity will be high as we shall be able to produce three parts simultaneously, side by side, in single hit machining.’ The decision to go for GE Fanuc was endorsed unequivocally by Smith: ‘A large majority of our machines are fitted with GE Fanuc controllers.
I cannot remember a problem with GE Fanuc technology in 20 years of working within this company, and our operators find the CNCs easy to set up and use.
For us it is an ideal solution.
HNC is a reliable organisation and this will be the second Series 16i CNC they have retrofitted for us in the past 18 months.’
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com
Both Gardner and HNC agreed that reliability and ease-of-use were key factors in the decision to change to GE Fanuc for the CNC and drives.
The Cincinnati Milacron machine has a 40m long x 4m wide horizontal bed machining area shared by two gantries each carrying 3 identical heads.
Each gantry can access up to 31m on the X-axis.
The 3 heads per gantry operate with identical motions across the 2m Y-axis, have 500mm travel in the Z-axis, and +/-20 deg movements on their A and B axes.
There are two synchronous motors for motion along the X-axis, one on either side to ensure positioning accuracy.
Mike Diskin managing director of HNC, explained the decision to fit GE Fanuc controls and drives.
‘The machine was imported from the US, and when unpacked it was obvious that one gantry controller needed replacement.
Gardner Aerospace came to us as we have been carrying out machine tool servicing for them for many years.
We enquired about replacing the numerical control with a similar product from the original manufacturer, but it was now an obsolete model which could be replaced only at a high price.
When we can, we recommend GE Fanuc products for retrofitting as we find them the most straightforward to install and commission, and also very reliable once in operation.
We were able to quote a good package price to our customer based on a Series 16i CNC with GE Fanuc 40Nm Alpha (HV)i Series servo motors on all axes.
The 16i also enables development of other facilities as the demand arises.’ Paul Smith, Engineering/Manufacturing manager at Gardner Aerospace, explained: ‘The Series 16i is fitted with a 64 Bit RISC processor, an option which is well suited to the machining of aluminium.’ He said: ‘It enhances our productivity as it processes the part programs at higher speeds enabling the cutting tools to traverse at higher rates, while at the same time maintaining the high accuracy of the machined profiles of the highly complex parts.’ Smith explained that the compact (HV)i version Alpha Series servo motors were chosen to provide the high speed and accuracy required for machining aluminium, which now makes up 99% of Gardner Aerospace’s work.
He said that productivity is further enhanced by the absolute encoders on the servo motors which ensure the machine can go straight into production on start up, without the need to reference the 40m long X-axis.
Smith continued, ‘Airbus has been a long-term customer for whom we manufacture precision engineered airframe parts.
We have been producing, for example, wing spars and wing skins around 16m long, cut from single pieces of aluminium.
With this additional machine we shall be able to manufacture parts for the new, largest planes, including the A380, which are now starting to fill the Airbus order books.
Our productivity will be high as we shall be able to produce three parts simultaneously, side by side, in single hit machining.’ The decision to go for GE Fanuc was endorsed unequivocally by Smith: ‘A large majority of our machines are fitted with GE Fanuc controllers.
I cannot remember a problem with GE Fanuc technology in 20 years of working within this company, and our operators find the CNCs easy to set up and use.
For us it is an ideal solution.
HNC is a reliable organisation and this will be the second Series 16i CNC they have retrofitted for us in the past 18 months.’
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com
Retrofit CNC adds life to useful machining centre
Rather than replace an older, but very useful CNC horizontal machining centre, a vintage car restorer opted to retrofit an up-to-date CNC and so saved on machine tool replacement costsThe opportunity to turn a hobby into a business doesn't arise every day, but this is exactly what happened to Will Fiennes, a lifelong fan of Riley motor cars, 30 years ago he hung up his physicist boots to follow his passion of restoring vintage motor cars. Leaving behind his role with Smiths Industries - where he applied his degree in tribology, electrical engineering and physics - and upon establishing Fiennes Restoration because he 'preferred to get his hands dirty', he focused on the supply of new spare parts for, and the restoration of, pre-war Derby Bentley and Rolls-Royce cars.
Such is the success of the operation that today he works for customers the world over.
'It was clear then that not many people knew too much about these cars,' said Fiennes, 'And that the supply of appropriate spares was dwindling.
So, having identified that demand, I set about satisfying it.' To give some idea of the scale of the operation, at any one time around 20 cars are at various stages of restoration, and the spares inventory now extends to an amazing 7,000 different line items, all computerised and 'accessible' online (www.fiennes.co.uk) via the company's website.
'The business hasn't changed that much during the past decades,' he reflected, 'Though CNC machines have helped us considerably to achieve consistently accurate and more cost-effective batches of machined parts.' He said: 'In this respect, CNC brings a new dimension to the word 'efficiency' even for a company like this (where a large batch may be just five-off components) though our manual machines do remain very effective for the production of suitable, relatively simple jobs.' He explained that the company havd a very old Britan capstan lathe, which it had bought secondhand with a new CNC lathe, and this wonderfully designed machine continues to reliably and accurately produce bushes and other small parts.
Fiennes said: 'I discovered during the early days of Fiennes Restoration that nothing is impossible; everything can be made if you have the right tools and attitude.
But over the years it has become clear that the nation's craft skills have dwindled rapidly, though we've been lucky in being able to maintain a high skills base, even though we're based in the wilds of Oxfordshire.' This is certainly evident among the company's 23 employees, and particularly in the mechanical restoration, coachwork and spare parts machining activities, where a very high standard of manual dexterity combines perfectly with high-technology equipment, tools and materials to enable the workforce to achieve finished results that the original car manufacturers would envy.
CNC was introduced 18 years ago, following a contract to machine cylinder head castings.
But lead times were extended to 40 hours per head when machining these parts on a DRO-driven vertical milling machine, and then sub-contracting the thread milling content as well as combustion chamber machining.
One option was to invest in CNC machinery.
However, to some extent this required a leap of faith, machining components designed 60 or 70 years ago using modern technology.
'I was sure that the way to shorten such an extensive lead time was to machine as much as possible in-house by CNC; ideally by using a horizontal machining centre where all faces of the castings could be machined in a single set-up,' said Fiennes.
'But a horizontal would have cost us at least six times more than the route we adopted - a CNC Avon turret mill, fitted with Anilam GXM control.
The versatility of the Avon allowed us to machine all faces of the 28in long casting with appropriate fixtures, albeit with a sacrifice of rigidity.' He said: 'This served us well for 15 years, when we found that increasing demand could not be met by the now elderly Avon.
We then invested in a new VMC with full fourth axis, but did not dispose of the Avon.
In fact, the VMC could not do everything that the Avon did, and in particular the end faces of the cylinder head castings continued to be machined on the Avon.
It has to be said that the horizontal option, with a substantially greater investment, would have allowed all the machining to be achieved on the one machine.' However, while the Avon has remained mechanically sound (ballscrews and motors, for example, were fine), the G and M code programming routines via the original GXM control were, he says, obviously suffering from age and were proving tiresome.
But rather than invest in another new vertical mill or machining centre, Will Fiennes decided that an Anilam 3000 Series CNC upgrade from ACI (UK) would be an ideal solution - and at least 70% cheaper than investing in an equivalent new machine.
ACI (UK) simply replaced the control and wiring, and the machine - which suffered a downtime of no more than 48h - 'Has been given a new lease of life', Fiennes said.
With the switch to the three-axis Anilam 3000M CNC, and after suitable onsite training, the ease of use of Anilam's renowned Machinist's Language quickly came to the fore.
Of particular merit, said Fiennes, was the control's wide range of standard cycles such as 'peck' drilling, pocket milling and face milling, as well as its advanced cycles that include ellipse, spiral, helical, tapping, irregular pocket milling and profile milling.
The special cycles such as counterboring are also highlighted as being especially useful.
Illustrating the system's ease of use, he says, is the standard cycle for bolt hole patterns that enables patterns of any configuration to be quickly produced by answering five simple questions.
Likewise, after answering a few questions, the drill cycle takes users through simple drill, peck drill and boring routines.
'In addition to the continuation of the cylinder head work, the revitalised Avon is used for producing a myriad of parts including the machining of small castings and various moulds and tool steel components that utilise the machine/control combination's three-axis capabilities.' Fiennes said: 'I set up Fiennes Restoration with no formal business training, which is just as well, because we continue to this day to break every rule in the business book, particularly in terms of best practice work-in-progress and stock levels.' He concluded: 'But I'd like to think that I've learned a thing or two over the years, and the financial sense of adopting the ACI (UK) rebuild is one example.
It's a business I wouldn't change for the world - and when I do find time to retire, I've still got a Riley waiting at home for me to restore.'
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/aie/aie201.html
Such is the success of the operation that today he works for customers the world over.
'It was clear then that not many people knew too much about these cars,' said Fiennes, 'And that the supply of appropriate spares was dwindling.
So, having identified that demand, I set about satisfying it.' To give some idea of the scale of the operation, at any one time around 20 cars are at various stages of restoration, and the spares inventory now extends to an amazing 7,000 different line items, all computerised and 'accessible' online (www.fiennes.co.uk) via the company's website.
'The business hasn't changed that much during the past decades,' he reflected, 'Though CNC machines have helped us considerably to achieve consistently accurate and more cost-effective batches of machined parts.' He said: 'In this respect, CNC brings a new dimension to the word 'efficiency' even for a company like this (where a large batch may be just five-off components) though our manual machines do remain very effective for the production of suitable, relatively simple jobs.' He explained that the company havd a very old Britan capstan lathe, which it had bought secondhand with a new CNC lathe, and this wonderfully designed machine continues to reliably and accurately produce bushes and other small parts.
Fiennes said: 'I discovered during the early days of Fiennes Restoration that nothing is impossible; everything can be made if you have the right tools and attitude.
But over the years it has become clear that the nation's craft skills have dwindled rapidly, though we've been lucky in being able to maintain a high skills base, even though we're based in the wilds of Oxfordshire.' This is certainly evident among the company's 23 employees, and particularly in the mechanical restoration, coachwork and spare parts machining activities, where a very high standard of manual dexterity combines perfectly with high-technology equipment, tools and materials to enable the workforce to achieve finished results that the original car manufacturers would envy.
CNC was introduced 18 years ago, following a contract to machine cylinder head castings.
But lead times were extended to 40 hours per head when machining these parts on a DRO-driven vertical milling machine, and then sub-contracting the thread milling content as well as combustion chamber machining.
One option was to invest in CNC machinery.
However, to some extent this required a leap of faith, machining components designed 60 or 70 years ago using modern technology.
'I was sure that the way to shorten such an extensive lead time was to machine as much as possible in-house by CNC; ideally by using a horizontal machining centre where all faces of the castings could be machined in a single set-up,' said Fiennes.
'But a horizontal would have cost us at least six times more than the route we adopted - a CNC Avon turret mill, fitted with Anilam GXM control.
The versatility of the Avon allowed us to machine all faces of the 28in long casting with appropriate fixtures, albeit with a sacrifice of rigidity.' He said: 'This served us well for 15 years, when we found that increasing demand could not be met by the now elderly Avon.
We then invested in a new VMC with full fourth axis, but did not dispose of the Avon.
In fact, the VMC could not do everything that the Avon did, and in particular the end faces of the cylinder head castings continued to be machined on the Avon.
It has to be said that the horizontal option, with a substantially greater investment, would have allowed all the machining to be achieved on the one machine.' However, while the Avon has remained mechanically sound (ballscrews and motors, for example, were fine), the G and M code programming routines via the original GXM control were, he says, obviously suffering from age and were proving tiresome.
But rather than invest in another new vertical mill or machining centre, Will Fiennes decided that an Anilam 3000 Series CNC upgrade from ACI (UK) would be an ideal solution - and at least 70% cheaper than investing in an equivalent new machine.
ACI (UK) simply replaced the control and wiring, and the machine - which suffered a downtime of no more than 48h - 'Has been given a new lease of life', Fiennes said.
With the switch to the three-axis Anilam 3000M CNC, and after suitable onsite training, the ease of use of Anilam's renowned Machinist's Language quickly came to the fore.
Of particular merit, said Fiennes, was the control's wide range of standard cycles such as 'peck' drilling, pocket milling and face milling, as well as its advanced cycles that include ellipse, spiral, helical, tapping, irregular pocket milling and profile milling.
The special cycles such as counterboring are also highlighted as being especially useful.
Illustrating the system's ease of use, he says, is the standard cycle for bolt hole patterns that enables patterns of any configuration to be quickly produced by answering five simple questions.
Likewise, after answering a few questions, the drill cycle takes users through simple drill, peck drill and boring routines.
'In addition to the continuation of the cylinder head work, the revitalised Avon is used for producing a myriad of parts including the machining of small castings and various moulds and tool steel components that utilise the machine/control combination's three-axis capabilities.' Fiennes said: 'I set up Fiennes Restoration with no formal business training, which is just as well, because we continue to this day to break every rule in the business book, particularly in terms of best practice work-in-progress and stock levels.' He concluded: 'But I'd like to think that I've learned a thing or two over the years, and the financial sense of adopting the ACI (UK) rebuild is one example.
It's a business I wouldn't change for the world - and when I do find time to retire, I've still got a Riley waiting at home for me to restore.'
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/aie/aie201.html
Adding a high-speed electric-spindle system to an existing CNC vertical machining center can improve the machine's productivity by providing quick, in
Adding a high-speed electric-spindle system to an existing CNC vertical machining center can improve the machine's productivity by providing quick, infinitely variable speed selection and higher rpm capabilities. Integrating the auxiliary spindle permanently onto the machine allows a company to meet the constantly changing demands of machining fine details and still retain the main spindle's capabilities for larger cutters.
In a typical application, one company recently purchased a five-axis Fadal VMC 4020 vertical machining center and modified it so it could also be used for machining fluidic circuit prototypes. Modifications include a Precise SC 102-O high speed electric spindle system (Precise Corp., Racine, Wisconsin), a special mounting plate that allows the spindle to remain in place while the main spindle is in use, some tool changer and programming adaptations, and cable carriers to keep all fluid and electrical lines neat and manageable.
The high rpm capability makes it possible to use carbide end mills from as small as 0.009" diameter up to about 1/4-inch. To make the high spindle rpm needed for small diameter cutters readily available, the auxiliary Precise spindle is mounted permanently on the side of the machine's column. Offset approximately ten inches, the spindle's fixed location enables it to be programmed into operations with little or no special accommodation. The machine's main spindle remains intact to provide the higher power and lower speed range needed to use larger diameter cutters.
With the auxiliary spindle, tools are set up in their own quickchange toolholders. This makes it possible to preset all of the tools and quickly change from tool to tool as needed, roughing with a larger diameter end mill for part of the program and finishing with smaller diameter end mills.
The machine can be programmed so switching from the main spindle to the high speed spindle can be done quickly, without interruption. When the operator specifies a speed above the main spindle's 10,000 rpm limit, the custom postprocessor recognizes the condition and applies the fixture offset, negates the main spindle, turns on the auxiliary spindle, turns it off when the cycle is through and returns to the main spindle.
The Precise spindle is equipped for automatic tool changing but the toolholder release can also be operated manually. A conveniently located pushbutton that releases the toolholder is tied to a zero-speed sensor so the tool will not be released until the operator is ready. Pre-set tooling allows the cutters to be changed quickly.
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0995bp3.html
In a typical application, one company recently purchased a five-axis Fadal VMC 4020 vertical machining center and modified it so it could also be used for machining fluidic circuit prototypes. Modifications include a Precise SC 102-O high speed electric spindle system (Precise Corp., Racine, Wisconsin), a special mounting plate that allows the spindle to remain in place while the main spindle is in use, some tool changer and programming adaptations, and cable carriers to keep all fluid and electrical lines neat and manageable.
The high rpm capability makes it possible to use carbide end mills from as small as 0.009" diameter up to about 1/4-inch. To make the high spindle rpm needed for small diameter cutters readily available, the auxiliary Precise spindle is mounted permanently on the side of the machine's column. Offset approximately ten inches, the spindle's fixed location enables it to be programmed into operations with little or no special accommodation. The machine's main spindle remains intact to provide the higher power and lower speed range needed to use larger diameter cutters.
With the auxiliary spindle, tools are set up in their own quickchange toolholders. This makes it possible to preset all of the tools and quickly change from tool to tool as needed, roughing with a larger diameter end mill for part of the program and finishing with smaller diameter end mills.
The machine can be programmed so switching from the main spindle to the high speed spindle can be done quickly, without interruption. When the operator specifies a speed above the main spindle's 10,000 rpm limit, the custom postprocessor recognizes the condition and applies the fixture offset, negates the main spindle, turns on the auxiliary spindle, turns it off when the cycle is through and returns to the main spindle.
The Precise spindle is equipped for automatic tool changing but the toolholder release can also be operated manually. A conveniently located pushbutton that releases the toolholder is tied to a zero-speed sensor so the tool will not be released until the operator is ready. Pre-set tooling allows the cutters to be changed quickly.
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0995bp3.html
Retrofitting CNC Machining Center With Auxiliary High RPM Spindle Adds Greater Productivity And Flexibility
Adding a high-speed electric-spindle system to an existing CNC vertical machining center can improve the machine's productivity by providing quick, infinitely variable speed selection and higher rpm capabilities. Integrating the auxiliary spindle permanently onto the machine allows a company to meet the constantly changing demands of machining fine details and still retain the main spindle's capabilities for larger cutters.
In a typical application, one company recently purchased a five-axis Fadal VMC 4020 vertical machining center and modified it so it could also be used for machining fluidic circuit prototypes. Modifications include a Precise SC 102-O high speed electric spindle system (Precise Corp., Racine, Wisconsin), a special mounting plate that allows the spindle to remain in place while the main spindle is in use, some tool changer and programming adaptations, and cable carriers to keep all fluid and electrical lines neat and manageable.
The high rpm capability makes it possible to use carbide end mills from as small as 0.009" diameter up to about 1/4-inch. To make the high spindle rpm needed for small diameter cutters readily available, the auxiliary Precise spindle is mounted permanently on the side of the machine's column. Offset approximately ten inches, the spindle's fixed location enables it to be programmed into operations with little or no special accommodation. The machine's main spindle remains intact to provide the higher power and lower speed range needed to use larger diameter cutters.
With the auxiliary spindle, tools are set up in their own quickchange toolholders. This makes it possible to preset all of the tools and quickly change from tool to tool as needed, roughing with a larger diameter end mill for part of the program and finishing with smaller diameter end mills.
The machine can be programmed so switching from the main spindle to the high speed spindle can be done quickly, without interruption. When the operator specifies a speed above the main spindle's 10,000 rpm limit, the custom postprocessor recognizes the condition and applies the fixture offset, negates the main spindle, turns on the auxiliary spindle, turns it off when the cycle is through and returns to the main spindle.
The Precise spindle is equipped for automatic tool changing but the toolholder release can also be operated manually. A conveniently located pushbutton that releases the toolholder is tied to a zero-speed sensor so the tool will not be released until the operator is ready. Pre-set tooling allows the cutters to be changed quickly.
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0995bp3.html
In a typical application, one company recently purchased a five-axis Fadal VMC 4020 vertical machining center and modified it so it could also be used for machining fluidic circuit prototypes. Modifications include a Precise SC 102-O high speed electric spindle system (Precise Corp., Racine, Wisconsin), a special mounting plate that allows the spindle to remain in place while the main spindle is in use, some tool changer and programming adaptations, and cable carriers to keep all fluid and electrical lines neat and manageable.
The high rpm capability makes it possible to use carbide end mills from as small as 0.009" diameter up to about 1/4-inch. To make the high spindle rpm needed for small diameter cutters readily available, the auxiliary Precise spindle is mounted permanently on the side of the machine's column. Offset approximately ten inches, the spindle's fixed location enables it to be programmed into operations with little or no special accommodation. The machine's main spindle remains intact to provide the higher power and lower speed range needed to use larger diameter cutters.
With the auxiliary spindle, tools are set up in their own quickchange toolholders. This makes it possible to preset all of the tools and quickly change from tool to tool as needed, roughing with a larger diameter end mill for part of the program and finishing with smaller diameter end mills.
The machine can be programmed so switching from the main spindle to the high speed spindle can be done quickly, without interruption. When the operator specifies a speed above the main spindle's 10,000 rpm limit, the custom postprocessor recognizes the condition and applies the fixture offset, negates the main spindle, turns on the auxiliary spindle, turns it off when the cycle is through and returns to the main spindle.
The Precise spindle is equipped for automatic tool changing but the toolholder release can also be operated manually. A conveniently located pushbutton that releases the toolholder is tied to a zero-speed sensor so the tool will not be released until the operator is ready. Pre-set tooling allows the cutters to be changed quickly.
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/0995bp3.html
CNC Retrofit Improves Accuracy And Productivity For Aerospace Components
Stellex Monitor Aerospace Inc. (Amityville, New York) has completed a total CNC retrofit on the fifth of its ten Cincinnati Milacron gantry-style milling machines, which are used in the production of titanium and aluminum aerospace components. The turnkey retrofits were provided by the Siemens Machine Tool Business (Elk Grove Village, Illinois).
Originally equipped with Acramatic “Big Blue” controls, these machines now have Siemens digital servomotors and drives, Sinumerik 840D CNCs running on a Windows XP platform with 3D five-axis cutter compensation and full five-axis real-time kinematical transformation. According to Stellex Vice President Gary Kahrau, the results have already been documented to include reduced setup time, improved surface finish, reduced secondary finishing operations and significant improvements in overall productivity.
The company operates a 250,000 square-foot modern facility. There, it produces struts, spars, landing gear, bulkheads, crown beam assemblies and other medium to large parts from titanium, aluminum and stainless steels for commercial and military aircraft and aerospace vehicles, including space shuttles.
Mr. Kahrau elaborates on some of the 840D features that are benefiting the company. “The open architecture of the control allows us to create our own screens and integrate with our ERP system,” he says. “We store all of our own data on a proprietary ERP system. The data files are dispatched to the CNC, where our custom Shop Workstation program resides. It handles the handshake of the data files with the control. This program is fully integrated with the control’s tool management system as well.”
With the real-time five-axis kinematical transformation called Traori, the 840D control can directly accept the part’s workpiece definition data.
“With the extreme metal removal rates, deep pockets and long contours
typically encountered in aerospace production, this feature of the CNC has demonstrable upsides every day for Stellex,” says Mr. Kahrau.
He further expands upon the open HMI of the CNCs being retrofitted on the Stellex machines. “A cutter diameter compensation and customizable tool management system onboard the 840D give operators quick and accurate information in real time, plus it has the capability to accept additional features as the application demands,” he explains.
Siemens also provided Stellex with an advanced dynamic machine engineering analysis called Mechatronics. First, it collects critical real-time machine performance data, and then it establishes optimized parameterization of the CNC and servodrives. Finally, the analysis verifies optimized performance of the machine. Mr. Kahrau cites the servo analysis, ball bar tests, acceleration/deceleration tests, bi-direction compensation work-up and other protocols as being key to the end results. “Our machinery accuracy is better now than when the machines were new, our five-axis gantry has never performed so well and the rotary axis error was literally cut in half.”
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/1104bp2.html
Originally equipped with Acramatic “Big Blue” controls, these machines now have Siemens digital servomotors and drives, Sinumerik 840D CNCs running on a Windows XP platform with 3D five-axis cutter compensation and full five-axis real-time kinematical transformation. According to Stellex Vice President Gary Kahrau, the results have already been documented to include reduced setup time, improved surface finish, reduced secondary finishing operations and significant improvements in overall productivity.
 |
| Retrofit operations are performed by Siemens personnel, who also assisted Stellex Monitor Aerospace Inc. with customized software development. |
Mr. Kahrau elaborates on some of the 840D features that are benefiting the company. “The open architecture of the control allows us to create our own screens and integrate with our ERP system,” he says. “We store all of our own data on a proprietary ERP system. The data files are dispatched to the CNC, where our custom Shop Workstation program resides. It handles the handshake of the data files with the control. This program is fully integrated with the control’s tool management system as well.”
With the real-time five-axis kinematical transformation called Traori, the 840D control can directly accept the part’s workpiece definition data.
“With the extreme metal removal rates, deep pockets and long contours
 |
He further expands upon the open HMI of the CNCs being retrofitted on the Stellex machines. “A cutter diameter compensation and customizable tool management system onboard the 840D give operators quick and accurate information in real time, plus it has the capability to accept additional features as the application demands,” he explains.
Siemens also provided Stellex with an advanced dynamic machine engineering analysis called Mechatronics. First, it collects critical real-time machine performance data, and then it establishes optimized parameterization of the CNC and servodrives. Finally, the analysis verifies optimized performance of the machine. Mr. Kahrau cites the servo analysis, ball bar tests, acceleration/deceleration tests, bi-direction compensation work-up and other protocols as being key to the end results. “Our machinery accuracy is better now than when the machines were new, our five-axis gantry has never performed so well and the rotary axis error was literally cut in half.”
http://www.mmsonline.com/articles/1104bp2.html
Machine tools work better with good maintenance
There are still machine tol users who expect machine tools to perform as per specification without the user doing more than applying lubrication - here is how to choose the best maintenance package
It is very important, when using a modern CNC machine tool, to select the right machine and maintenance package. Cincinnati Machine's service division, Maintenance Technologies, delivers structured maintenance programmes that reduce machine tool downtime. Good maintenance also maintains or improves part quality, reduces part costs, prolongs machine tool life and reduces overall maintenance costs.
Maintenance Technologies can improve maintenance and productivity.
The service is part of Cincinnati Machine's MAG industrial automation Systems group.
This group has extensive process knowledge and a wide industrial experience base that serves Cincinnati Machine and all other members of the MAG group of companies.
In comparison with competing maintenance services in the market, Maintenance Technologies philosophy is to provide comprehensive long-term support to maximise Cincinnati Machine equipment availability and productivity.
It also aims to maintaining the lowest cost of ownership for the user throughout the machine tool's life cycle.
Commenting upon Maintenance Technologies, Ian Curlett, sales manager, said: 'We can provide a complete lifecycle support package of to protect a customer's machine tool investment.
This portfolio of products and services is extensive and significantly different from most machine tool suppliers.' Maintenance Technologies works in all three phases of the machine life cycle as described below.
* The first phase - 'machine build, design and installation': it is here that Cincinnati Machine can guarantee a smooth integration of the machine into any workshop.
The package provides interactive technical support, machine certification, machine monitoring, spare parts packages, technical training and application services.
* The second phase - following machine integration, Cincinnati Machine and Maintenance Technologies support the machine operation by offering service parts, machine repair service, continuous oil monitoring and health checks, on-site maintenance contracts and predictive/preventive maintenance contracts.
* The third phase - when the Cincinnati machining or turning centre has served the end user for some time, the company can supply the end user with machine control and drive upgrades.
It will also perform engineering, rebuild, retrofit, re-manufacture repair and exchange services as well as installation, relocation and rigging services as well as the supply of pre-owned equipment.
'We can provide our own team of resident technicians and parts to look after the customers machine tools.
An example of this has been seen at an aerospace company that wanted to increase the productivity of its machine tool assets on a manufacturing site.
We introduced a regime of regular preventative maintenance to ensure the machinery was available for production.
After one year this aerospace customer has realised 3,000 hours of additional machining capacity as a direct result of our involvement and this is improving further in the second year of the contract,' said Curlett.
Demonstrating remarkable reliability and machine build quality, Cincinnati Machine has a considerable amount of longstanding machine tools in the marketplace and for customers with concerns over longevity of these machines; Maintenance Technologies has an extensive archive of machine drawings and manuals to support all products.
An example was recently noted when a diesel engine manufacturer with well serviced but ageing machines had to change its production requirements.
This required two machines with an increased X-axis travel.
As Maintenance Technologies had access to the intellectual property rights for the discontinued machines, it was able to supply an engineered solution and manufacture the two machines to meet the customer needs.
Looking to the future of machine tool maintenance Curlett concluded: 'Provision of machine tool maintenance is moving beyond just reactive services and many customers are asking Maintenance Technologies to work with them on productivity improvements in their manufacturing process'.
'In response to this we have developed a product called Freedom E Log to monitor any machine tool and display the data gathered to develop improvements in OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness).
We are pleased to talk to any machine tool user who is interested in using Freedom E Log to increase machining capacity'.
* About Cincinnati Machine - Cincinnati Machine Limited designs, builds and sources high-precision machine tools for the global aerospace, automotive, mould and die, medical and general machining markets.
The company offers technology-driven solutions that include 3-, 4- and 5-axis CNC horizontal and vertical machining centres; and vertical, horizontal and multi-axis turning centres.
Cincinnati Machine in Birmingham, UK is a division focused on the design, development, sales and marketing of the Cincinnati range of machine tools.
Cincinnati Machine is a division within MAG Industrial Automation Systems, headquartered in Michigan, USA.
Other divisions within MAG IAS include Cincinnati Technologies, serving the OEM and Tier 1 aerospace market; Powertrain Technologies, serving the global automotive market with customised high-production solutions; and Maintenance Technologies, responsible for the global after-sales and service parts market for all MAG IAS customers.
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/cci/cci163.html
It is very important, when using a modern CNC machine tool, to select the right machine and maintenance package. Cincinnati Machine's service division, Maintenance Technologies, delivers structured maintenance programmes that reduce machine tool downtime. Good maintenance also maintains or improves part quality, reduces part costs, prolongs machine tool life and reduces overall maintenance costs.
Maintenance Technologies can improve maintenance and productivity.
The service is part of Cincinnati Machine's MAG industrial automation Systems group.
This group has extensive process knowledge and a wide industrial experience base that serves Cincinnati Machine and all other members of the MAG group of companies.
In comparison with competing maintenance services in the market, Maintenance Technologies philosophy is to provide comprehensive long-term support to maximise Cincinnati Machine equipment availability and productivity.
It also aims to maintaining the lowest cost of ownership for the user throughout the machine tool's life cycle.
Commenting upon Maintenance Technologies, Ian Curlett, sales manager, said: 'We can provide a complete lifecycle support package of to protect a customer's machine tool investment.
This portfolio of products and services is extensive and significantly different from most machine tool suppliers.' Maintenance Technologies works in all three phases of the machine life cycle as described below.
* The first phase - 'machine build, design and installation': it is here that Cincinnati Machine can guarantee a smooth integration of the machine into any workshop.
The package provides interactive technical support, machine certification, machine monitoring, spare parts packages, technical training and application services.
* The second phase - following machine integration, Cincinnati Machine and Maintenance Technologies support the machine operation by offering service parts, machine repair service, continuous oil monitoring and health checks, on-site maintenance contracts and predictive/preventive maintenance contracts.
* The third phase - when the Cincinnati machining or turning centre has served the end user for some time, the company can supply the end user with machine control and drive upgrades.
It will also perform engineering, rebuild, retrofit, re-manufacture repair and exchange services as well as installation, relocation and rigging services as well as the supply of pre-owned equipment.
'We can provide our own team of resident technicians and parts to look after the customers machine tools.
An example of this has been seen at an aerospace company that wanted to increase the productivity of its machine tool assets on a manufacturing site.
We introduced a regime of regular preventative maintenance to ensure the machinery was available for production.
After one year this aerospace customer has realised 3,000 hours of additional machining capacity as a direct result of our involvement and this is improving further in the second year of the contract,' said Curlett.
Demonstrating remarkable reliability and machine build quality, Cincinnati Machine has a considerable amount of longstanding machine tools in the marketplace and for customers with concerns over longevity of these machines; Maintenance Technologies has an extensive archive of machine drawings and manuals to support all products.
An example was recently noted when a diesel engine manufacturer with well serviced but ageing machines had to change its production requirements.
This required two machines with an increased X-axis travel.
As Maintenance Technologies had access to the intellectual property rights for the discontinued machines, it was able to supply an engineered solution and manufacture the two machines to meet the customer needs.
Looking to the future of machine tool maintenance Curlett concluded: 'Provision of machine tool maintenance is moving beyond just reactive services and many customers are asking Maintenance Technologies to work with them on productivity improvements in their manufacturing process'.
'In response to this we have developed a product called Freedom E Log to monitor any machine tool and display the data gathered to develop improvements in OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness).
We are pleased to talk to any machine tool user who is interested in using Freedom E Log to increase machining capacity'.
* About Cincinnati Machine - Cincinnati Machine Limited designs, builds and sources high-precision machine tools for the global aerospace, automotive, mould and die, medical and general machining markets.
The company offers technology-driven solutions that include 3-, 4- and 5-axis CNC horizontal and vertical machining centres; and vertical, horizontal and multi-axis turning centres.
Cincinnati Machine in Birmingham, UK is a division focused on the design, development, sales and marketing of the Cincinnati range of machine tools.
Cincinnati Machine is a division within MAG Industrial Automation Systems, headquartered in Michigan, USA.
Other divisions within MAG IAS include Cincinnati Technologies, serving the OEM and Tier 1 aerospace market; Powertrain Technologies, serving the global automotive market with customised high-production solutions; and Maintenance Technologies, responsible for the global after-sales and service parts market for all MAG IAS customers.
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/cci/cci163.html
Entry Level CAD Based CMM Retrofit Software
A visit to any engineering site will reveal a vast array of machine tools, with an ongoing investment in new machines, modern tooling, CADCAM, DNC links, pallet loading, and much more - all purchased to fulfil specific production needs and to keep up with modern and future manufacturing requirements. A quick look into the inspection room often reveals a completely different story - the CMM. To the majority of companies, the CMM is a once in a lifetime opportunity to own the ultimate piece of inspection equipment, purchased with a view to solving a myriad of inspection problems. However, as manufacturing technology improves, the CMM quickly loses pace with Production requirements, and what was originally adequate software soon becomes limited in its capabilities. In particular, old software cannot cope with new operating systems, CAD integration or new probe technologies. The option to replace a machine is an obvious one, but totally unrealistic for many smaller companies. However, a much easier and cost-effective solution is possible - overnight, an out-dated machine can be turned into something as good as new, at a fraction of the cost of buying a new machine, with the added benefit of continuous software development that maintains your CMM’s status as a high technology measuring system.
Entry Level Software at an Affordable Price
The case for an entry-level CMM software retrofit is clearly evident. At present, users really only have 2 choices – high level software that is expensive to purchase, or cheap software that is simply not up to the job with little in the way of support or future development. With this in mind, the developers of Metrolog XG, the World’s leading CMM retrofit software, decided to package a CMM retrofit for entry level inspection applications, where all the “bells and whistles” of the market leading Metrolog XG are simply not required. “Many users will never have the need to use the latest technology, such as laser and scanning probes, but they still need access to a comprehensive CAD based measuring system that is supported by an experienced market leader,” commented Iain Caville, Managing Director of Measurement Solutions, the UK based distributor and support partner for Metrolog XG.
The all new Microlog XG CMM software has been developed specifically for smaller CMM’s and portable measuring arms, as these machines are generally used on relatively straightforward applications. With a fully integrated CAD engine to enable users to import 3D CAD models with ease, the software has been designed to provide operators with a simplified user interface that retains the most of the measuring power of higher cost, higher level software.
The two key elements of the software are ease of installation, and ease of use. Microlog XG is the first “plug and play” CMM software that directly interfaces with most makes and types of CMM controller. This means that any manual or CNC machine from manufacturers such as Hexagon, LK, Mitutoyo, Zeiss, Stiefelmayer, Wenzel, Sheffield, plus many others, can now be quickly upgraded without the need for expensive hardware upgrades. In those cases where the controller hardware is already obsolete, Measurement Solutions can offer a range of controller upgrades that can have a CNC machine up and running again within a few days. The software also lends itself ideally to portable measuring arms, with a suite of special tools dedicated to the type of measurements often performed with these devices. Once again, direct interfaces are readily available for all types of arm – Faro, Romer, Cimcore, Garda, etc.
The user interface has also been designed with simplicity in mind. Unlike traditional CMM software where numerous windows are often on display, Microlog XG only has 2 windows – a graphic CAD display, and a special Action Panel that is the only window requiring operator interaction. All common measuring functions have been allocated to the function keys on a standard PC keyboard, so the user has direct access to the measuring functions without the need to search through menus. During a measurement, the Action Panel displays real-time feedback with information regarding the quality of the measurement, if a bad point is taken, etc. Once a measurement is completed, the user can even go back and measure more points on the same feature to improve the quality of the data.
For repeat measurements, programming could not be easier, as the software automatically remembers what actions were taken, and then prompts the user to repeat the measurements. The program is saved in an easily readable format, so no programming ability is required from users. The program can be enhanced at any time with prompts that include pictures and operator instructions, making measurement simple, quick and reliable.
When a part has been measured, Microlog XG can export data for use in other software, just like most CMM software. However, this method requires operators to be proficient with other software applications, so Microlog XG also includes a unique Report Wizard, which gently guides the user from measurement result data to a high quality printed report that can include tabulated results, pictures of the part, result stickers, etc.
CAD or no CAD – Microlog XG Is Equally At Home
Microlog XG is equally at home with or without CAD data. If a CAD model is available, measurement results are automatically superimposed on the model. To measure a feature, the user simply chooses it by clicking on the CAD model, and then probes the feature accordingly – with a CNC machine, the software will automatically instruct the machine to measure the feature. However, even without CAD data, the software will routinely create a 3D drawing of the part being measured as each feature is being probed. These features can then be selected directly from the graphics screen in the case of constructions, distances and angles, etc.
Despite being described as “entry-level” software, Microlog XG still includes many powerful functionalities to deal with most applications, including measurement of free form surfaces, sections and profiles, calculation of basic GD&T, expansion and shrinkage, plus multiple alignments including best fit, RPS, geometric, etc. The software is also backed up by annual software updates, hotline telephone support by experienced CMM users, and a highly advanced help system.
“Most CMM’s in use today are mechanically sound, and still capable of producing perfectly good measurement data” says Iain Caville. “The problem really lies with the software, which has failed miserably to keep up with technological requirements. Now, we can offer CMM users a cost effective way to start using CAD based software, backed up by the World’s largest independent CMM software company”.
http://www.time-compression.com/x/guideArchiveArticle.html?id=9895
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