25 November 2010
EWS lathe attachments convert rotating movement to linear
Corsham-based Gewefa UK has introduced three tooling attachment systems from the German EWS Group.
The EWS gear hobber, slotter and multiform attachments all convert the rotating movement of a driven tool into a linear movement, to give conventional CNC lathes a new machining dimension.
The EWS gear hobber has the B-axis effectively integrated within the tool and features a cutter head which can be rotated steplessly 360° around the shaft. The adjustment is done via a toothed gearing with a ratio of 10:1, allowing for the manufacture of small teeth with different pressure angles. The tool is equipped with a speed reducing ratio of 3:1, thus compensating for the increased torque requirement.
The EWS slotter is able to cut key ways up to 8 mm wide and 30.5 mm long, in as little as 6 seconds. The unit operates in much the same way as a powered milling or drilling operation with the drive shaft coupling fitting into the powered tool station on the machine turret. This provides the drive with gearing within the unit converting the rotary drive motion into a Z-axis forward motion.
Finally, there is the EWS Multiform, a system that enables the production of square, hexagon and other shapes on a turning centre with live tool capabilities and the elimination of secondary finishing operations. Multiform uses a custom internal cam disc unit to produce the required form. For conventional geometry, such as squares and hexagons, standard discs are supplied which manoeuvre the cutting tool to follow a path in order to achieve the desired shape. EWS claims the possibilities for machining ID and OD slots, squares and straight polygons with Multiform are 'endless'.
Author
Michael Richards
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Gewefa UK Ltd