Larger than life and thriving

The energy sector, particularly, is driving demand for large capacity machine tools able to accommodate big or heavy parts to serve the needs of power generation, oil and gas, mining or wind energy contracts. When combined with transport sector demands from commercial vehicle, aircraft, rail, marine and yellow goods projects, big parts are big business in the UK. Quick to note the upturn is machine tool distributor RK International (01322 447611), which has expanded its portfolio of agencies to include large capacity (with bed lengths of up to 50 m) 3 to 5-axis portal milling machines. The range of machines, produced by the Czech Republic's SAHOS and which has never been available in the UK before, is used widely for processing materials such as aluminium and composites. TWO GROUPS The machines fall into two basic groups of modular portal construction, comprising the Dynamic and Power series. The Dynamic has table sizes between 3 by 1.5 m to 6 by 2.85 m, with spindles delivering 24,000 rpm. Meanwhile, the Power series has X axes available between 2 m and a massive 50 m, Y axes between 2 and 6 m and Z axes between 1 and 3 m. These machines have ceramic-bearing spindles with maximum speeds of 18,000 rpm. A similarly enormous working envelope of up to 40 m in the X-axis, 5.1 m in the vertical Y-axis and 1.8 m in Z is offered by a new, travelling-column, horizontal machining centre from SHW. Called UniForce 7, the machine has been added to the top end of the manufacturer's range, with axis travels being respectively 25, 12.5 and 33% more than on the next largest model. The sole UK agent is Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools (023 9258 0371). The standard universal milling head has 64,800 programmable positions, enabling single set-up machining of very large components. The head is designed for heavy cutting, using the full spindle power of up to 60 kW, which is capable of delivering 2,500 Nm of torque at up to 500 rpm. The 360° C-axis has a positioning accuracy of ± 3 seconds of arc, while A-axis positioning is from +90 to -90° to within ± 2 seconds of arc. Image: The UniForce 7's head is designed for heavy cutting, using the full spindle power of up to 60 kW Returning to vertical spindle machines, and dropping down another 10 m in the X-axis, the new Megamill from DS Technology (0121 359 3637) is a moving-cross-rail machining centre for the manufacture of parts found throughout the heavy engineering sector. Despite the machine's large size, characterised by a choice of 10 X-axis travels from 7.5 to 30 m and a Y-axis of 4 or 5 m, linear rapid traverse rates of 30 m/min are achieved. THERMO-SYMMETRY Suitable for manufacturing parts such as big moulds and dies, power generation components and aerostructures, the machine features a thermo-symmetrical, fabricated steel ram of sturdy cross section. This allows rigid, high accuracy milling – even at the full Z-axis stroke, which is either 1.5 or 2 m – meaning it is no longer necessary to fixture a flat component to raise it from the table during machining. Two 38 kW, ISO 50 taper heads deliver up to 1,000 Nm of torque, and provide 4,000 and 6,000 rpm maximum spindle speeds respectively. Of course, heavy engineering doesn't necessarily entail components longer than the local swimming pool. Some sub-contractors can pick up significant contracts in the heavy parts arena with far smaller machines and this is certainly the intention of Ufone, a Dudley-based machinist that has taken delivery of the UK's first DMF500 Linear 4/5-axis vertical machining centre with 5 m X-axis from DMG (01582 570661). Image: the UK's first DMF500 Linear 4/5-axis vertical machining centre with 5 m X-axis from DMG went to Ufone The machine extends significantly the size of prismatic component that the company can produce, as the previous maximum was 3 m in X. Investment by Ufone in the DMG machine and a new CNC lathe from another supplier for turning parts up to 800 mm diameter exceeds £500,000 within the past year, demonstrating Ufone's confidence in the emerging economy, at least in the heavy engineering sector it serves. Capable of producing parts weighing up to seven tonnes within a 5,000 x 1,100 x 900 mm working envelope, the DMF machining centre has a linear motor that accelerates the spindle head in the X-axis at 6 m/s2 to a rapid traverse speed of 80 m/min. Says Ufone's general manager Gary Meusz: "Apart from allowing us to produce larger components, the DMF500 Linear is much faster than our 3-axis CNC travelling table milling machines. Drilling multiple holes around a ring or flange takes half the time or less, while thread milling is similarly rapid, thanks to the HSK100A spindle taper, whose rigidity also eliminates chatter, improving both surface finish and tool life." The speed with which a job is turned around at the Dudley factory and delivered to the customer is crucial. Before the recession, 18 weeks was the norm, compared with 12 weeks now. Ufone is seeing a strengthening of its core business, namely oil industry work, which traditionally accounts for around 60% of turnover, but has been running at 20% in the recent past. There is a growing demand, especially in the offshore drilling sector, for larger, more complex components machined to higher levels of precision, which plays to the strengths of the 28 tonne DMF500 Linear. Matthew Wild, Ufone's managing director, says: "Every week, we are picking up a new customer or else a customer we have not dealt with for many years, largely due to having this additional capacity." LARGEST HURCO FOR TGM Aerospace also demands large capacity machine tools and Hurco (01494 442222) says it has just sold the largest machining centre in its range to Preston-based aerospace subcontractor TGM. The Hurco DCX32 vertical machining centre has travels of 3.2 x 2.2 x 0.92 m and weighs in at 39 tonnes. The machine more than doubles the Y-axis capacity on the shopfloor, allowing larger airframe components to be machined. Around half of components are produced from titanium, such as wing and fuselage parts including 'longerons' for BAE Systems' Eurofighter Typhoon. A 60 kW spindle, mounted in a vertical ram, gives ample cutting power and torque for machining titanium. A lot of Airbus wing work is also undertaken, such as leading and trailing edges, as well as main details for delivery to the OEM's Broughton factory via tier one suppliers. Airbus A350 XWB work is currently being quoted. "Having the large-capacity DCX allows us the opportunity to pitch for a lot of new business previously beyond our capability," confirms director Steve Holmes. Image: TGM's Hurco DCX32 vertical machining centre tackles Eurofighter parts for BAE Systems Mitsui Seiki says it also has taken a significant order from a UK aerospace company through its distributor 2D CNC Machinery (0844 871 8584) for what is believed to be the largest and most powerful trunnion-style 5-axis horizontal machining centre ever built. Image: The largest and most powerful trunnion-style 5-axis horizontal machining centre ever built? The HU100A-5XLL weighs some 67 tonnes and has a 2.5 m between-centre capacity on the A- and B-axis trunnion, which is able to support components weighing up to three tonnes. Again it will be used to machine large titanium airframe components. Central to its metal removal performance is the power available from the 37 kW geared HSK-A100 spindle. It can deliver up to 3,332 Nm of torque, and the machine can accommodate a thrust of 2.65 tonnes in the Z-axis and 2.8 tonnes in both X and Y axes. Of course, it's not just prismatic parts that demand heavy duty machine tools. Turned parts can be equally demanding in this respect, which is why DMG has recently introduced its CTX delta 4000 TC and 6000 TC turn-mill centres for machining components weighing up to 7 tonnes, of 1,070 mm maximum diameter, and up to 4,150 and 6,150 mm in length respectively. Image: DMG has recently introduced its CTX delta 4000 TC and 6000 TC turn-mill centres for machining components weighing up to 7 tonnes The machine includes a 34 kW tool spindle that can be swivelled through ±120° (B-axis), a robust travelling-column, and accurate twin drives in the X and Z axes. In fact, its mechanical structure corresponds to that of the NT 6000 from collaboration partner Mori Seiki (0844 800 7647). Another new B-axis turning machine of large capacity is the Okuma Multus B750-Wx3000 available from NCMT (020 8398 4277). The company says it combines the power of a 45 kW CNC lathe with that of a 37 kW machining centre, capable of removing 610 cm3/min of S45C steel using an f100 face mill. This 40 tonne multi-tasking machine has a diagonally ribbed bed to ensure a highly rigid structure. The spindle is also very rigid, as it uses two sets of double roller bearings (front and rear) and one single roller bearing to absorb radial forces, plus a double angular-contact ball bearing to resist axial cutting forces. Components up to 1,050 mm in diameter by 3,215 mm long can be accommodated. From a more standard configuration perspective, Doosan is now offering big 5 m Puma lathes via Mills CNC (01926 736736). The Puma 700XLM and Puma 700XLY lathes, with their Meehanite cast-iron construction and widely spaced, induction hardened and precision ground guideways, are able to support large chucks (up to 32") and will support a workpiece up to 8.9 tons between chuck and tailstock. Machining productivity and flexibility is enhanced by the Puma machines' 1,140-mm swing over bed and 1000 mm swing over carriage capabilities, and their large turning diameter capacities of 900 mm for the Puma 700 XLM and 750 mm for the Puma 700XLY. The Pumas are equipped with high torque, gearbox-driven main spindles (45 kW, 1,200 rpm) and are suitable for heavy stock removal and high power at low revs for machining tough alloys. Image: The Puma 700XLM has1,140-mm swing over bed and 1,000 mm swing over carriage capabilities Box item Awash with North Sea orders Ward CNC (01634 832221) has supplied a fully remanufactured 1,500 mm diameter table Webster & Bennett Series S CNC vertical boring and turning machine to AJT Engineering. The investment will help meet the rise in business levels from this company's predominantly North Sea oil and gas customer base. The ram-type machine joins a portfolio of other large capacity machines supplied by Ward CNC – including a new SMTC FBC-160R horizontal CNC floor-type borer – at AJT's principal facility in Aberdeen and it is playing a key role in reducing project completion schedules. "A rising order book meant we urgently needed an appropriate rebuilt VTL," says managing director Bill Boyd, "and Ward CNC was able to provide the Series S model. Supplied complete with automatic toolchanger and new Fanuc Oi-TB CNC, the machine has 1,600 mm under the cross-rail and this accommodates around 75% of our refurbishment project and new manufacturing workloads." Image: The W&B SMTC FBC-160R horizontal CNC floor-type borer First published in Machinery, June 2011