Ajax Machine Tools International Open House takes almost £250,000

"The specification of the AJV 700, including Heidenhain control, has captured the needs of subcontractors and when they were able to see it perform, found it ideal for the types of components they produce," said managing director William Savin. The Ajax AJV 700 incorporates the mid-range Heidenhain TNC 620 digital control and, with 700 mm by 400 mm by 650 mm axis travels covered at 48 m/min and requiring a floor space of just 1.9 m by 2.2 m, it offers a compact high performance machine solution. The 24 tool magazine has a tool-to-tool time of 1.6 secs and with the rigid construction running on high speed linear roller rails giving excellent anti-vibration properties. Within the orders for the machines, customers took advantage of adding Heidenhain tool setting probes and a table-mounted probe. They were helped in the decision by the attendance at the event of Heidenhain technical sales engineers, who were able to demonstrate the control and probing advantages. Also at the event was Vargus Tooling UK, demonstrating its Widia MI200 Mini Milling cutter kits and TM Solid carbide thread milling tools, its MicrOscope Groovex tool kits and the Mini-V family of mini-indexable inserts. According to Dave Greenhalf of David Richards Engineering based in Southampton, the Ajax AJSB 200S lathe was an ideal rigid turning platform for this company's demonstration of hard turning to visitors. Using CBN DR50 inserts run at 100 m/min, he was demonstrating turning grooving and boring on a 35 mm diameter billet of tool steel hardened to 58-60 Rockwell C. The turning inserts were run at 0.4 mm/rev, boring tools at 0.05 mm/rev and grooving inserts at 0.01 mm/rev. The depth-of-cut was 0.1 mm for turning and boring. Other companies featured at the event were Renishaw, demonstrating its QC20-W calibration of machine tools, Nikken, with its rotary tables, and WDS, which showed a range of workholding solutions.