In Hall 20 on Stand 550, visitors will discover that the Vgrind 360 is equipped with enhanced travel distances for accommodating carbide drills and milling cutters whose blanks are made from either solid-carbide or carbide-tipped steel bodies up to 200 mm diameter.
With kinematics that incorporate two vertical spindles, the Vgrind 360 allows multi-level machining, giving customers the facility to produce large numbers of milling cutters and drills with speed and precision. The Vgrind 360 at MACH 2020 will be demonstrated with the HC4 chain magazine system, which can accommodate up to 39 HSK-A63 tools in a compact floor area or, optionally, up to 158 shaft workpieces.
At the show, Vollmer says that its UK team will highlight the benefits of having two vertically arranged spindles, over competitor machines that operate with a single spindle or horizontal double spindle. The vertical arrangement improves precision and stability, as the cutting tool is only ever machined on the fixed bearing side of the grinding wheel set. Furthermore, the grinding wheel set is always located on the C-axis pivot, which improves the precision of the sharpening process.
With this configuration located upon a polymer concrete foundation, vibration damping characteristics are guaranteed, aiding surface finish. With regard to productivity, the Vgrind 360 is said to achieve perfect interpolation through five harmonised CNC axes that have short travel distances and swivel ranges for all axes. Furthermore, the two grinding spindles can be loaded with different tools, while an optional tool magazine with eight grinding wheel packages allows tools on the vertical spindles to be changed automatically.
Operation of the Vgrind 360 can be easily and individually adjusted thanks to a height-adjustable, pivoting control panel. The display can be positioned in such a way that the operator has an optimal view of the graphic interface, while the work area also remains constantly in sight. To control the machine, Vollmer uses NUMROTOplus software, which offers applications for the production and re-sharpening of tools with challenging designs and geometries.
Although Vollmer engineers will be on-hand to demonstrate the benefits of the Vgrind 360 and HC4 chain magazine system, the team will also be discussing other options.
For example, Vollmer recently launched the Vgrind 360E with spindle options that differ somewhat from the Vgrind 360. Branded as a more cost-effective solution, the upper spindle of the Vgrind 360E has a belt-driven spindle with 9 kW peak power and a maximum speed of 6,500 rpm, while the bottom belt-driven spindle generates 23 kW of peak power with a maximum speed of 10,500 rpm. This flexibility extends to the tool-loading options, with Vollmer engineers available at MACH to discuss the opportunities with the HPR 250 free-arm robot loading facility and the HP 160 pallet magazine that supplies the Vgrind 360 with up to 272 workpieces for around-the-clock unsupervised machining.
For those involved in the production or sharpening of saw blades, the Vollmer team will also be available to outline the benefits of the Vollmer CHX/HS and the Loroch K850-M machines.
