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Machining operation is disarmingly complex
03 Jul 2008
Next time you see a bomb disposal robot in action, hopefully on a television screen, it will probably be carrying a stainless steel component machined by Turntech Precision Engineering on an OKK 5-axis vertical machining centre
Having won the bomb disposal component contract, Turntech realised that the required cutting cycle was deceptively complex and ideal for producing in two operations on the 5-axis machine. The part is made from high tensile strength 420 S 37 stainless steel that is difficult to machine. Particularly testing was the stipulation that two closely spaced holes had to be drilled into the curved side of the cylindrically shaped component to a pitch limit of +50 microns, -0.
Supplied last year, the OKK machine is the first 5-axis prismatic metalcutting machine at Turntech’s Wimborne facility. According to managing director, Tony Pigott, it was bought primarily to help Turntech meet cost-down demands from the aerospace industry. About a quarter of the firm’s business is in this sector, so serious attention has to be paid to maintaining profitability when machining the diverse range of components, many of them complex.
“We produce a typical aerospace part in two hits on the 5-axis machine whereas it previously required three, four or even five operations, often on two different machine tools,” said Mr Pigott.
“Actual cycle times are not much different, but savings in handling and reclamping components make an enormous difference to the cost of production.
“I estimate that if we cut the numbers of ops down from three to two, there is a 25 per cent cost saving, and if the part previously needed five ops, the saving is more like 50 per cent.”
In one exceptional case, an aluminium component had to be machined on six faces in six separate clampings on a 3-axis VMC. The same component is now produced in two set-ups. Economies on this scale are allowing the subcontractor to win more business, pay for the 5-axis machine and maintain a reasonable margin on aerospace contracts.
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