May 2007 Edition

WRAPUP

WESTEC WRAPUP

Sunny Los Angeles hosted the WESTEC show and conference and manufacturers took advantage of the weather and location to show off

The American Society of Mechanical Engineers annual conference and trade show, WESTEC, pulled the majority of its attendees from west of the Mississippi to Los Angeles, but if the number of people walking the aisles was any indication, the show was not as well attended as in the past.

First day attendance, according to a number of exhibitors, was less than they had expected. A number of them cited the proliferation of shows as reducing the number of attendees.

“Virtual” Machine Display

Tornos Technologies, Brookfield, CT, in a move that may be the future of trade shows, didn’t bring any of its equipment to the show, instead offering a virtual look at its machines through a computer-graphic demonstration along with stereo headphones and vibrating loungers. Besides the obvious advantage of saving equipment-moving and setup, the on-screen tour offered a look into the company’s machines that isn’t possible unless you have X-ray eyes.

Tornos Technologies President Scott Kowalski said attendee response was positive to the demo rather than machine display.

While attendance may not have reached record levels, there were a number of items shown that were either new or followons to recent releases.

Siemens Energy & Automation Inc., Alpharetta, GA, featured the theme “Productivity in Motion,” that focused on turnkey solutions for the aerospace and job shop industries. The company’s newest CNC, motor, and drive technology were on exhibit.

For the job shop, new versions of the ShopMill and ShopTurn software packages allow users to achieve higher productivity, simplicity, and greater speed. By featuring easy, step-by-step, on-screen programming, job shops can respond quickly to customer demands by reducing programming, tooling, and production times

. The 802D operator panel-based control system combines with the numerical control, the programmable logic controller, and the human-machine interface in a single unit. It has the capability of 5-axis machining – two of which may be spindles – and is targeted at the low- and medium-range milling and turning machine markets.

For the aerospace market, the Sinumerik 840D CNC technology offers increased performance and user productivity. The system features the Sinamics S120 drives and can be used for up to 31 axes. It is a distributed, scalable, open, and inter-connecting system offering a wide range of specialized functions for milling, drilling, turning, grinding and handling technologies.

Atomic-Powered

Seco Tools Inc., War ren, MI, displayed the company’s DurAtomic-developed coating cutting tool. TP2500 offers a level of wear resistance and toughness that is supposed to outlast any other grade ISO P applications. It can also optimize stainless steel turning and cast iron applications, effectively machining materials from K10 to M40. In company field tests, the coating showed up to 100 percent improved productivity in combination with a 400 percent increase in tool life.

TP2500 was developed through Seco’s DurAtomic process, where the coating is manipulated at the atomic level. The basic structure is aluminum oxide – AL–2O–3 Updated ShopMill and ShopTurn software packages from – but the overal ductility has been enhanced.

Mori Seiki announced that its NZ Series of multi-axis machines are available in the U.S. The series of three-turret machines, once only available in Japan, has come to American shores.

The series is equipped with three turrets with built-in milling motors. It has 10 variations and can be customized to customers’ needs. The NZ1500 has a 6" chuck, the NZ2000 with a 8" chuck, and customers can choose from two turrets with no Y-axis function to 3 turrets all with the Y-axis function.

Sixteen tools can be mounted on one turret, and a maximum of 48 tools can be installed, allowing long-term unmanned operation.

Ceramic inserts were one of the features of the Sandvik Coromant, Fair Lawn, NJ, booth. The CC6060 and CC6065 inserts are additions to the company’s family of HRSA cutting tools. The ceramic grades of round inserts are capable of running at four to six times the speed of conventional carbide inserts.

The CC6060 is optimized to provide productivity benefits with larger diameter components and longer lengths of cut. The grade is designed to offer notch wear resistance, allowing machining at higher depths. The insert is able to maintain performance at higher feed rates and in longer continuous cuts.

The CC6065 is designed for hightemperature alloy machining on highquality forgings with some ovality. It also provides a stronger insert and edge line to allow for increased feed rates and elevated component quality.

 Deburring tools were unveiled at the Trumpf, Farmington, CT, exhibit for producing sheet metal parts that come out of the punching machine burr-free. A roller deburring tool and the deburring MultiTool displace burrs by chamfering the sharp edges – about 0.004" – on the underside of parts.

The roller deburring tool uses a specially-formed embossing roll for long edges and contours with a radius of more than 0.8". In connection with the MultiShear tool – a tool for punching outer and inner contours without overlap marks – the deburring tool produces a quality edge in areas of a part that are visible or need to have a clean look, while maintaining speeds of 1,600 ipm. The MultiTool is suited to handle smaller radii, intricate geometries, and corners in a single stroke or in nibble mode.

Both tools are suitable for punching sheet thicknesses of up to 0.10” in steel, stainless steel, and aluminum.

 MAG Fadal, Chatsworth, CA, completed its line of valuepriced FX series of 4-axis vertical machining centers with the 4020FX. The machine is designed for a range of machining applications from complex die and mold work to parts production. The work envelope is the largest of the series, which includes the 2216FX and 3016FX. X-, Y-, and Z-axis travel is 40"×20"×20". Features include rigid box-way construction with integral flame-hardened ways and Steinmeyer ETA+ dual-mounted ballscrews for stiffness. Maximum spindle speed is 8,000 rpm and rapid traverse is 1,000 ipm.

Mobile Pro
Under the leadership of RER owner Kurt Weis, the company performs heavy repair and rebuild operations on pumps, primarily for the power generation industry. In addition to in-house machining, welding, final assembly, and diametrical/runout testing procedures, the company also operates a portable machine-shop-on-wheels that can travel onsite for breakdown, repair, and rebuild operations at the company’s power generation customers. The company is planning another facility to serve customers in its southeast market. While machining shafts are the company’s primary focus, RER also repairs or rebuilds threaded nuts, sleeves, bearings, balance pieces and forgings for its customers.

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