Sliding-Head Lathe Offers Unmanned Operation

Within 10 days of installing a 14-axis Citizen M32-V CNC sliding-head turning centre, precision turned parts specialist C and M Precision completed a contract of 10,000 hydraulic connectors. This contract involved passing around two tonnes of 11/4in steel through the machine. 'The M32 was installed within four days in the machine shop, which involved quite a lot of work by the Citizen Machinery team due to the high specification we had ordered,' said John Cable, managing director, C and M.

'It was then set up for the job and from pressing the start button, it ran continuously day and night including unmanned operation through the first and every other night,' he added. Cable and his team had already installed two M32-V machines over the past two years following earlier purchases of smaller capacity Citizen M16 and M12s. The decision to add the third M32 was based on new orders. 'We had a rising order book for up to 32mm components involving complicated milling operations that we could complete in single machining cycles and for which the machine is ideal,' said Cable.

Cable also said that his setters are very familiar with Citizen's M-series machines and they always specify options to ensure that maximum productivity and machine utilisation can be achieved. 'This means we are able to be very competitive, maintain delivery promises and achieve the level of quality that is very consistent due to the repeatability of the machine,' he added. C and M Precision's M32-V was ordered with IEMCA bar feed, a special LNS Turbo swarf conveyor able to accept both stringy and chipped swarf, Absolent filtration, fully programmable robotic unload coupled to a parts conveyor plus the Coolblaster 2,000 lb/in2 high-pressure coolant system. 'If you plan to run unmanned then you need confidence the machine will repeat its cycle,' said Cable.

The hydraulic connector component required 10 tools to complete the part but it was the added flexibility of the two Y-axis cross feeds on the machine that made the job cost effective by allowing the single production cycle to drill off-centre holes in the side of the component. As well as turning, drilling, boring, grooving and threading, each component had to be roll marked with a code number. The Citizen M32-V is able to carry up to 80 tools, 20 of which can be driven. It is able to cut with three tools simultaneously at the main and subspindle - a feature that can contribute to reduced cycle times.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

What is Class I Division 2?

FUSE SIZING CONSIDERATIONS FOR HIGHER EFFICIENCY MOTORS

7/8 16UN Connectors that Provide 600 Volts and 15 Amps