Machining success depends largely on component rigidity, the geometry to be turned, lathe rigidity, and vibration damping characteristics. Rigidity is critical for successful hard turning. The rigidity of tooling, workholding, and the machine tool itself are all crucial elements that will affect your ability to successfully hard turn. Hard turning is a technology-driven process, dependent upon:
Although we’ve never become a truly paperless society, we all have an incredible amount of information stored digitally in a variety of locations. Gigabytes of both personal and business information are on our computer hard dives, backup drives, servers and in the “Cloud.” Of course, we’re secure in the knowledge that our most sensitive data can only be accessed via a secret password. But how safe are those passwords?
Four new CNC turning centers from Hardinge provide reduced cycle times and increased throughput in a single setup, plus quality construction and reliable performance. These small-frame machines are designed for small to medium sized workpieces and offer expanded functionalities to successfully machine complex parts.
When considering hard turning, the question is not “Can it be done?” because many machine tools can hard turn. Instead the question is, “How well can it be done?” Success in hard turning is largely a measure of the machine construction and design along with the workholding and tool holding. The level of rigidity and damping in a hard turning application cannot be minimized. That’s where Hardinge has a competitive advantage.
Although the United States is second only to Japan in industrial robot usage, American manufacturers use robots in only 10% of possible applications. One reason is that many manufacturers aren’t aware of the many ways robots can improve productivity by reducing manual labor within the manufacturing process. In the Gosiger IMTS 2012 booth (S-9266), visitors will see live demonstrations of robots performing such tasks as loading and unloading parts, distinguishing good parts from bad, force sensing (plug & spine) and quick change End of Arm Tooling (EOAT). Additionally, Gosiger Automation will present videos of recent customer installations so visitors may view real-world applications of these automation principles.
If your CNC machining operation doesn’t require multi-spindle lathes capable of completing very complex parts, and you’d like a more affordable alternative with excellent accuracy and faster changeovers, Gosiger has a solution: The Shimada line of cam-free 6- and 8-spindle lathes, available in 16 mm, 27 mm and 32 mm bar size capacities.
Grinding does–and likely always will–have a place in manufacturing, as all components can not be hard turned due to tolerance requirements and the surface integrity of the part.
Many CNC machining companies are acutely aware of the complexity of cleaning parts to various industry standards, adhering to increasingly tighter environmental requirements, and the need to reduce labor and material costs associated with part cleaning. However there is still a good deal of confusion regarding the various cleaning methods and equipment options.
Gosiger’s High Volume Division provides unique products for out-of-the-ordinary CNC machining applications: