New sliding head machines at Redruth subcontractor DP Engineering have increased capacity, allow more complex parts to be produced and have cut cycle times.
The three new Cincom lathes from Citizen Machinery UK include a an L20-XLFV installed three years ago, an identical machine that arrived in autumn 2021 and an M32-VIIILFV bought at the end of last year.
Philip Anthony, DP Engineering's Sales and Marketing Director commented, "The faster rapid traverses and higher power and speed of the main and sub spindles as well as of the driven tools on the new lathes have increased our capacity considerably. One stainless steel aerospace part we previously turn-milled in one hit on an L20 that is 20-plus years old now takes half that time to produce on its modern replacement.
"It is a similar story on the 32 mm machine, which is more user-friendly than the former generation lathe and has better access and visibility into the machining area. Moreover, the addition of a rotary B-axis on the gang tool post enables us to machine more complex parts than was previously possible on our sliders."
A notable technological advance on DP’s earlier Citizen Cincom machines is LFV (low frequency vibration) chip breaking software which gives a significant increase in productivity when machining malleable materials such as titanium and stainless steel.
It is particularly beneficial for the subcontractor, as one-third of its turnover is derived from the aerospace sector in which the use of such materials is commonplace, as it is in the medical industry, which has also generated more work since the start of the pandemic. Normally during machining, stringy swarf often entangles itself around the tool and component, risking damage to both and necessitating lathe stoppage to clear it from the machining area.
Mr Anthony explained: "For certain parts of cycles, it is very effective at ensuring that what usually becomes a bird's nest of swarf is broken up into shorter chips, avoiding having to stop the machine to remove it and the consequent loss of production.”
He added that, in practice, LFV is particularly effective at controlling swarf on the L20s during turning and drilling operations, while on the M32 it speeds roughing and also plays a role when thread cutting. Overall, having complete control over swarf generation ensures that processes are more reliable and repeatable, added to which tool life is noticeably increased.
Key sectors served by DP Engineering include aerospace, defence, oil and gas, marine and renewables. The company is known for being a low-to-medium volume shop, producing parts typically from 10- to 50,000-off. Lean manufacturing principles allow cost effective production, from prototypes through to batch work, and over 500 kanban items can be produced for next day delivery.
Other capital investments made by the subcontractor within the past 12 months include a Matsuura 5-axis, 10-pallet cell for automated machining of prismatic components, an Aberlink coordinate measuring machine to inspect them, and a ViciVision optical, non-contact measuring machine for quality control of rotational parts.
Photo: Philip Anthony, Sales and Marketing Director at DP Engineering, with the new 8-axis Cincom L20-XLFV sliding-head lathe.