A new turn-mill centre at JJ Hardy & Sons completed its first job, which involved turning and milling a batch of parts from brass bar, in less than three quarters of the time it previously took.
The Hartlepool subcontractor, which specialises in supplying the rail, oil & gas and energy sectors, purchased the Okuma Genos L3000e turn-mill from sole UK and Ireland agent, NCMT.
It topped that on a recent batch of 400 components turned and drilled from 40 mm diameter, mild steel bar. Each part previously took 225 seconds to produce and is now completed in 165 seconds on the Okuma. The one-minute reduction per part translates into more than six and a half hours saved, an economy that allowed the subcontractor to hold the price for the customer.
Andrew Pailor, JJ Hardy's managing director since 2002 commented, "With material costs going up all the time, purchasing new machinery to bring cycle times down is helping us to increase our competitiveness and win new business.”
The Genos L3000e has box sideways in X and Z to support heavy cutting, while the NC tailstock runs on a linear guide. The 12 live tools in the turret have up to 7 kW of power for prismatic metalcutting in conjunction with the C-axis spindle, which itself delivers up to 20 kW for highly efficient turning.
Mr Pailor explained that in the case of the first brass component and the mild steel part transferred to the new lathe, the programs were written in the same way as previously. The 26 per cent cycle time savings were purely down to higher speeds and feeds as well as increased depths of cut.
Maximum turning diameter is 300 mm, although the machine has been equipped with a Hydrafeed MSV65 bar magazine having programmable bar size capability. With a spindle liner and collet chuck, bar capacity is 65 mm, although 70 mm is possible with a three-jaw chuck, a stock size JJ Hardy rarely exceeds.
A suite of options in the proprietary Okuma OSP control enables extensive functionality, such as chatter suppression, to be progressively harnessed as the subcontractor becomes familiar with the machine. A customisable, multi-touch panel and improved rendering result in intuitive graphical operation.
Mr Pailor concluded: "The integral spindle motor provides high machining capacity, while rigid guideways absorb powerful cutting forces. Additionally, the lathe's thermo-friendly construction automatically compensates for temperature changes on the shop floor to maintain tight tolerances."
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