Fives has upsized features that can be turned on Giddings & Lewis boring mills with the introduction of a larger-range integrated contouring head that handles up to 980 mm I.D. (38.6 in) and 780 mm O.D. Rated at 56 kW (75 HP), the integrated head takes on larger turned features than ever before possible on a boring mill to accommodate the increased size of energy-industry parts in particular. "The part types have not changed; they are just larger, thus driving the requirement for larger turned features produced with high accuracy," said Pete Beyer, Director of Product Strategy and Development at Fives Giddings & Lewis. "This extended travel exceeds anything we could do in the past with a separate contouring attachment, which requires significant operator intervention, a head changing system and a storage solution as well."
The new contouring head has a standard Kennametal KM80 or Sandvik Coromant Capto C8 interface to reduce tooling costs. It loads tools via the machine's automatic toolchanger for faster processing without operator involvement. The head accommodates tools up to 600 mm (23.6 in.) long, weighing up to 18 kg (39.6 lbs). It can produce features with repeatability of +/-0.005 mm (+/-0.0002 in.) and accuracy of +/-0.015 mm (+/-0.0006 in). In addition, the live boring spindle can use 50-taper tools as long as 750 mm (29.5 in.), and an auto-coupler provides the interface for feedout tools, such as programmable boring bars.
The contouring spindle's U-axis slide stroke of 440 mm (17.3 in.) provides the ability to produce small- or large-diameter features in a single setup on a boring mill, without head changing or manual intervention, allowing complex features to be machined with reduced cycle time and labor. The contouring head can produce features such as bottle bores, valve seats, seal faces, phonographic sealing surfaces, O-ring grooves, straight/tapered threads, chamfers, external profiles and others.
"Some customers are interested in moving turning operations from a turning center to the boring mill with integrated contouring head," said Beyer. "If the percentage of turning versus milling is small or the part is difficult to fixture or highly unbalanced, it makes more sense to do turning operations by spinning the tool on a boring mill than by spinning the part on a lathe."
The contouring spindle is located immediately above the machine's live spindle, but slightly offset in the Y and W/Z axes to avoid tool interference. A touch probe can be used in the boring spindle or on an auxiliary arm for in-process or post-process measurement of part features machined by either spindle. Standard services, such as coolant supply with high pressure 40 bar (580 PSI), are plumbed through the contouring head to eliminate manual intervention and ensure maximum tool life.
For more information contact:
Fives Machining Systems Inc.
142 Doty Street
Fond du Lac, WI 54935
920-921-9400
www.fivesgroup.com