Product category:
Machinery and Production Equipment
News Release from: 600 Centre | Subject: Machining
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 21 November 2000
Fanuc wire cut removes design inhibitors
Fanuc wire cut removes design inhibitors for Ayrshire entrepreneur.
When Charles Manley set up his special purpose machine design and build company, Transfer Machine Technologies (TMT), in the Ayrshire village of Darvel, one of the first machine tools he installed was a Fanuc Robocut Alpha-1iA wire EDM from 600 Centre "It was a machine, or rather a machining solution, that I first came across as chief designer at a Midlands automotive component manufacturer and knew it was perfect for my business
This article was originally published on Engineeringtalk on 21 Feb 2001 at 8.00am (UK)
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As a designer it removes any inhibitions regarding complexity and accuracy of a part, which I can make easily and cheaply on the Fanuc machine," maintains Charles Manley.
The ambition to form his own engineering company was in Charles Manley's mind for many years, but it was a successful heart by-pass operation that finally pushed him to make the move - resulting in the formation of TMT in April 1999.
His ambition was satisfied by an opportunity for custom designed machinery arising from companies cutting back on their own research and development activities in an effort to reduce costs.
In the first year of trading he won contracts from such household names as Polaroid, Federal Mogul, Marks and Spencer and food manufacturer Devro.
For these companies he has designed and manufactured special purpose machinery that handle, assemble and process products and materials ranging from car brake pads to sausage skins and from slippers to artists' brushes.
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He also recognised that the business could not solely exist on serving other companies' needs and so he also set about designing a range of his own core products.
These include an indexing unit based on the roller-type Geneva mechanism and mechanically-driven pick and place units, for assembly and part handling systems.
Parts for these units are produced on the Fanuc Robocut supplied by the 600 Centre of Shepshed, near Loughborough.
For example, the complex Geneva wheel with its multiple lobes is machined from hardened steel plate in a single operation.
Another is the actuation plate for a pick-and-place unit, which has two internal cut-outs each with a 'half moon' notched ratchet, which was also produced in a single 'hit'.
"I design these on our Unigraphics CAD system and download the files directly to the Fanuc control.
The shapes are profiled to the exact form that I have designed and errors are non-existent.
It's very straightforward; no tooling is involved and it allows me to be more imaginative in my design problem solving.
In fact, I can produce parts to whatever complexity I require without concern for production," he says.
He also maintains the parts are accurate, normally to within 10 microns.
"Although the machine is capable of even higher precision if we need it," he says.
The finish left by the Fanuc wire cut process is excellent and usually requires no other work, and he refers to tools he produced for trimming brake pads: "The as-cut surface is of such quality that no additional polishing is required.
But if we do need a really fine finish we can easily achieve it with a second or third pass and that gives an ultra- smooth finish," he says.
While Charles Manley thought his first wire cut machine would be a Fanuc, he made a thorough trawl of the market and checked out all the leading manufacturers.
"All the machines would do the job but the Fanuc had the edge on price and performance.
What particularly suited my needs is its large table capacity up to 1000 by 730 by 300mm and 1000kg in weight and its submerged cutting and automatic wire feed which takes less than 30s.
The adaptive control software automatically alters process settings to maintain cutting efficiency and prevents wire breakage." The Robocut Alpha was delivered to the Darvel plant in late December 1999 and began earning its keep in the first week of January 2000, and has been in virtual constant use since.
It is left to run 'lights out' for much of the time.
Even standard items such as pulley wheels and gears that most designers would buy off-the-shelf are made to order on the machine because of the low running cost.
Says Charles Manley: "While the machine is not cheap to buy, its running costs are low and it is more economic for me to produce these parts in my factory than to spend time looking through catalogues, ordering them then waiting on delivery.
I can produce an aluminium toothed pulley wheel in less than 40 minutes and it is exactly the size and specification I need.
Gears can be machined to precisely the required accuracy and mesh, and so I do not have to compromise any performance in my design." TMT is very much a family affair with three sons all involved in the business.
All the mechanical design work is carried out by Charles Manley with son Stuart, a first-class electronics engineering graduate from Heriot-Watt University.
He takes responsibility for any control systems design and manufacture.
Stuart also takes care of preparing programs for the Fanuc.
Currently eight people are employed by TMT, but the business is growing - and the Robocut is providing the manufacturing capacity for that growth.
Charles Manley is currently on a recruitment campaign and predicts: "Within five years, we expect to have another four to five designers and a workforce of between 30 and 40 people".
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