Fantastic savings on plastic

Trig Engineering has been pleasantly surprised by the overall efficiency of Brother's latest range of high efficiency machining centres.

Having pioneered the tapping process it should come as no surprise that the latest models in Brother's range of high efficiency machining centres at 8000rev/min perform the fastest synchronised tapping in the world.

What may be surprising for those who have not seen the latest twin-pallet 32A machine in action though, is the overall efficiency of the Japanese manufacturer's new machines.

The productivity and resultant savings were underlined at the recent installation at Trig Engineering, in Somerset, a member of the Ensinger group of companies that specialises in the manufacture of precision components for many blue chip clients.

With an extensive variety of components in a wide range of thermoplastics and other non-metallic materials in their portfolio, Trig sought a machining centre which was not only highly productive but also very flexible.

Following extensive research, including exacting comparisons with well respected BT40 machines, Trig selected the 32A equipped with a 12,000rev/min high-torque, low inertia spindle for their latest cell to manufacture a fluid management blocks for use in ink jet technology.

The components are held in seven aspects over two pallets in a fool-proofed work-holding set-up comprising a series of specially prepared vices and fixtures.

The parts, made from rectangular block of Tecadur natural polyester featured over 60 holes across all six faces.

The holes range in size from 1 to 12mm in diameter with a variety of different depths, including a 5.0mm hole 150mm deep and a 3.3mm hole 65mm deep.

In addition to drilling, many of the holes include tapping or thread milling - operations which on Trig's previous conventional BT30 machining centre caused numerous problems with swarf build-up around the tool.

This build-up of swarf caused the temperature of the plastic to rise and in turn this overheating frequently resulted in cutting tools breaking.

Initial cutting trials showed that the benefits delivered by the extra rigidity in the dual contact spindle taper, combined with the inherent speed of the Brother (rapid traverse rates in excess of 55m/min, 0.7s tool change, acceleration/deceleration times of over 1G, 20,000mm/min cutting feed rate) resulted in unsurpassed speed and efficiency.

And with positioning accuracy of +/- 0.005mm and repeatability of 3um the machine also provides Trig with the necessary accuracy required.

Furthermore in developing the process Trig's engineers were surprised by the extent of the reductions in cutting time and the significantly extended tool life achieved through the use of a 70bar through-tool coolant system.

The benefits of the through spindle coolant system were typified by gun drilling the 5mm diameter, 150mm deep hole at 2000rev/min at 160m/min, drilling a 3.3mm diameter hole at 5000rev/min and 1000m/min and face milling at 10,000rev/min and 12,000m/min.

As well as preventing the "birds nest" of swarf around the tool, the uniquely powerful coolant system also ensured significant improvements to the finish of the parts despite the depths of some of the holes and the nature of the material.

Upon cutting a component in two to review the holes, Trigs engineers commented that the finish consistently surpassed anything achieved previously.

The result - better quality parts, a more robust process requiring less operator intervention and an improvement in excess of 55% over previous cycle times.

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