CNC Machining (General)

Traditional manual indexable tool repair methods can place limitations on the feasibility of repairing more than moderate pocket damage. GKI says its process using 4- and 5-axis CNC machines removes the damage completely and replaces it with new metal, resulting in a superior-quality tool while enhancing GKI's ability to repair tooling that other repair houses would likely turn away as "beyond repair."

Bumotec has launched the s181 turn-mill center, a compact cost effective multifunction machine targeted at industries such as micromechanic, aerospace, medical and surgical instruments, as well as watch and jewelry. Derived from the well-known Bumotec s191 linear CNC turn-mill center, the new s181 is a 5- to 9-axis unit targeted at single-setup machining of complex and high-precision workpieces.

JETCAM announced the launch of Version 19 of its Expert CADCAM and nesting software, featuring several major new features and hundreds of improvements across the software. Several features focus around nesting. Multi-sheet nesting takes advantage of JETCAM's powerful high-performance nesting module to nest parts across multiple sheets at a time, drastically improving overall material efficiency while taking less time to generate the nests.

The Tracer Vx-105XL bar feeder from CNC Indexing & Feeding Technologies can handle bars up to 4 1/8" (104.775mm) in diameter and up to 72" (1,828.8mm) long. The bar feeder's magazine rack accommodates up to five 4 1/8"-dia. bars.

Meister Abrasives USA, Inc. has introduced a new generation of cDD Diamond Dressers that deliver certified tool radius tolerances, which are essential for most demanding microprecision grinding applications. The radius form tolerance of these new microprecision diamond dressers can be certified accurate to within 2μm (+/-0.001mm) if the application requires.

Mitsui Seiki USA Inc. announces a new series of large, highly accurate CNC jig mills for producing mold bases, mold plates, precision hot runners, progressive and transfer dies, and other jig boring and milling applications. The fixed cross-rail, massive ram design of the J1620 and J1620X machines provides a straightness accuracy in X and Y axes better than 10 microns, according to the company.

Addressing the need for a fast, precise and affordable CNC for complex machining applications, Mitsubishi Electric Automation Inc. offers the M800 and M80 series CNC and components. The M800 is a high-grade CNC for high-speed, high-accuracy machining and multiaxis, multipart system control and features a fast CNC, while the M80 provides high productivity and easy operability.

FANUC America Corp. has released the new FANUC CNC simulator, bringing the popular CNC to the classroom and providing students with exposure to FANUC CNCs without the need for a full mill or lathe. The FANUC CNC simulator is based on the FANUC series 0i - Model F platform and can be operated in either milling or turning configurations. Students can program the simulator as a 3-axis mill or a 2-axis/1-spindle turning system.

The new TRAUB TNL32-11 sliding/fixed headstock automatic lathe has a headstock moving in the Z-axis, an upper and identical lower turret with X, Y, and Z-axes, and a counter spindle movable in the X and Z directions. It offers a new front working attachment which sits on an additional cross-slide moving in the X and Z axes, providing the user with further, freely positionable tools and enables the use of up to three tools, simultaneously and independently of each other.

THINBIT, manufactured by Kaiser Tool Co., announces the expansion of its GROOVE 'N TURN line of dovetail grooving inserts. Dovetail grooving inserts are used to machine O-ring dovetail grooves with 66° undercut angles.

Elbo Controlli, whose products are distributed through Koma Precision Inc., is continuing its advancement into the tool management market with a new generation of tool presetters. The newly designed E46L and E46L TW are tailored specifically to customer's requirements of a powerful tool measuring system at a price point that no other solution can match.

Geometric Ltd. announced the addition of automated "Machine to the Mean" capabilities when working with Solidworks parts and assembly files that contain tolerance—or geometric dimensioning and tolerance (GD&T)—information. These automated mean tolerance calculation capabilities will eliminate the common practice of having to manually calculate allowances when defining CNC toolpaths or the need to rebuild 3D models to mean geometry, thus eliminating potential mistakes, while saving time and money, and streamlining the transition from design to manufacturing.