The new UK agent for Stama machining centres from Germany, Geo Kingsbury, demonstrated two new machines at its in-house 'workshop', heldat the company's headquarters and showroom in Gosport.Of particular interest to visitors was the UK debut of the Stama mill-turn centre, MC526/MT. It differs considerably from similarly named products from lathe suppliers in that it is fundamentally a piece of prismatic metalcutting equipment which has been given extensive turning capabilities.
All six faces of a component may be machined by combining 5-axis working with pick-off and reverse end machining similar to that offered by conventional turn-mill equipment.
The demonstration piece illustrated this capability.
It was the front end of an indexable insert drill, completely machined in one set-up from tool steel in a 6.15 min cycle using 17 tools.
The machine's milling unit is driven by a 37kW / 12,000 rpm spindle while turning unit power is 42 kW / 5,000 rpm.
Tools are exchanged from a 42-station magazine, only one being allowed in the working area at any given time.
Workpiece clamping is in standard collets, eliminating the need for expensive fixtures.
Under power also for the first time in this country was high speed machining centre, MC326/S.
Two parts were produced, with and without coolant, to illustrate the capabilities of the machine.
One was a steel demo involving a seven minute milling and drilling routine.
The other was an actual component - a clock housing produced from aluminium, fixtured two at a time and machined complete in five minutes.
Available in single- and twin-spindle formats, the machine offers high performance in dry machining applications in keeping with modern environmental concerns.
Working range of the single-spindle version, as shown, is 520 mm in X by 300mm in Y by 360mm in Z.
The 37kW / 20,000 rpm spindle combines with 60m/min rapid traverse in all axes to provide top rates of productivity.