Advanced Grinding Solutions

Coventry based Advanced Grinding Solutions has 6 of its Principals exhibiting this year comprising of Bahmuller and Tschudin (Internal, External, and Centreless Grinders), Haas (Universal Grinders), Gerber (Deburring Machines), Platit (Coating Machines) and Handling Tech (Loading systems).

Bahmuller and Tschudin have a joint stand C16 in hall 8 with both exhibiting their high performance grinding machines. Tschudin are showing their latest Centerless Grinding machine - the Tschudin ProLine; this machine is ideal for the production of components that require a plunge grinding operation whereby Tschudins unique and patented W-Axis means that up to 10 parts at a time can be loaded directly to the workrest blade outside of the machine guaranteeing fast, safe and easy loading at all times. The Tschudin centerless grinding machine is also the world’s first to have an automatic height adjustment of the regulating wheel (covered under another Tschudin patent). As with all Tschudin machines the machine base and spindle block housings are made from natural granite thus mastering thermal expansion issues due to variances of heat. Bahmuller are demonstrating their latest grinding solutions for the manufacture of very high precision parts for the turbo charger and fuel injection industries with UK end users including Delphi Diesel Systems.

On Stand B71, also in Hall 8, Haas are exhibiting their latest CU machine as used for producing a variety of cutting tools such as inserts and special tools such as spade drills. The Haas CU machine is a very cost effective and compact 5-axis tool grinder and comes complete with an automatic grinding wheel changer and the latest Haas software for cutting tools of all kinds. Haas offers industry leading solutions for the manufacture of aero-engine components such as turbine blades, medical components such as artificial knee joints, hip joints, bone rasps and reamers, as well as gear grinding, cylindrical grinding, and the production of complex cutting tools.

Gerber, on stand B33 in hall 8 are exhibiting machines used for the brush deburring of a variety of components. Gerber’s focus is on the generation and subsequent polishing of radii, chamfers and recesses on components made from ultra-hard materials and they have, following years of co-operation with leading insert manufacturing companies, designed special purpose machines for the manufacture of indexable cutting tool inserts. Inserts are brushed on a planetary table with the rotary motions of the table, workpiece carriers and brush producing an equal and highly controlled radius on the edges of cutting tool inserts. Through the use of various types of brush combined with variable machine parameters it is possible to produce various contours and shapes on insert edges including the full radius, waterfall and flat forms that are used throughout the insert manufacturing industry. Tungsten carbide, ceramic, CBN and PCD inserts can all be machined. A wide variety of Gerber machines is offered from fully automated ones capable of processing over 1,500 cutting tool inserts per hour to simple cost effective “bench top” models that despite their low cost and size can still produce 250 or more inserts per hour.

Platit who are a world-leader in providing machines for the coating of all kinds of parts, including cutting tools of all kinds, are exhibiting machines on their stand 1Z140 in Hall 1. One of the main applications for Platit coating machines is the coating (usually TiN, TiCN, CrTin, etc) of cutting tools (end mills, form tools, and drills) and also inserts, saw blades, hobs and broaches. Here Platit leads the way in offering cost effective solutions that means that tool manufacturers can now easily and cost efficiently coat their own tools and cutters instead of relying upon expensive subcontract solutions.

For small to medium sized tool manufacturers the Platit Pi111 entry level machine is ideal. This compact machine uses the advanced LARC® (LAteral Rotating Cathodes) technology for coating HSS and Carbide cutters of all types with typical outputs being: End mills, drills etc. (2μm coating): Ø 10x70 mm in length, 288 pcs: 4 hours or Cutting Tool Inserts (3μm coating): Ø 20 x 6 mm in length, 1,680 pcs: 4.5 hours.

Advanced Grinding’s chosen provider of automated machine tool loading systems, Handlingtech, can be found on stand C92 in hall 7. Fanuc or Staubli 6-axis robots are used by HT for the fast handling of parts and in some cases these may be linked to portal axis gantry type loaders supplied by the machine manufacturers or by HT themselves. The robots are offered in various sizes for the loading of component parts of under 1g to over 100 kg. Furthermore larger robots capable of handling weights of 700kg and above are also available for more demanding loading tasks.

The HT Robax system was awarded the "IF" product design award and is amongst the most important awards for innovative product design, and was made in recognition of the major design strengths and advantages brought to end users of the HT loader systems. HT Robax loaders are highly reliable and very versatile systems and are suited for loading a huge variety of machines of all types and applications. Various component storage solutions are available including the use of pallets, conveyors, rotary tables, data matrix code reader/writers and special one-off solutions. Siemens S7 controls are used with software links to the donor machines own control system for seamless handling tasks.

Advanced Grinding solutions can be contacted via their website: Advanced Grinding Solutions