Advanced Grinding Solutions

Advanced Grinding Solutions (AGS) whose line-up of high precision grinding and finishing machines is one of the widest available will have staff present throughout the duration of the EMO exhibition with no less than 10 of their machine manufacturing partners exhibiting on the following stands: Rollomatic (Tool grinding machines) Hall 6 stand J65, Bahmuller and Tschudin (Internal/External and centreless grinding machines) hall 11 stand B43/B37, HandlingTech (auto loading systems) Hall 27 stand F24, Gerber (Deburring machines) hall 11 stand G19, FLP (Lapping and Fine grinding machines) hall 11 stand B07, Nova (External/internal grinding machines) hall 11 stand B18. Additionally, Magnetfinish (deburring machines) are in Hall 4 on stand B62, Platit (Coating machines) are in Hall 5 on stand E12 and Comat (filtration systems) are in hall 7 on stand A07.

Rollomatic are showing many tool grinding machines including their 6-axis 830XW machine for manufacturing large diameter cutting tools that has a unique combination of hydrostatic guides and linear motors giving superior surface finishes on milling cutters and drills. Also, of major interest will be the Rollomatic LaserSmart 501 machine for machining PCD, CVD, and natural diamond tools whose machining speed is stated as being up to 4 times faster for processing multiple operations such as cutting-edge generation, chip breakers, and cylindrical lands in one operation. The machine has 4 cameras inside it for complete and easy viewing of all laser operations. Rollomatic will also use the show to debut their new NP50 machine for the grinding of cutting tool blanks.

Tschudin are exhibiting their latest company Cube grinding machine stated as being the worlds smallest CNC centreless grinding machine and Bahmuller experts will be on hand to discuss their range of internal and external grinding machines. A feature on all Tschudin machines is their patented movable workrest axis (W-Axis) which allows for additional grinding processes such as the highly efficient multi part grinding of several parts at a time or to split up grinding processes in the same grinding cycle to have both a rough and also a finish grinding operation in one automatic set-up. Thanks to the W-axis, the loading and unloading of the workpieces is always outside of the grinding zone, allowing simplified and safe automation or safe manual loading. This feature is highly attractive for those looking to meet health & safety obligations because otherwise the hand loading of parts to centreless grinding machines can be dangerous. With the machine base and the spindle blocks made from natural granite and the optionally available grinding spindle housing made from Invar, Tschudin is mastering the worst enemy of grinding which is thermal expansion due to heat variances.

HandlingTech are showing various loaders for machines including their advanced palletZ and ecoZ loaders suitable for all types of machine tool. Fanuc or Staubli 6-axis robots are used 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 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 controls are used with software links to the donor machines own control system for seamless handling tasks.

In designing the Robax loaders, HT stuck to their basic principal of “form following function” with the clear modern styling of the frame concept redefining the appearance of the unit whilst at the same time offering very important functional and ergonomic benefits. The striking appearance of the loaders stems from the frame serving for a cable channel thus providing an ideal and invisible solution for cable guidance. Furthermore the separation of the cabling from inside of the loaders working zone not only prevents deterioration of cabling due to oil or other ingress or wear, it also allows perfect access for maintenance engineers if this is ever needed. This is provided by removable panels that are fitted around the entire outer facing of the Robax loaders frame allowing quick and easy access to all points.

The Robax loaders mobile touch-panel with integrated emergency stop switches simplifies operation and the entire safety glass structure also allows for 360 degree access to the loader for servicing and operational needs. End users may opt for clear safety glass allowing for perfect vision of the operations being conducted within the loader at all times or for smoked glass.

Platit are exhibiting their most flexible coating machine type Pi 411 PLUS. This has the capability to produce the latest coating technologies of ARC, Sputtering, DLC, OXI and LACS® (simultaneous ARC & Sputtering). The in-house coating of cutting tools is becoming very important for leading tool manufacturers as they seek to improve profit margins and to develop their own unique types of coatings that bring exclusivity and better performance to their own range of drills, end mills and inserts, in order to keep them ahead of their competitors. Platit will be demonstrating that the coating of tools in no "black art" and is a simple easy to handle process and a very important one for cutting tool manufacturers to control in-house. Apart from the obvious savings that can be made by not sub-contracting tools out for coating, the use of Platit machines and coating technology allows tool makers to offer their customers very quick turn-around times on special coated tools and to develop their very own improved coatings with ease. Platit have supplied well over 500 coatings machines; mostly for the coating of end mills, drills and inserts.

Gerber are showing three of their brushing machines for deburring components including their new Eco-Innovation that receives its world-wide debut. The Brush-honing of ultra-hard materials is a technique Gerber has incorporated in its machines for decades. Their machine are constantly being optimized and improved and many customers around the world are now making use of brushing and polishing machines for the polishing and defined honing of cutting tool inserts and for the deburring and polishing of turned, milled, ground, punched, water-jet-cut and laser-machined workpieces.

Comat, that recently joined the AGS portfolio, are present to discuss their latest generation of high quality filtration systems as fitted to many grinding and turning machines. Comat's Superfiltration Technology uses continuously regenerating filtering media (diatomaceous earth, cellulose or other vegetable media), to ensure that particles larger than ≤ 3 μm are removed from cutting fluids and the fluid is maintained at a stable desired fixed temperature. Oil that is filtered by Comat systems does not need to be replaced and many clients report that they have never changed the oil for up to 20 years (save top-ups due to oil loss).

To arrange meetings to see AGS’s principals at the EMO and to view and to discuss the latest grinding technology then engineers are invited to contact AGS via their website www.advancedgrindingsolutions.co.ukor on 02476 22 66 11.