Walter Technologies Create The World's Most Automated Tool Production Facility For Technicut

The investment in high-technology Walter tool grinding and measurement technology to create what is believed will be the world's most highly sophisticated and automated tool manufacturing facility is set to reinforce Technicut's market-leading position as a strategic supplier to the UK aerospace industry.

Prompted by unprecedented demand for the specialist tooling manufacturer's optimised aerospace rotary tooling solutions, and coupled with Technicut's continual quest to optimise production, WALTER Machines UK of Honiley near Kenilworth is supplying four top-of-the-range Helitronic Vision tool grinders – all with robot load/unload, wheel changers and Automated Worktables, and two with high-frequency/high-speed spindles - and two Helicheck Pro tool measuring machines.

These will be integrated with Technicut's existing pair of Helitronic Visions and three Helitronic Power tool grinders, as well as two Helichecks, to create a tool manufacturing facility that will be unrivalled for effectiveness and efficiency.

The additional capability will enable the Sheffield-based company to further improve the manufacture of a variety of tooling, including an extensive portfolio of high-performance drills, reamers and ‘one-shot' drill countersinks and, in particular, a range of next-generation solid carbide tooling such as its new TiTAN Ripper and the MEGA-FLUTE ball nose and high-feed milling cutters for aerostructure and aero engine applications. Designed for the surface generation of any profiled or contoured surface, MEGA-FLUTE tooling can typically produce surfaces over eight to ten times faster than conventional tooling.

According to Warwick Spearing, Technicut's Engineering Director: "The company's success is founded on the continual development of innovative tooling technologies, coupled with the ongoing improvement of our manufacturing efficiency, and the capacity and capabilities of the Helitronic Visions - with their Tool Studio software, wheel changers, robot handling and auto work tables - provide an excellent platform to further develop our business.

"Technicut supplies an extensive product range both in terms of tool types and materials, including carbide, HSS, brazed carbide, CBN and PCD, and these are produced in batches of between one-off and 1,000. It is critical, therefore, to have tool manufacturing technology that provides the flexibility to quickly and efficiently change between product types and to react to customer demands on short lead times while also being highly efficient and competitive on any batch size."

The multi-axis Helitronic Vision tool grinder with mineral cast machine bed and gantry design provides a massive 30 kW of spindle power and, coupled with trend-setting drive technology with synchronous linear motors for the linear axes and synchronous torque motors for the rotational axes, it generates unrivalled grinding times and superior surface finish.

Importantly for Technicut, included among the many attributes of the machines' powerful Tool Studio programming software is its ability to seamlessly integrate the robot load/unload, wheel changing and auto work table routines.

Tool Studio represents a new level of programming simplicity, enabling operators to quickly and easily create tool machining and movement sequences by, for example, harnessing Wizard functionality to add all appropriate machining parameters then to utilise 3D-simulation to check and, if necessary, optimise grinding operations.

The Vision's Fanuc LR Mate 200iC/5L robot loader can handle workpieces 250 mm long and weighing 1.5 kgs, and it operates in conjunction with a four-pallet system that provides a storage capability of up to 1,500 workpieces (capacity can be optionally increased to 3,500 workpieces).

While the Automated Worktable effectively provides an additional CNC axis as an automatic CNC slide/‘upper table' enabling travelling support for long tools, for example, added flexibility and capability is provided by the grinding wheel changer, which has the capacity for up to 36 wheels, and the high-speed (50,000 revs/min) high-frequency (HF) spindle developed specifically to meet the demands of producing tools with brazed inserts, such as PCD tooling, in a single set-up.

Warwick Spearing again: "The additional HF spindle will not only allow us to expand our capacity to produce blanks for PCD tools but it will also enable us to explore some innovative developments for exceptionally high performance tooling. The escalating use of composites is resulting in an ever-increasing demand for PCD tooling and the Helitronic Vision's ability to accurately produce blanks and tip seats is critical to that process."

Similar commendations are directed at the Helicheck tool measuring machines. "The new Helichecks will further enhance our in-process inspection capabilities," he adds, "and will provide additional capacity for the provision of individual tooling certificates of conformity."

Capable of measuring tools and grinding wheel sets up to 200 mm diameter by 300 mm long, the four-axis CNC Helicheck Pro features a base of solid granite for the mounting of the three CCD cameras for front, back- and top-light measuring. All Walter measuring machines are specified according to the VDI/VDE 2617 Directive and therefore the standard of length is traced back to the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB) and is defined as the E1 value plus the actual measuring length/300.

The Helicheck Pro boasts an all-important E1 value of 1.4 and therefore ensures the best cost to measurement accuracy/repeatability ratio of any available tool measuring machine.

"The Helichecks are an integral part of our production process," says Warwick Spearing. "They provide full batch certification and are linked directly with our Walter grinders to minimise operator input and achieve market-leading accuracy and conformance.

"Together with our existing machines, this investment will create the largest and most advanced installation of Walter Helichecks in the UK, and it clearly demonstrates our commitment to setting the highest standards of quality, accuracy and repeatability within our industry," he concludes.

SOURCE: Walter Machines UK Ltd.