Union Table Borer Improves Cycle Times At Engineering Facility

Machining components and fabricated assemblies for heavy industries such as mining, steel, construction and power demands the use of heavy-duty machine tools. So, when Mayflower Engineering wanted to move into CNC to improve the efficiency of repeat work, it purchased a Union TC 110 table-type horizontal boring and milling centre from Ward CNC of Sheffield.

The result was immediate: considerably reducing machining times.

"Previously we owned only manual horizontal borers," explains Mayflower's group machining adviser Stuart Saunders, "but with an increasing number of repeat jobs it made sense to look at CNC to reduce cycle times."

Mayflower considered many different used machines as well as new ones, but when it approached Ward CNC, the sole UK agent for Union, its luck was in. "Ward knew of a used Union TC 110 at a company nearby that was closing down," says Stuart Saunders. "We knew of the company and once we saw the machine we knew it was exactly what we were looking for."

With X, Y and Z axes travels of 2,000 mm by 1,600 mm by 1,500 mm and rapid traverse rates of 15,000 mm/min, the five-axis Union TC 110 has a W axis (spindle stroke) of 550 mm and its B axis (rotary table) can be indexed in 360,000 positions.

Powered by a 22 kW main motor, the machine features infinitely variable speeds of 5 to 4,000 revs/min and a torque of 2,000 Nm. Feed rates for X, Y, Z and W axes are to 15,000 mm/min, while table rotation is 3 revs/min. The 1,250 mm by 1,500 mm table can accommodate 6,000 Kgs.

The Union TC 110 has been put to work at Mayflower Engineering's Sheffield site on several repeat jobs, including a multi-angle, multi-face fabricated steel machined component that is part of a rock crushing machine. Operations include milling, slotting and drilling: tolerances are particularly tight on slots, many of which are designed as keyways.

Previously the part was run on a manual borer, requiring several set-ups, and the Union TC 110 has cut machining time considerably.

Founded in 1974, Mayflower Engineering has grown into a 90-employee company providing carbon and stainless steel fabrication and machining services to a diverse group of industries. Stuart Saunders is in no doubt that the Union TC 110 will help the company prosper further.

"We are already operating the machine across two shifts - we anticipate running it round-the-clock soon - and already it has allowed us to tender for work we wouldn't previously have considered," he concludes.

"Its repeatability is first class, so winning additional contracts for high-quality work is well within our capability."

SOURCE: T W Ward CNC Machinery Ltd