U.S.-Made Large Part Machine Tools Rise from Phoenix

By Jim Lorincz

It's hard to say that Phoenix Inc (Seekonk, MA) has risen out of anything except the engineering expertise and skill that it has gained in remanufacturing some of the largest machine tools. That experience has laid a foundation for the company to design and build its own large-part vertical turning and milling machines—some of the largest made in the U.S. in the last quarter century. One, the VTC 144/236, will be used by an aerospace manufacturer; the other, the VTC 144/174, will be used by a heavy pump manufacturer.

If you're keeping score, here's a list of remanufacturing accomplishments that preceded Phoenix' foray into designing and building its own new VTC series of vertical turning and milling machines:

• A five-axis bridge mill, a variation of Phoenix's SlanTmill, is remanufactured to mill, drill, and tap large bearing races up to 14 ft in diameter.

• A six-axis bridge mill with two 60-in. pallets, a 70-in swing and two geared, 40-hp headstocks is remanufactured to machine large bearings.

• Several 46-in. Bullards are remanufactured for aircraft engine component manufacturers.

• A Titan floor-type horizontal boring machine with 60 ft of X travel, 20 ft of Y travel, and more than 7 ft of bar and ram travel is remanufactured for a press manufacturer. The machine also has a 60-ton, W-axis rotary table.

Recent new orders include remanufacturing four Rigid four-spindle, five-axis mills; two Leblond Model 46/25 horizontal flat bed lathes; a Modul gear cutting machine with 196 in. OD capacity; an Elb model APG turbine blade grinder, and a Titan SC17 vertical lathe.

Building new large part machines

You get the idea. Phoenix has cut its teeth on large part machines—machines designed for large part and equipment manufacturers, serving such diverse markets as power generation, aerospace, heavy construction, and mining, among others.

Machines of this size and capacity—able to turn and mill parts up to 250 in. in diameter—typically are not built without a firm order in hand, considering they have a price tag of about $1.5 million a copy.

"This is not the kind of product you build without having an order," explains Wayne Baldwin, manager-sales and marketing. "Our first customers had to have an enormous amount of confidence in our abilities and expertise in building large machine tools. They had already purchased large new and rebuilt equipment from us and had an appreciation for our quality standards."

Designing with solid modeling

Phoenix's large vertical and milling machines are designed using software tools, including solid modeling and finite element analysis, to model the machine's dynamic behavior to compensate for deflection under stress. This enables the machine to support a ram stroke as long as 7 ft with maximum rigidity and minimum deflection.

"When diameters get this big—up to 250 in.—most manufacturers resort to a cantilevered design that is inherently less accurate. Computer modeling allows us to avoid that," explains Robert Fuller, president/engineering manager. "It is also essential in reducing the number of machine components, engineering and manufacturing time, and overall machine costs."

Phoenix's large VTL/milling machine's ram can be equipped with a two-axis tilt spindle so that the equipment can be used as a five-axis system for milling and drilling angular part characteristics. The turning table becomes an axis capable of positioning for these operations. Part swing can be as large as 250 in. in diameter.

The machines are equipped with the latest Fanuc CNC control and can also be equipped with touch-trigger probing for closed loop machining and tool pre-setting. Other notable design features include heavy cast construction, rugged Timken cross roller bearings, large scale square ram, 20-position tool changer, hardened replaceable box ways on the rail, two-speed transmission with hardened and ground gearing, and a C-axis drive system with electronic backlash elimination.

Succeeding in the specialty market

Phoenix has already sold five machines. Two companies will use the machines (four in all) in manufacturing large parts for heavy lift rockets used for satellite launches and space exploration. The exceptionally high column machines provide the necessary precision as well as the long travels needed to machine the aerospace components. An additional machine has been shipped to a manufacturer of large slurry pumps. This machine is slightly smaller with a table diameter of 12 feet, swing of 172 in. and a maximum clearance under the tool of 86 in.

"Relying heavily on software design tools and our large machine tool experience and engineering talent, we brought a world-class vertical turning and milling machine to market in less than 18 months," says Baldwin. "This is an enormous achievement for a company our size."

Though its specialty is in metalcutting, another recent accomplishment stands out. In September, Phoenix shipped a special large machine used to position large turbine rotors up to 50 tons and the associated peening head, which automates the process of peening the blade ends. The machine will be used to a power generation equipment manufacturer.

Phoenix Inc, 257 Pine St, Seekonk, MA 02771; phone: 508-399-7100