Opening / expanding a metalworking business and have decided to equip your production with a new Milling Machine center? A wise decision! This is a very promising approach to the production process in the era of universal digitalization, the introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies and the reduction of various kinds of costs. The main advantage of machining centers over universal milling machines is the ability to implement in one setup roughing, semi-finishing and finishing of parts with a variety of operations - various tools:
• milling planes, grooves, grooves, ledges, windows, wells;
• drilling, boring, countersinking, reaming of smooth and stepped holes;
• threading.
The modern machining center market is very rich. It is difficult to choose from the offered variety, and wrong decisions can be expensive in every sense. We offer a simple sequence of actions to select a milling center just for your requirements.
1. WHERE TO START?
It is advisable to start the choice with drawing up a production flow chart, where all stages of product manufacturing and its characteristics will be indicated in detail:
- Product profile and types of applied technological operations
- The sequence of their implementation and repeatability
- Processing speed and precision
- Size, weight and material of possible blanks
- Types and sizes of required equipment
- Planned number of manufactured products per unit of time (shift, week, month)
Based on these data, you can select, first of all, a machine model or modification. The further choice will be determined by the amount of money that you are willing to invest in the machining center. The total cost of equipment always consists of many factors: the direct cost of the machine, the cost of the necessary tools, mandrels and equipment, consumables, options, costs of transportation services, the cost of commissioning.
A clear understanding of the future production process will allow you not to make mistakes and eliminate the possibility of unnecessary waste of funds.
Machining center types
Metalworking equipment is most often bought for specific tasks. At the initial stage, the technological complexity of the manufacture of products and the required performance must be known. This will help determine, first of all, the type of machining center. Structurally, there are several classifications of milling machining centers:
- Horizontal and vertical
- One- and two-post (portal)
- Three-, four- and five-dimensional.
Horizontal center
Perfect for those who value machine time in production. It is focused on the serial machining of large parts with complex contours from several sides.
In such machining centers, the working table moves parallel to the axis of rotation of the spindle and has the ability to rotate, realizing the fourth controlled axis. It allows you to quickly and most importantly process large body parts from several sides.
The second distinctive advantage of horizontal centers is their high productivity. Centers of this design can be equipped with two or more additional work tables - pallets. The interchangeable pallet system allows loading / unloading parts without stopping the machine (while a part is being processed on one pallet, the other is available to the operator). This is how the principle of continuous production is implemented. The horizontal design also allows the installation of a "caterpillar" type tool changer with a high capacity (up to 120 tools), thus allowing the maximum possible number of operations without retooling the machine.
Increases productivity and free chip flow from the cutting area by gravity. This allows the selection of more severe cutting conditions, accompanied by increased chip formation, thereby reducing the total machining time.
Among the shortcomings, we single out a significant occupied area and high cost. The company "StankoMashKompleks" has developed two models of the horizontal milling center - FG45MF4 and FG40MF4P.
