with anca’s innovative txcell seven hot tips docs/sharpedge2011.pdf · with anca’s innovative...

WATCHING THE WHEELSZoller’s iCheck system delivers results

BLANKET GRINDINGwith ANCA’s innovative TXcell

SEvEN HoT TIpSfor carbide tool production

ANCA GERMANYcelebrates 20 years

ISSUE EIGHT 2011ISSUE EIGHT 2011

www.winterthurtechnology.com

NaxoForce:Cutting Costs

SwitzerlandWinterthur Schleiftechnik AG8411 WinterthurPhone: +41 (0)52 234 41 41Fax: +41 (0)52 232 51 [email protected]

SwedenSlipNaxos AB59383 VästervikPhone: +46 (0) 490 843 00Fax: +46 (0) 490 146 [email protected] United KingdomWinterthur Technology UK LimitedSheffield S3 9QXPhone: +44 (0)114 275 4211Fax: +44 (0)114 275 [email protected]

GermanyWENDT GmbH40670 MeerbuschPhone: +49 (0) 2159 67 10Fax: +49 (0) 2159 80 62 [email protected] Winterthur Technology GmbH72766 ReutlingenPhone: +49 (0) 7121 93 24 0Fax: +49 (0) 7121 93 24 [email protected]

USAWENDT USA DUNNINGTONRoyersford, PA 19468Phone: +1 (610) 495 2850Fax: +1 (610) 495 [email protected] Winterthur CorporationWebster, MA 01570Phone: +1 (508) 949 1061Fax: +1 (508) 949 [email protected]

ChinaWinterthur Technology (Taicang) Co., Ltd.215400 TaicangPhone: +86 512 8161 6800Fax: +86 512 8161 [email protected]

AustraliaWinterthur Technology Australia3198 SeafordPhone: +61 3 9773 5288Fax: +61 3 9773 [email protected]

WTG_Anca_215x310_Juli2011.indd 1 02.08.11 13:58

A market on the riseCEO Grant Anderson looks at the global grinding industry

ANCA Germany - 20 years young Celebrating the 20th anniversary of ANCA GmbH

ANCA gets GESAC seal of approvalXiamen Golden Egret tours ANCA factories

Apprentice training centre launchedNew initiative at ANCA’s Melbourne plant

Seven hot tipsANCA provides the good oil on carbide grinding

Cool runningsBlaser Swisslube’s Rico Pollak on the impact of coolant

TXcell and blanket grinding lead the wayANCA’s innovative new grinder increases productivity

How to run a grinding test Winterthur’s Walter Graf with some sage advice

CIM3D version 7A sneak peak at what you can expect from the new CIM3D

Watching the wheel Zoller’s iCheck system saves time for Carbro Corp.

Software tipsHow to get the most out of your iGrind suite

The Sharp Edge is published by ANCA Pty Ltd. 25 Gatwick Road, Bayswater North, Victoria 3153, Australia. www.anca.com

Executive Editor: Rob Chiarolli Editor: Steve Hitchen

Contributions, Comments, Feedback: Got Some Comments? Ideas for articles? Please send your feedback and enquires to [email protected]. All contributions are welcome

Know someone who would like their own copy of The Sharp Edge. Please advise us and we’ll send them a copy.

CoNTENTS - THE SHARP EDGE

Cover Image: Gear-cutting hob resharpened on an ANCA TX7+ to Grade AAA.

0203040506101619202224

www.winterthurtechnology.com

NaxoForce:Cutting Costs

SwitzerlandWinterthur Schleiftechnik AG8411 WinterthurPhone: +41 (0)52 234 41 41Fax: +41 (0)52 232 51 [email protected]

SwedenSlipNaxos AB59383 VästervikPhone: +46 (0) 490 843 00Fax: +46 (0) 490 146 [email protected] United KingdomWinterthur Technology UK LimitedSheffield S3 9QXPhone: +44 (0)114 275 4211Fax: +44 (0)114 275 [email protected]

GermanyWENDT GmbH40670 MeerbuschPhone: +49 (0) 2159 67 10Fax: +49 (0) 2159 80 62 [email protected] Winterthur Technology GmbH72766 ReutlingenPhone: +49 (0) 7121 93 24 0Fax: +49 (0) 7121 93 24 [email protected]

USAWENDT USA DUNNINGTONRoyersford, PA 19468Phone: +1 (610) 495 2850Fax: +1 (610) 495 [email protected] Winterthur CorporationWebster, MA 01570Phone: +1 (508) 949 1061Fax: +1 (508) 949 [email protected]

ChinaWinterthur Technology (Taicang) Co., Ltd.215400 TaicangPhone: +86 512 8161 6800Fax: +86 512 8161 [email protected]

AustraliaWinterthur Technology Australia3198 SeafordPhone: +61 3 9773 5288Fax: +61 3 9773 [email protected]

WTG_Anca_215x310_Juli2011.indd 1 02.08.11 13:58

2 ANCA - Issue 8 2011

A market on the rise

After the challenging global financial crisis abated 18 months ago, the tool and cutter grinder market has shown significant improvement, giving ANCA plenty of reason to be optimistic about the future.

We have been able to respond to the rapid growth in demand for our machines by ramping up production at our Bayswater, Australia and Rayong, Thailand plants. Our manufacturing output is now three times what it was in the first quarter of the 2010 calendar year. There is no doubt that ANCA machines are more sought-after by our customers than ever before. Almost all global regions show improving trends in the order books, with Asia leading the way.

New investment has added extra capacity to both plants and enabled us to expand our machine shop, necessitating an increase in labour across the company. We are now well positioned to take advantage of the growth in demand expected in the coming months, giving us the flexibility to respond quickly to customer requirements.

ANCA Group Growth

ANCA has been a truly global company for many years, but we continue to expand our reach into developing markets to ensure our customers get the best possible service in the quickest possible time. There have been a number of new facilities added to ANCA in the recent months.

• A new office in Bangalore, India to improve our service to this important emerging market

• A new engineering centre of ANCA subsidiary ANCA Motion in Melbourne, Australia

• An expanded facility in Taiwan for ANCA Motion Manufacturing

• A demonstration centre for ANCA Machine Tools in Taiwan

each of these initiatives will provide ANCA with an increase in capacity and capability, and our customers can expect the benefits to flow on to them in the coming months.

The Pursuit of Customer Satisfaction

Our customer focus has developed further with the intent of providing complete satisfaction in everything we do. This includes product, quality, delivery and service, whilst adopting a streamlined approach to doing business.

As part of this goal, we have refined our operations in the last year in the areas of marketing and product management, manufacturing management and engineering. We have also established a dedicated After sales and service division with a clear focus on service and training.

And we won’t be stopping there. A number of exciting new projects are being developed and will be launched progressively in the next 18 months. each one of these is designed to further enhance our customers’ experience of dealing with ANCA.

I would like to thank our global customers and suppliers for their business and support over the last 12 months. The strong relationships we have forged will continue to provide benefits for all of us well into the future.

Grant AndersonChief Executive Officer

AN

CA N

EWS

3ANCA - Issue 8 2011

In 1991, ANCA made a critical decision to set up a new branch office in Germany, and this year celebrates the 20th anniversary of this major milestone in the company’s history. This is the story of ANCA GmbH..

ANCA’s move into Germany in 1991 was not so much a first step, but rather an expansion; the company had had sales people on the ground for some time. However, with the release of the innovative TG7 machine, local tool manufacturers began to see the potential of the ANCA product, encouraging the company to commit themselves to a presence in Europe.

Directors Pat Boland and Pat McCluskey were faced with the truth that the epicentre of the world-wide grinding machine industry lay in the heart of europe, and particularly in Germany. For the Australian company to expand, they had to take on their competitors in their own backyard, and that was going to take hard work and determination. No-one has ever accused the Pats of lacking either of those.

Twenty years later, ANCA GmbH is one of the company’s most important facilities, servicing a broad customer base right across the continent. Jan Langfelder, Managing Director ANCA GmbH was there at the beginning in 1991.

“We actually incorporated the company in January 1991, but didn’t have the official opening until after eMO in June of that

year. Our first location was part of a factory in Dusseldorf, where another Australian machine tool builder, LaserLab, used to reside. We had customers in Southern Germany and Switzerland. Mannheim seemed to be geographically suitable location to settle at.

shortly after the company was incorporated, the economy faced crises and 1991-1992 were challenging years, not only for ANCA GmbH. Regardless, the company was committed to the European market and was not swayed by the tough start. It turned out to be a great decision.

“Europe is the industry technology centre,” says Langfelder. “It was tough being from a company so far away, and from a country

ANCA Germany — 20 Years Young

ANCA Director and co-founder Pat Boland at the opening of ANCA GmbH in 1991. The

branch has gone on to be one of ANCA’s most important offices.


[Australia] without a strong association with engineering as such. The break-through came in 1993 when we released the MG7. With integrated automation and revolutionary software concept, we started to get some significant orders from major companies.”

It was a lonely beginning for Langfelder, who was effectively the only person in the branch at the start, but he has plenty of friends now as the Mannheim facility houses over 20 staff and contains a spares store and demonstration centre. However, ANCA GmbH has outgrown its traditional home, and another expansion is planned.

Jan Langfelder: “We are on the move again. In the near future we are planning a purpose-built facility that will cover almost 2,000 m2. It will house a machine configuration and rebuild centre, the spares store and a state of the art demonstration centre to accommodate wide portfolio of our CNC grinding machines.

“It is what we need to do to keep up with growth and make sure we continue to offer good service and spares delivery to customers in Europe. When you are on the doorstep of your major competitors you have make sure your customers are not disadvantaged by your headquarters being so far away [in Melbourne].”

ANCA GmbH has outgrown its Mannheim home and will soon be relocating to a

purpose-built factory with expanded facilities.

So far, GESAC has ordered 64 ANCA machines, with 43 already installed. As ANCA’s biggest customer in China, GESAC Director Mr Wu Gaochao and Vice General Manager Mr Li Lingxiang were invited to visit ANCA’s Thailand and Australia plants from 24-29 April 2011.

Before visiting ANCA Thailand, GesAC senior management was concerned about the assembly quality and employees’ skill level and discipline, in particular, when they learned that our factory is near the famous resort of Pattaya. However, to their surprise, they found a very clean, tidy, well organized and managed factory. Every item in factory was in good order and the machine fitters were working very efficiently.

Mr Wu and Mr Li have visited a lot of machine tool factories in Germany, switzerland and usA and they commented that ANCA Thailand factory is one of the best among all machine tool factories visited.

After Thailand, the GesAC people moved to the ANCA factory in Melbourne, inspecting the machine shop, assembly area and R&D grinding Centre.During the summary meeting of this trip with ANCA senior management, Mr Wu presented a special gift to ANCA director Pat McCluskey: a crystal award stating that

ANCA is the best long-term strategic business partner of GESAC. Mr Wu commented that this partnership will be more and more important as GesAC cements its place in the cutting tools industry worldwide, with the aim of becoming the world top class tool manufacturer.

Mr Wu and Mr Li said that ANCA had a lot of talented employees and great products, especially the control system and application software. Most important of all, Mr Wu stressed that customer orientation and quick action to solution is ANCA’s leading success factor, citing the new top clamp system as an example.

GESAC believes ANCA will have a very bright future by overcoming some small quality issues. Inspired by results of this trip, Mr Wu suggested that they would come back to ANCA Melbourne and ANCA Thailand to celebration once they order place more machine orders on both factories.s

ANCA Gets GESAC Seal of Approval

Building company-owned premises is a sign of commitment and confidence in the market. For ANCA, it also represents encouraging growth and confirmation that the decision to set up ANCA GmbH 20 years ago was a good call.s

Chinese company Xiamen Golden Egret Special Alloy Co. Ltd (GESAC) is one of the largest-growing tool manufacturers in Asia, and one of ANCA’s most important partners.

GESAC Director Mr Wu Gaochao presents the crystal award to ANCA

director Pat McCluskey as ANCA CEO Grant Anderson, Regional Sales

Manager james Tang and Branch Manager - Asia Jeff Foregard look on.

AN

CA N

EWS


Apprentice Training Centre LaunchedA state-of-the-art Apprentice Training Centre has been launched at the ANCA manufacturing facility in Melbourne, Australia.

ANCA is a world class innovative technology provider and has built a rich tradition of training apprentices and trainees over its 37 year history.

After many months of detailed preparation, an initiative of Pat McCluskey (Joint Managing Director) was launched after the assistance of many ANCA colleagues and some technical suppliers. ANCA has opened a new purpose-built Apprentice training Centre in an ANCA manufacturing facility in Melbourne, Australia. ANCA has dedicated a large area of previous production space to the Apprentice Training Centre.

McCluskey, one of the two founders of ANCA, states that “it was important to me to pass on to others the excellent opportunity that I received when I underwent my apprenticeship many years ago. It really can lead as far as you want to take it. We deal with an exciting area of manufacturing industry at ANCA and I would like to share that with others. We will be teaching everything from mechatronics to fitting and turning. Another reason we launched the Apprentice Training Centre is because we couldn’t find training centres for trade level machine tool techniques. So we decided to establish one ourselves where we could train apprentices in-depth on how to build CNC machines and all associated skills”.

Included in the brand new equipment sourced from everywhere from the uK to the us is a Festo Pneumatics training board and an ITu electrical Controls training panel. Apprentices will also undertake tasks such as building robot arms and learning to control them through their computers. Training will be a combination of ANCA-based training and one day per week at TAFE.

ANCA will work closely with AiGTS (Australian Industry Group Training Services), who assists with the employment and administration of the apprentices, during the four year term of each apprenticeship. Five new apprentices started in May in addition to the placement of several apprentices in 2010. These apprentices will be the first apprentices to pass through the new training centre, and will help shape the training and skills development for future apprentices.

The apprentices will spend their first 12 months in the training centre being taught the fundamentals of fitting and machining under the careful guidance of the Head of the Apprentice Training Centre, Roy Tomalin. They will be involved in building

scale models of lathes, model robots, and building machines from the base to completion whilst they develop the important skills of scraping, grinding and machining before moving to the various areas in the workshop to further develop their skills.

On the evening of Thursday 12th May ANCA launched the Apprentice Training Centre with AIGTs, parents, family and apprentices in attendance along with management and staff of ANCA. The evening was a huge success with parents noting what a “clean and modern” facility the ANCA factory is, and touched with the effort made to ensure their children were welcomed and were obviously entering a professional training and career choice. All parents and friends agreed that the apprentices are in for a fantastic four years of training and their careers in engineering will ensure they are highly skilled and sought after in their future endeavours.

each apprentice was presented with an Indenture Certificate with official red embossed logo which was signed on the evening by the apprentice, guardian Pat McCluskey and the CeO Grant Anderson. This ceremony was undertaken to represent the Indenture ceremonies that represented the beginning of apprenticeships in the past and to communicate to the apprentices the importance of what they are undertaking. These indenture certificates will be held at the centre for presentation to each apprentice upon their completion of the apprenticeship.

AiGTS employment consultant Craig Hilton made comment at the launch that “AiGTs are thrilled and appreciative of the efforts made by ANCA, and particularly the investment made by Pat McCluskey, to provide a facility such as this to allow young people to enter the trade of engineering and be able to learn in such a great environment”.

ANCA and AiGTs look forward to training apprentices and to watching young people invest in their own futures by participating in an apprenticeship. ANCA also look forward to seeing these apprentices step into integral roles at ANCA in the future.s

Top: Pat McCluskey (centre) shows new apprentices the finer points

of CNC machine tool engineering.


Seven Hot TipsAccelerate Carbide Tool Production

Are you serious about carbide tool production? At ANCA, we certainly are! After 24 years designing and building advanced CNC tool and cutter grinders, we’ve mastered a few tricks to get the most out of your tool grinder to produce high quality carbide cutting tools all day, everyday.

Here’re our 7 hot tips to help you notch up your production rates and profitability.

The wheel is the world’s greatest invention, make it work overtime for you

To extract the most from your tool and cutter grinder for carbide tool production, it’s vital that you are using the right wheels, that they are perfectly balanced and qualified and that you keep them in top condition throughout a complete batch. So it all starts with wheel selection. Which wheels you select for each operation, can have a significant impact on tool quality, cycle time and the cost of your consumables. So choose your wheels carefully. Work closely with your wheel supplier to match wheel technologies to your application.

Wheels1.

SEv

EN H

oT

TIpS


your wheel stay efficient in-between dressing cycles. This means that you can run with a higher feedrate and really load up your wheel, knowing that it is cutting true to form. Keep an eye on your spindle load meter for several tools so you can get a feel of how often to white stick your wheel. If your tool grinder has an automatic white sticking option, make sure you schedule this into the process periodically to keep your wheel cutting strong.

Depending on the type of wheel you have chosen, you may need to dress the wheel again during a batch if it dulls off too much or starts to lose shape. Advanced tool and cutter grinders often include in-process dressing abilities and you should schedule a dressing cycle after an appropriate number of tools if your wheel is of a dressable design. Ideally, your CNC tool grinder will automatically compensate for the slight change to the wheel diameter introduced by the dressing cycle.

Your wheel supplier should be able to give you the correct wheel speed for your wheel in RPM or surface speed. Feed rates will vary between different tools and operations. Optimal feed rate is a balance between wheel wear, spindle load, tool rigidity, finish, accuracy and cycle time. Your wheel supplier should be able to give you a starting point but you can gain significant improvements in cycle time or accuracy by optimizing your feedrate to suit your specific application.

So to sum up, the wheels you choose for your job, what speeds and feed you run and how well you setup and maintain your wheels before and during the job all have a huge impact on your ability to crank out quality tool after quality tool at a profitable rate. [901 words]

There are four basic criteria for selecting the perfect wheels for your application: • Wheel size and shape • Grit size • Grit material • Grit bonding method

Your wheel’s size and shape will be largely determined by your application requirements and the physical constraints of your tool grinder and process.

Choosing a grit size is relatively straight forward. use coarser grit size for heavier applications such as fluting; a medium grit size for more general grinding and roughing operations such as back off grinding, some point grinding, gashing and some profiling. Select a finer grit wheel for finish grinding, profiling and smaller tools.

There are three grit materials commonly used in tool grinding. The hardest of these (Diamond) is the only grit type typically recommended for carbide grinding. The other common grit materials used in production grinding are Cubic Boron Nitride (CBN); which is often recommended for precision grinding of steels and Aluminium Oxide; which is softer than CBN but is easily dressed in process.

The three most common grit bonding systems are resin bond, metal bond and vitrified bond. Each bond has its advantages and disadvantages. Resin bonds are most common and are also the most flexible. They can provide a good balance between form holding and wheel breakdown. Metal bonds tend to be much harder, making in-process dressing more difficult, and are best used in profiling operations as they provide the best wheel shape retention. Vitrified bonds can be a lot softer and can lose wheel shape much easier, though this type of bond is the easiest to dress both in and out of process. Recent grinding wheel technology has produced wheels with hybrid bonds. These wheels are best used for fluting as they provide much better wheel shape retention and thrive on deeper cuts with higher feedrates.

Preparing the wheel for grinding is very important when manufacturing carbide tools. Most wheels should be dressed from new once mounted on your wheel arbor. Dressing the wheel on the arbor you intend to use is best practice. This ensures concentricity, helps with wheel balance and will be a contributing factor towards tool finish, wheel life and ultimately efficient carbide tool production.

Once dressed, the wheel pack should be balanced. A balanced wheel pack avoids vibration and can contribute not only to improved tool finish, but also to extended wheel life, ultimately adding to your bottom line. Make sure you balance the wheel pack in the state it will be used on the machine. There are many

methods which can be used to balance your wheel packs, however, the most accurate technique is to utilize balancing assist software built directly into some advanced tool grinders. This type of software detects vibration patterns in a spinning spindle and tells you exactly where to install your balancing weights.

Conditioning your wheel (also commonly known as white sticking) clears out accumulated debris built-up between the grits. White sticking your wheel in-between tools helps to reduce the load on your wheel. You want to keep your wheel cutting your tool, not just heating it up. So white sticking helps


Your coolant has two primary jobs; lubrication and heat dissipa-tion. The goal in coolant delivery is to inject the coolant as far as possible into the cut zone so that each wheel grit is lubricated throughout its entire contact run. This is not as easy as it looks though. You need to ensure your coolant system has sufficient pressure to obtain the required velocity needed for the particu-lar operation at hand. At the same time, having the proper flow rate and temperature control will help dissipate heat away from the cut zone. Laminar (also called coherent-jet) nozzles can im-prove the effectiveness of both the pressure and flow that the coolant pump is supplying. Delivery of coolant into the cut zone as a laminar flow reduces the amount of turbulent air that is in-duced into the coolant stream. Air in the cut zone will decrease the cooling and lubricating efficiency of your coolant so it pays to get your flow as laminar as possible. Laminar nozzles are also more forgiving in terms of the distance your grind point can drift from the nozzle orifice allowing you more flexibility in your setup. If you also grind HSS, coolant delivery and flow to the cut zone are even more critical than for carbide grinding.

To keep sufficient coolant flowing into the cut zone, make sure your coolant nozzles are mounted relative to each wheel pack, ensuring your coolant nozzles are directed at the cut zone whilst remembering that the cut zone relative to the wheel can alter during the course of an operation and can differ for each operation you perform on the tool.

In some cases, you might find that directing one coolant jet tangential to the wheel, just in front of the cut zone “drags” coolant into the zone more effectively than directing the jet straight at the cut zone.

Keeping these factors in mind can benefit the grinding process by • Reducing dressing frequency • Reducing wheel load

• Producing less thermal damage to the work piece • Less coolant jet deflection caused by the vapor barrier

surrounding the wheel

An often overlooked factor is the cleanliness of your coolant. If your coolant gets contaminated, it adds friction to your process and you’ll find you need to slow your feedrate down, the surface finish of your tools will degrade and your wheels will wear quicker. Dirty coolant cannot efficiently carry grinding swarf away from the cut zone therefore causing the grinding wheel to load up sooner than expected.

Micro sized tools are a good example where clean, temperature controlled coolant delivery are of the utmost importance. The high surface finish and tolerance requirements typically demanded in small tool manufacturing require the wheel to remain very free and sharp in its cutting action to avoid unwanted tool deflection. A good filtration system will help maintain your coolant in pristine condition.

In short, you want to keep your coolant injected deep into the cut zone and whether your grinding process requires heavy stock removal or the fussiest surface finish, good coolant filtration is a major contributor to efficient carbide tool production so keep your coolant clean and mean.

Coolant2.

Get your coolant clean and mean

SEv

EN H

oT

TIpS


When it comes to work-holding for carbide tool production, you are often faced with the question of whether to include additional support for the tool or simply rely on the collet clamping mechanism to provide that support and grind the tool “free-ended”.

It’s true that a tool support system like a pop-up steady or a tailstock can, in some cases increase the setup time for a job, but you need to trade that off against the potential improvements you can gain in cycle-time. Often thought of as an aid to tighter tolerances, the humble steady rest can also be used as a production rate amplifier. By supporting the tool, you can ramp up the feedrate without suffering tool deflection. And in the last few tools prior to an automated wheel dress, a steady rest can help maintain your tolerances and avoid breakages, even as the wheel starts to dull off.

Since no one support system suits all applications, manufacturers of modern tool and cutter grinders usually provide a choice of tool support systems from manually adjusted steady rests, right through to fully automatic, self centering, multi-diameter, multi-point clamping supports and tailstocks on programmable axes that move in perfect synchronization with the grinding wheel to always provide support where it is needed most. In the case of an automatic tailstock, it is even possible with an advanced system, to program the force that the tailstock will exert on the center,

Support

“... perfect synchronization with the grinding wheel to always provide

support where it is needed most.”

3.

Give your tools the support they need

allowing you back it off for some operations like cylindrical grinding.

As we’ve mentioned, the main reason to support your tool is to reduce deflection of the tool during grinding. Reduced deflection will improve your tolerances, run-out and surface finish. These characteristics feed directly into a higher quality, longer lasting tool that you should be able to charge a higher price for. But also, don’t forget to crank up your feedrate once you start supporting your tools, particularly during fluting, normally the slowest cycle in the production process. The increased support will in many cases allow you to chew through more carbide per minute without sacrificing tool quality or wheel life, further increasing your efficiency and adding incremental gains to your profitability.

Even though you might expect to wear out your grinding wheels faster using a tool support system due to your faster feedrates, supporting your tool can in some cases actually extend the life of your wheels. The vibration that can be induced by grinding an unsupported tool can lead to chipping and wear along the edge of the wheel which can dramatically shorten the useful life of your wheel. You can minimize this undesirable effect by utilizing good tool support.

It also pays to utilize a tool support system because you can in some cases, reduce the overall length of your tools because with good tool support, you might need less shank length in the collet to clamp on which means a shorter blank for the same uted length, so you get valuable saving on your raw carbide costs.

So give your tools the support they need, so you can crank up your profits by increasing your feedrates at the same time that you are improving the quality of your finished carbide tools.

Continued on Page 12


What is the ideal grinding process?That is a difficult question: I don’t know whether the ideal grinding process is even possible. Grinding is a very complex procedure, and after over 25 years of grinding experience, I think the best process is the one that makes the best compromise.

The ideal grinding process would remove the maximum amount of material without any damage by heat, pressure or vibrations, while complying with surface quality requirements and tolerances. And if it were truly ideal, it would do all this reliably over a reasonable time period without blunting or excessively wearing the grinding disk.

Why is grinding such a complex procedure?Grinding abrades the material rather than cutting it off as in most machining processes. And there are various phases before

material removal even starts: first of all only the surface is chafed, then comes the furrowing phase, followed by gouging, and finally the actual material removal phase. In all four of these phases the material is warmed up considerably, so it is not surprising that 90 % of the energy input is transformed into heat and only 10 % is used for actually removing material. The cutting fluid plays an important role here, not only for heat removal but also for enhancing efficiency in all phases.

What must the cutting fluid do?Firstly, it must cool – the friction heat developed during grinding has to be removed in order to prevent grinding burn, micro-cracks in the workpiece, or destruction of the grinding grain. secondly, it must flush the chips out of the grinding zone – to uphold surface quality and a sharp cutting edge. Thirdly, it must provide optimal lubrication – to reduce friction and enable higher grinding speeds and material removal rates. And last but not least: it must not only be safe for humans and the environment, but also machine-compatible.

What does optimal lubrication mean?The primary purpose of lubrication is to reduce friction. Lower friction reduces heat development and the associated risk of grinding burn and micro-cracks. However, lubrication negatively influences the continuous self-sharpening effect on the grindwheel – but on the other hand it reduces grindwheel wear thereby. I would therefore define optimal lubrication as the best compromise between minimum friction and maximum self-sharpening effect.

How can users take account of this?While copious lubrication reduces heat development, it also hinders penetration of the grinding grain, so that greater pressure is required between the grindwheel and the workpiece. This can cause grindwheel distortion and eccentricity with vibrations, leading to chatter marks on the workpiece. All in all: the deeper the cut, the greater the lubrication.

Cool RunningsHow Cutting Fluids Impact the Grinding Process

Modern cutting fluids have to meet wide-ranging requirements: technological, ecological, work-safety and cost-effectiveness.

Blaser Swisslube AG Head of Grinding Technology Rico pollak shares some thoughts about grinding fluid in this interview with The Sharp Edge.

How can users select the most suitable grinding fluid?Each grinding process must be viewed as a whole. Most crucially, the grindwheel specification must suit the workpiece material. Decisive is also the difference between light grinding (cylindrical and flat grinding with low feed rates) and deep grinding. Putting it simply, for light grinding I would recommend a fully synthetic grinding fluid or an emulsion with low oil content, and for deep grinding with high material removal rates I would recommend a grinding oil or an emulsion with high oil content. For grinding hard metals it is better to use a fluid that prevents cobalt release. As you can see, the most suitable product depends on the application in question.

How do you take account of the latest technologies in your product development?New materials, innovations in grindwheel technology, and ever-increasing machine performance, also pose new challenges in grinding fluid development. In high-performance grinding technology, for example, peripheral speeds of 120 m/s are quite normal today – more than 400 km/h! Ideally the grinding fluid should leave the nozzle at the same speed, which is only possible at high pressure. This places extreme demands not only on foaming behaviour, but also on the emulsion as a whole. And the increasingly stringent legal requirements must also be complied with.

All these trends have to be taken into account in developing new grinding fluids. Our specialists in various disciplines – chemistry, tribology, analysis, machining and grinding, safety – play a dynamic role in our development process. Another important aspect in staying on the front line of development is our intensive contact with customers and partners, machinery and grindwheel manufacturers, as well as universities and technology institutes.

How feasible would it be to entirely dispense with grinding fluids? Minimal lubrication technology can be used today for a number of machining applications, but not for grinding, because the chips are much too small for adequate heat removal. For this reason I am convinced that grinding fluid cannot be dispensed with.

To what extent does grinding fluid influence productivity?Increasing productivity means finishing more workpieces in the same time, by increasing the feed rate. This is possible with the right grinding fluid, which can also influence grindwheel wear and sharpness. Other productivity factors are long grinding fluid life and good machine compatibility, thereby saving disposal outlay and minimizing standstill time. sophisticated additives can enhance these qualities. s


Invest minutes in optimization to save hours in productionThere is an age old saying that’s goes “Do it once. Do it right”. This holds true for production grinding too. You can save valuable time and money by taking a few minutes to set up and tune your carbide tool grinding process. A modern CNC tool and cutter grinder will have the capability to be finely tuned to maximize the efficiency of your production runs.

Optimization begins with good setup. We’ve already discussed the physical aspects of setting up your tool grinder for carbide tool production; the importance of good wheel selection, coolant quality and flow, and the benefits of tool support. But what about the setup of the programs that will run your batch? A huge time waster can be configuring the software of your CNC tool grinder to actually grind exactly what you want to produce. The software installed on the CNC of your modern tool grinder should have user friendly screens to guide you through the setup process. If you are grinding very complex or unusual tools, you might need to ensure your CNC is running high end or specialist software options that help you to easily configure the

4. optimise

geometry of these tools or you could waste hours or even days, trying to setup a tool that the software was never designed to cater for.

One very effective way to quickly prove out a new tool design that could save you a big chunk of non-production down-time on your machine is “Dry Run” mode. When you have entered all the data describing your tool and the grinding cycles you want to run, switch on your CNC’s “dry run” mode and give the cycle a quick run through to check that all the machine motion looks reasonable. Better yet, perform your dry run using your CNC’s MPG feed feature if it has one. This ingenious invention lets you prove out a complete tool program by simply winding the hand-wheel. This leaves you in complete control at all times and eliminates any surprises you might otherwise get if you accidentally put the decimal point in the wrong place for one of your parameters!

Dry running your program is effective and can save you lots of time and scrap tools, but by far the best time saving you can get for program setup is to go “offline”. Invest in a PC loaded with

an identical copy of your CNC’s software and preferably 3D simulation software for the grinding process. You can then setup your next tool while the machine is busy producing the current batch. 3D simulation has revolutionized the CNC tool grinding industry and if you don’t have it in your shop, you will be losing out big time to your competitors who are using it. With 3D simulation, you can see exactly how the tool will look like and verify and measure the actual geometry, then make as many design changes you like, all without interrupting your machine tool from its very important job of making money for you.

As well as selecting efficient spindle speeds and feedrates, there are other simple things you can do to maximize your production rates; some as simple as flicking a switch. The first thing to do is to switch on adaptive feedrate control on your CNC if it supports this feature. Adaptive control will alter the feedrate depending on the spindle load so you can go faster over the shallow cuts and the CNC will automatically slow the feedrate down during deep cuts. This translates immediately into faster grind times and maximum use of your expensive machine. Before switching on adaptive control, you should check your wheel specs first. some wheels, such as hybrid bond diamond wheels, must be loaded up aggressively to keep them sharp.

It also pays to experiment. By monitoring the spindle load meter, you will sometimes find that you can lower the spindle speed and increase the feedrate for an aggressive cycle time improvement.

Remember, the bigger the batch or the more times you anticipate running the same batch, the more it pays to spend some time in optimizing your process. You can even get to the point of optimizing the distance of approach, retract and gap movements between cycles to reduce cycle times, although you will find that on current releases of modern tool and cutter grinder software, that the software is often smart enough to make these adjustments for you automatically so your machine spends more time cutting metal and less time unproductively grinding fresh air.

Remember, each optimization you make can be automatically reapplied the next time you run the same batch so it’s definitely time well spent, and when setting up “Do it once. Do it right!”

SEv

EN H

oT

TIpS


5. SpC

Deploy your anchor to avoid driftThere’s nothing more frustrating and costly than an unmanned production batch gone wrong half way through. Your tool grinder should have a number of features to help you monitor and control your process from the first tool in the pallet to the very last.

If you’ve optimized your process properly, machine and tool accuracy should be very stable throughout an entire batch. However, due to wheel wear and possibly machine accuracy changes due to temperature shifts, you might experience slight inaccuracies creeping into your process during the grinding of a batch, which, if unmonitored, might result in part of your batch being ground out of spec.

statistical Process Control (sPC) is a statistical technique for monitoring and controlling a process to ensure it remains within desired boundaries. If your CNC includes in-built SPC software, then you can switch this on and it will use the touch probe to monitor small samples of tools, usually by measuring the OD size or flute depth and will then feed adjustments back to the CNC to ensure the process stays within spec for the whole batch. Your sPC software will also chart the progress of your batch and report on your capability index so you have immediate feedback on the quality of the tools you are producing.

Although modern tool grinders are built to minimize the effects that changes in temperature can have on tool accuracy, today’s tight tolerance requirements mean that in some cases, you’ll need to make adjustments to the process as the ambient temperature of the process changes. If you have a

coolant chiller and good ambient air conditioning, this effect will be minimal, but not everyone has the luxury of a tightly controlled thermal environment and some people run to such tight tolerances that even slight changes in temperature can adversely affect tool quality.

This is where Coolant Temperature Variation (CTV) Compensation can help. If your tool grinder is equipped with CTV, then at periodic intervals during a large batch of tools, the machine can use the touch probe to reference a known surface, re-calibrating the machine axes on the fly. The sample frequency can be increased at the start of the batch while the machine temperature stabilizes. The compensation can be scheduled at any point in the operating sequence to ensure the compensation occurs as near as possible to the most critical grinding operation. CTV can help you achieve very tight tolerances throughout an entire production run.

so make sure you utilize good process monitoring and control techniques and take full advantages of your tool grinder’s automatic measurement and compensation features.

Turn off the lights to save the planetIf you’ve followed the previous five tips, your tool and cutter grinder should now be purring away, churning out quality tool after quality tool. If you grind a tool with an extremely long cycle time or if you’ve got a suitable automatic tool loader on your machine, you can now ramp up your profits by ramping down your supervision of the machine. switch off the lights in your factory and let the machine do the work for you, confidently knowing that your machine is well tuned and optimized, with your process under constant surveillance and control.

Many tool and cutter grinders now include automated wheel pack changers. If your tools require some heavy cutting or ultra-fine tolerances, particularly if you are not able to dress in cycle, it’s a good idea to include multiple sets of identical wheel packs so you can schedule wheel pack swaps mid batch to keep your production process accurate and efficient.

In the unlikely event that something does go wrong during grinding, it is possible with some tool grinder CNCs, to have the machine automatically send you a message via sMs, email or instant messaging, telling you exactly what the problem is. even if no problem occurs, it can be useful to use the CNC’s messaging feature to let you know your pallet is full of perfectly ground carbide cutting tools, just waiting for you to unload and turn them into profit.

6. Unattended operation


Rinse and repeatA modern tool grinder gives you incredible flexibility to quickly design, setup and grind a myriad of complex cutting tools, but never forget that a repeat order for a batch you’ve already optimised will be profit straight in your pocket. For your regular runs, try to keep a set of wheel packs just for that job and make sure you have a good filing system for your wheel and tool definition files. This will cut your setup and qualification time down dramatically and get you moving from batch to batch in no time at all.

Now, all that’s left is to put your feet up and relax, or head to the golf course while your machine makes the money for you, grinding a complete batch of quality carbide cutting tools. Better yet, why not head back to the office, grab a coffee and fire up your 3D simulator to work on your next job while the machine’s busy spitting out carbide swarf.

A 3D simulator is not only good for setting up your next job offline, but it’s also an invaluable package for new tool design, optimisation, diagnostics, costing and training. You can also use it for marketing; just email 3D models of completed tools to your potential customers to show them quickly what you are capable of producing.

If you want to branch out into a new market, some tool and cutter grinder suppliers will let you load a new application software package onto your simulator for free. You can then explore the market, become familiar with the software and produce 3D models of tools to email to your potential customers for acceptance or simply publish them on your company’s web page to get your product out there.

Then, when you have secured the order you can commit to purchase the software for your grinding machine and actually launch into production of real parts with a high degree of confidence.

Your 3D simulator is more than a piece of software and can directly contribute to the efficiency of your carbide tool production. It’s like a swiss army knife for your grinding business, with equal parts; 3D simulation, design, optimisation, diagnostics, training and a marketing tool. use it to its full potential and watch your business soar! s

7. Do it Again

“use it to its full potential and watch your business soar!”

SEv

EN H

oT

TIpS


Seven Hot Tips Summary

so, when you’re setting up your next batch, remember these 7 hot tips to accelerate your carbide tool production:

Tip 1: The wheel is the world’s greatest invention, make it work overtime for you Choose the correct wheel shape and size

Choose the appropriate grit size for the job

Choose the appropriate grit bonding method for the job

Dress the wheel (if applicable) on its arbour

Balance the wheel

White stick your wheel regularly during production

use in-process dressing (if applicable)

Tip 2: Get your coolant clean and mean use a high pressure, high flow coolant system

Mount your coolant nozzles relative to your wheels

use laminar flow nozzles

Keep your coolant as clean as possible

Tip 3: Give your tools the support they need use automated tool support whenever possible

Try increasing your feedrates once your tool is supported

Reduce your clamping length to optimize your blank length

Tip 4: Invest minutes in optimization to save hours in production Make sure your software fully supports your tool types

Monitor spindle power to tune your spindle speed and feedrates

switch on adaptive feedrate control

Optimize your approach and retract moves

use “dry run” mode to prove out your new tool designs

use MPG feed to improve safety and efficiency of your dry runs

setup your next job offline on a PC running 3D simulator software

Tip 5: Deploy your anchor to avoid drift use statistical Process Control (sPC) software to monitor and control your process

use Coolant Temperature Variation (CTV) compensation to keep your machine

perfectly calibrated

Tip 6: Turn off the lights to save the planet use an automatic tool loader

use an automatic wheel pack changer

Switch on process messaging to keep you up to date via SMS

Tip 7: Rinse and repeat Keep one or more sets of pre-qualified wheel packs for each regular job

Organize your part and wheel description files to make batch changeover as smooth

as possible

use your 3D simulator to prospect for new business


TXcell and blanket grinding lead the wayDemands on grinding machines change rapidly in today’s dynamic market. Often, just when a dedicated line is beginning to generate realistic profits, the market shifts, creating the need to re-tool. And customers are now demanding an ever-increasing range of tools, in smaller batches and of higher quality, whilst at the same time insisting on cost savings and quicker deliveries. Tool manufacturers have no choice but to become more agile and responsive to their customers’ demands if they want to remain competitive.

Too often, tool manufacturers are frustrated in their attempts to respond by the lack of flexibility in their tool grinders, making it hard for them to meet customer requirements. This increased need for tool makers to become more agile and responsive was the prime motivation behind ANCA developing the TXcell concept and a new process known as blanket grinding.

The process and the machine combine to create greater opportunity to run the grinder without human intervention, and that means a significant cost saving.

The machineThe TXcell mates two proven production superstars–the ANCA TX7+ and the Fanuc M20i/A robot–to create a grinding cell with new levels of potential in productivity, accuracy and cost-savings. This is achieved by using the flexibility of the Fanuc robot to load tools, change wheel packs and perform ancillary operations that previously would have required extra machines. Now, for the first time, one machine is capable of making a complete tool from bar stock to finished part.

At the heart of the TXcell is ANCA’s flexible software package, which has been the industry benchmark for easy-to-use software for over 30 years. As well as containing the iGrind suite, the software creates a seamless interface with the Fanuc robot that enables the two machines to operate as one co-ordinated grinding cell that is optimized to reduce cycle time and increase productivity across the batch.

Further flexibility and economy comes through the machine

GR

IND

ING

TEC

HN

oLo

GY

ANCA - Issue 8 2011 17

configuration, which starts with a simple nine wheel-station, two-pallet cell, and can be expanded up to 24-station, four-pallet option. Manufacturers can select the best TXcell variety to suit their business model without having to pay for capability they may never use. Regardless of the cell size, there are common benefits across the range.

Operations that once required manual intervention are reduced or eliminated completely. With storage for up to 24 wheel packs, there is minimal need for the machine operators to handle the wheel packs. This reduces the pack-change time and increases safety because the operators don’t need physically place heavy wheel packs into the spindle themselves; the powerful Fanuc robot does all that for them.

And with the ability to fit up to four wheels per pack, the cell will store and deploy a large number of wheels, meaning the right wheel is more likely to available for even the most innovative of tool design features. John Leppin II, of Garr Tool in Michigan, usA, recognized the capability of the TXcell almost immediately.

“We face limitations with the number of machine operators we can get, so anything that can reduce machine down time is an advantage,” he observed. “With over 20 wheel packs available on the TXcell, we would look to have simplified wheel-pack configurations to avoid interference issues and simplify the set-up. Then if we have repeat sets of those wheel packs, we can do batch runs of over 1000 tools in a single run.”

One of the largest contributors to machine downtime can be the time taken to re-tool and tweak the set-up for a new batch.

Even that has been accounted for in the design of the TXcell with tooling and scheduling software that will reduce the batch set-up downtime to almost zero.

Blanket grindingAs alluded to in the name, the ANCA-developed process of blanket grinding covers all the processes needed to go from bar stock to finished tool, with only one machine and one set-up.

This eliminates the need for the separate sequential machines and processes that are traditionally needed to manufacture a complete tool. This makes the process far more efficient by reducing capital investment costs, factory floor space requirements, inventory stock and—most importantly—labour for manual handling and machine set-up.

TXcell is flexible enough to include a variety of pre- and post-grinding operations directly into the cell. This satisfies the needs of customers like Duane Gliniecki of Sumitomo Electric


Industries, Wisconsin, usA, who comments: “we are continually under pressure to combine processes. Bringing in a process like brush honing into this grinding cell is a great possibility”.

Other ancillary processes such as laser etching of tools, deburring, or quality inspection can be integrated into the TXcell program. And since the robot handles these operations while the machine is busy grinding, that’s money saved, straight to the operator’s bottom line.

AccessoriesANCA’s TX7+ has matured over the years into an established market leader that lends itself well to customization. Labour- and time-saving accessories such as Cimulator3D, in-process dressing, white sticking, P-axis steadies and iView camera all contribute to the target of lower cost and higher quality output. For tool manufacturers, this all translates to a competitive edge in the market place.

Installing Cimulator3D on an independent PC further increased the productivity of the TXcell by enabling the operator to design and develop new tool shapes without having to use the tool grinder to experiment and test. This means the TXcell is available for production for longer periods of time, and expensive tool material is not wasted on unnecessary trials.

The futureExactly what will it be? The only thing known for sure is that the future will not be the same as the present, and that successful tool manufacturers will need to be ready for whatever shape the industry will take. ANCA’s TXcell and the blanket grinding process are the first step in ensuring the operators can adapt quickly without having the capital expense of changing sequential production lines to match the new customer requirements. With that in their pockets, change will bring opportunity rather than restructure.s

Ancilliary operations such as camera inspections, seen here on a

TX7+, are done on a TXcell whilst the grinding cycle is in process.

The Fanuc robot is programmed to change both the tool and the

wheel pack, increasing productivity and lowering down-time.

Often, the full potential of grinding wheels is not completely utilised. The recommended systematic approach is structured into six process steps: objective, preparation, run, evaluate, record and publish.

ObjectiveFirst, be clear what you or others want to achieve. Some objectives may be in conflict with each other:

• Fixing an existing problem (burning, surface finish, dimensional stability)

• Better process economy such as longer wheel life

• High material removal rates, i.e. shorter cycle times

• New specification to be tested

• More reproducible results

PreparationMake yourself familiar with the key issues and record them:

• Material removal rate Q’w or Q-prime

• Wheel speed vc

• Feed-rate vw

• Total amount of grinding allowance and depth of cut ae and number of cuts

• Dressing parameters such as speed ratio qs, infeed, synchronous or asynchronous dress

Ask the operator about the main problems that may have been encountered:

• Does or did the wheel lose form?

• Did you experience burning or chatter?

• Is the process stable?

• How does the coolant supply behave? Is it the same over a full shift?

• Is the fixturing rigid? Do vibrations occur?

• Can you maintain dimensional stability?

RunIf the existing parameters for a given wheel are reasonable, repeat those parameters with a new wheel specification and compare results.

To establish the feed-rate vw, use the specific material rate Q’w

Qw= (ae × vw)60

• Creep-feed grinding hardened steel: 5 to 10 mm/mm/s

• Creep-feed-grinding aerospace nickel alloys: 10 to 20 mm3/mm/s

• Flute grinding of taps with resin bonded wheels: 10 to 20 mm3/mm/s

• Flute grinding solid carbide mills: 6 to 12 mm3/mm/s

These values depend on the stiffness of the machine tool, the fixturing of the workpiece, etcetera.

EvaluateBefore making too many changes to any given process, run it for a while. Good engineering is to change only one parameter at a time, observe changes, evaluate and then make changes. Measure components for dimensional accuracy, burr formation and grinding abuse (burning). Loss of form, for example, indicates one or several of the following things:

• The wheel is too soft

• Surface speed is too low (increase by steps of 3 to 5 m/s)

• Feed-rates are too high

• Amount of dressing is insufficient

• The grit size is too coarse

• Did the process result in burning?

Check coolant delivery. Is nozzle in right position? The surface speed v

c may be too high; try to reduce it by 3 to 5 m/s. You may increase the feed-rate to increase self-sharpening of wheel by using 10% steps.

RecordCreate your own spread-sheet listing all the main parameters.

publishShare your results with your colleagues and build a database that will give you faster results next time you have to run a similar test.s

Watch for the full version of Walter’s article in an upcoming edition of ANCA’s E-newsletter The Sharp E.

HOW TO RuN A Grinding TestWalter Graf of Winterthur Technology Group shares some expert advice on the tricky subject of running grinding tests.

GR

IND

ING

TEC

HN

oLo

GY


EXPERT ADVICE


What’s New inCIM3D version 7ANCA’s Cim3D was the world’s first high quality 3D tool simulation software system and it’s fair to say it revolutionised the industry. Version 7 of this industry benchmark package is now available with a range of new features to improve usability, enhance tool verification abilities, and better analyse the grinding process.

Cim3D is Now Faster

Version 7 is faster. Optimisation of the 3D calculation engine

has resulted in more than a 30% average speed improvement in

simulation time compared to V6. More dramatic performance

enhancements can be achieved in some cases when using arc

blank sections, which are now supported in version 7. Due to

the reduction of material removed when using a pre-formed

blank compared to a cylindrical blank, calculation time is

reduced. For certain profile blanks, the time savings can

be significant. This has two benefits. Not only can complex

profile tools be simulated in less time, but also the detail of

the simulation can be increased significantly compared to

previous versions to provide a more accurate tool model for

measurement and verification purposes. (The use of arc blank

sections will be supported within the iGrind blank editor in

Toolroom RN31.1-1 onwards.)

2D overlays for Instant visual verification

The ability to verify geometrical features has been significantly

extended in Cim3D V7 by providing the ability to import DXF

overlays (2D CAD outline curves) into the measurement view.

This can be used to verify various geometrical features of a tool

such as the tool OD or core profile as well as the flute cross-

section geometry. The DXF overlay can be conveniently enabled

or disabled as required, as well as positioned and then locked

with the tool model. The accuracy of the core and cutting

profile display in Cim3D has also been improved in V7 so that

DXF overlays can be accurately compared to these simulated

profiles.

From October 2011, ANCA’s next release of the Toolroom

software suite will provide the added benefit of automatically

generating and sending the theoretical tool and cross section

profiles to Cim3D, saving you even more time in the verification

process. This will be particularly useful for ball-nose, corner

radius, stepped and profile tools.

Quicker Setup of Tooling and Accessory Models

Machine accessory configuration was potentially a

cumbersome task in previous versions. The new machine

configuration dialog simplifies the task of setting up

machine accessories by providing one convenient interface

to set-up standard machine tooling including tool-holding,

support systems, and dresser configurations. Accurate 3D

representation of the grinding process as well as the machine

set-up allows processes to be optimised and aids in identifying

potentially costly mechanical crashes.

A potential collision point on a grinding machine is the tool

holding. Simulating the grinding process using an accurate

model of the tool holder ensures that any potential collision is

detected offline and is often easily rectified rather than causing

a potentially costly collision. For this reason, DXF files can

now also be imported into Cim3D to model tool holding. Tool

holders can typically accommodate various collet or jaw sizes.

To cater for this, a set of DXF files can be imported with various

collet or jaw sizes to create a tool holding set. Cim3D can then

automatically select the model based on shank diameter.

Apart from importing custom tool-holding geometry, the new

machine configuration dialog features the ability to easily select

SNEAK pEAK

Over a wide range of tools, Cim3D V7 is

approximately 30% faster than V6. Support

for arc sections in blanks has also been added

which in most cases speeds up simulation

times further. In the example pictured, the

same tool simulated in 52% of the time in V7

compared to V6 in a high detail mode. When

the actual radius blank was used, simulation

time was reduced by almost 80%.

Over a wide range of tools, Cim3D V7 is

approximately 30% faster than V6. Support

for arc sections in blanks has also been added

which in most cases speeds up simulation

times further. In the example pictured, the

same tool simulated in 52% of the time in V7

compared to V6 in a high detail mode. When

the actual radius blank was used, simulation

time was reduced by almost 80%.

SoFT

WA

RE


from a library of standard tool-holding

options. All tool-holding options in the

library include all available collet sizes

thereby enabling Cim3D to select the

appropriate collet based on shank size.

In total, the standard library consists

of more than 350 collet and adapter

combinations. This feature automates

the selection of the tool-holding model

which results in more reliable collision

detection. This saves set-up time, avoids

mechanical crashes, and enables the

minimum tool protrude length to be

determined for optimal tool stability and

run-out.

Ultra-accurate Cross Section Measurement in Any plane

Verification of tool geometry often

involves cross-sectional measurement

of geometric features. The “sectioning

plane” feature in Cim3D has historically

been used to slice the tool to inspect

cross-sectional features in any plane

orientation. This feature has been

significantly enhanced in V7 by replacing

the approximate positioning technique

using the mouse with a positioning

dialog allowing precise positioning of

the plane. In keeping with the format

most often used in tool drawings, you

position the plane by specifying a series

of translation and rotation movements

about the plane. This provides the ability

to dissect the tool with surgical precision

along any cross-section specified on a

tool drawing. The cross-section can then

be accurately measured using the 2D

cross-section view. In addition, the steps

taken to position the plane can be saved

and loaded to repeat measurements on

similar tools.

In-Depth Cycle Time Estimation

Analysis of cycle time within the

simulation environment allows

optimisation of grinding moves to

achieve the goal of maximising machine

productivity by producing more tools

per hour. Toolroom RN31 introduced an

auto-approach move enhancement that

automatically optimises all approach

moves between operations so that

cycle time saving can be automatically

achieved by simply using Toolroom RN31.

However, gap minimisation and feedrate

optimization is an important step to

achieve an efficient grinding process.

Cycle time estimation within Cim3D has

been extended in V7 by breaking down

total cycle time into contact time, air

time, gap time and rapid-move time. This

allows improved analysis of the grinding

process and the ability to better evaluate

the effect of feedrate and gap-distance

changes.

Quick Width and Angle Measurements

Smaller scale software enhancements

affecting common tasks are often the

ones most appreciated by regular users.

An example of such an enhancement

in V7 is the simplification of measuring

between two points in the measurement

view. The measurement view now

features a way to set a reference point.

As the tool is moved in the measurement

view, the distance and angle from the set

reference point is displayed on-screen.

This is useful to precisely measure many

geometric features such as land widths,

radii, web thicknesses, etc.

New Machine and Tooling Models

Other enhancements in Cim3D include

updates of mechanical models. ANCA’s

new MX7 machine is now fully supported

in V7 as well as related accessories

such as the new MX7 P-Axis. This will

allow collision detection for customers

with MX7 machines. The Arobotech

pad length for the P-Axis is now also

adjustable via the machine configuration

dialog for both TX7 and MX7 machines

as well as the addition of the micro-

adjustable pop-up steady and shoes.

Tailstock models have been added for the

RX7 and TapX machines.

The release of Cim3D V7 represents

another milestone for this industry-

leading software package by providing

a range of productivity enhancements.

Continual improvement of our software

products ensures that our customers

benefit from the competitive advantage

of using ANCA solutions. We encourage

our customers to provide feedback

and improvement suggestions for

consideration into future products. All

feedback is reviewed and can be emailed

to [email protected].

Contact your local ANCA representative

today to order your copy of Cim3D V7.s


The 40-year-old, family-run firm has made its reputation on producing high quality tools used by companies like Boeing, Lockheed and Northrop to machine aluminum, stainless steel and honeycomb composite material. The shop runs more than 40 wheel packs across its 5 ANCA grinders, mounting whatever pack is needed by any of the machines to fill an order in the shortest possible time.

In most shops, that might get confusing and would be time-consuming.

For example, with grinding and dressing cycles, the diamond wheels used by an RX7 one month may not have precisely the same diameters, face angles, and radius weeks later when the GX7 is

assigned to produce more of the same tool.

The solution for Carbro is ANCA iCheck, a collaboration between ANCA and ZOLLeR that measures grinding wheels and wheel packs, stores the actual wheel data, and transfers the data to the grinding machines.

The wheel dimensions are checked on the ZOLLER CNC measuring machine before use. If required, the wheels are dressed, and the wheel pack is checked again. That actual data is uploaded, ready to use to update tool programs in iGrind next time the tool is ordered. Anca iGrind takes these measurements and makes the necessary adjustments to produce

Watching the Wheels

the programmed tool. The combination of iGrind simulation software with the iCheck measuring machine lets Carbro work out part programs in full detail offline and ahead of time.

The ANCA machines at Carbro are networked to the computer storing the actual data, so when a tool is ordered, the machine downloads the actual wheel data for the pack to be used. That way, the first tool out of the machine is very close to specifications, according to Anders Plano, general manager.

“The iCheck has allowed us to reduce set-up time for each job up to 50%,” Anders said. “The precise and reliable measurement of the wheel packs off-line lets us respond much more quickly to the smaller order quantities we are seeing and to run on any of our ANCA’s any of our thousands of different part numbers. Customers get exactly what they need, when they need it.”s

Making precision carbide cutters for the aerospace industry means that Carbro Corp., Lawndale, CA, must be very responsive to large and small orders with very high quality, long-life cutting tools—mills, reamers, routers, countersinks, and more.

Carbro Corp’s Anders Plano: “The iCheck has allowed us to reduce

set-up time for each job by 50%.”


Complex parametersToolroom version RN28.1 introduced the concept of complex parameters and later releases added this ability to additional parameters. A complex parameter is one that you can optionally vary along the length it is applied to, instead of being restricted to just a constant value. Parameters with this ability have a sigma (Σ) symbol next to their input field as shown below.

Clicking on the Σ symbol displays a dialog box which allows complex specification of the parameter (similar to using ANCA’s Variable Helix Wizard). For example, instead of a constant primary OD land width, this can be specified as:

• A changing width from EOT to shank

• A constant width followed by a transition to a different width and then constant again

• Arbitrarily as a spline function.

The image below shows the primary land width specified as an oscillating spline function. The result can be seen on the tool. This ability is also available for some of the feedrate parameters in fluting cycles which can be useful when grinding complex tools.

Fixed-point Ballnose GrindingRN31 introduces many enhancements to the ballnose OD and ball finish cycle such as the ability to grind an eccentric OD and a facet ball in one continuous move. Another important development is the introduction of a Fixed Grind Point option. This option performs the ballnose OD grinding move as a 5-axis move, however it ensures that the same point of the grinding wheel is used throughout the move. using the same grinding point on the wheel means that variations in the ball profile do not occur as a result of using different points about the toroid radius of the wheel. using the Fixed Point Grinding method, the wheel will wear in one spot only resulting in simpler compensations and a more stable grinding process.

Make the Most of Your iGrind Suite

SoFTWARE TIpS

ANCA is renowned the world over for the flexibility of our tool grinding software. Here we introduce you to some of our latest software features that help you grind exactly what you want.

A screen shot of the iGrind RN31 software showing the

fixed-point ballnose grinding feature.

SoFT

WA

RE


ANCA’s iGrind suite is a powerful tool, and the more

operators know about its capabilities they more they

can get from their grinding machine.

Shift a Complete Set of Files to Another MachineCreating bundle files in RN31 simplifies the process of transferring files from one machine or simulator to another. Bundle files include the iGrind TOM file, wheel packs, dressing files, and any other file associated with the current tool. The Create Bundle option can be found under the FILe menu in RN31 within iGrind. Once transferred to a machine, the files are easily installed by using the Install Bundle option (from the FILe menu). To minimize the size of bundle files when transferring them to other machines or simulators, deselect the option to include debug files.

Comparing Tools in CIM3DCim3D has the ability to compare two tools at the same time. The method to do this is:

1. simulate a tool and then save it as a VRML file. I.e. FILe->SAVE-> VRML File (.WRL)

2. Make a change to the tool and simulate again.

3. To compare the old and new tools go to FILE->OPEN and open the saved VRML file.

The two models should be shown side by side in Cim3D. Double clicking on the VRML model will display a menu with an “edit position” option. This can be used to move the position of the model and can even be used to lay one model on top of the other to further check for differences. Turning on the Cutting edges option and changing colour mapping can also help in comparing differences in models.

Monitor Your productivityMonitoring machine productivity and utilisation is the first step towards optimising production. small improvements to set-up and cycle times can equate to significant long term productivity gains, allowing your machine to produce more parts per hour.

A simple way to monitor productivity is to use the Production Data utility. This handy utility can be found under uTIL (F11) on the ANCA sidebar menu. The Production Data utility provides an easy way to monitor setup and cycle times which can then be used to collect information regarding productivity versus batch sizes.


Typically, the Production Data utility would be zeroed upon commencing set-up for a particular job. The Total Time counter monitors the time since zeroing, whereas the Operating Time counter monitors the time the machine is in-cycle. From this information, a machine utilisation percentage is calculated as well as the number of tools produced per hour relative to total and operating time.

Apart from information gathering and analysis, the utility can be used to set and monitor daily production goals.

Monitor Your Spindle LoadAnalysing spindle load during grinding can be used to optimise and improve various aspects of the process. The Tool Grind Page (TGP) provides a visual gauge to view the current spindle load, however, in many cases it is useful to chart the history of the spindle load to see how it changes over time. This can be easily achieved using the Chart Recorder application. This utility can be accessed via the icon on the top right hand corner of the TGP.

The Chart Recorder application provides a convenient way to visually monitor spindle load over time. The update speed as well as the scale of the graph can be adjusted and the results logged to a file for further analysis.

Flute grinding provides a good example of where spindle load can provide important feedback regarding process setup. The figure below shows a fluting process for a four flute Hss tool with three passes per flute. In this example it can be seen in the image on the left that maximum spindle load is obtained in the second set of passes. This generally may not represent an ideal process. The image on the right shows an optimised

process with the desired decreasing load characteristics for this process.

Apart from infeed adjustment, the Chart Recorder can show if spindle load is increasing over a batch of tools for a given tool grinding operation. This may provide important information regarding ideal wheel white-sticking or dressing intervals.

Advanced Tip: The Chart Recorder monitors spindle load by default. However, changing the logged variable from XILF17 to XILF31 in the “configure” dialog will allow logging of spindle temperature for machines fitted with this option.

Constantly monitoring your grinder’s productivity

enables you to make small adjustments that can

equate to more parts per hour.

Monitoring the spindle load during grinding can be used

to optimise and improve the process. iGrind’s Tool Grind

Page (TGP) provides a visual method of seeing how the

load changes over time.

SoFT

WA

RE


Wheel Wear CompensationAll grinding wheels wear during use. The effect of wheel wear on the finished tool can be negligible, but as batch and tool size increases, the effect of wheel wear can become significant.

As of Toolroom release RN30, iGrind features an option to automatically adjust the grinding wheel by known wheel wear rates. The feature is accessed via the TOOL menu. By knowing the approximate wheel wear rate for a given process in terms of wear per number of tools, this can be specified for each wheel. This can be particularly useful to negate the effect of wheel wear when grinding large batches of tools.s

Scale your Tools to Minimise programming TimeCutting tools are typically created as a series consisting of different diameters. Geometry between tool diameters in a given series is generally very similar, with smaller tools being a scaled-down version of larger tools.

As of Toolroom RN31, iGrind features an option to automatically scale tools to different diameters. For example, a 10mm tool file can be scaled down to an 8mm tool file very easily using the Scale Tool feature, found under the iGrind TOOL menu. Simply click on the menu option and enter in the new tool diameter. iGrind will then apply default behaviour to scale the tool as required.

For custom scaling behaviour, an advanced feature exists under the utilities -> scripting -> Write scaled script from current Tool iGrind menu option. This option allows a script to be created where the scaling for each parameter can be defined in simple scripting language. Either simple linear scaling or more complicated behaviour can be specified. The created script can then later be executed to create any size diameter tool.

Advanced Tip: The tool parameters scaled by the default scaling option under the Tools menu are specified in the p:/toolroom/tcg/tga/autoscale.txt file. This file can be copied to a directory named p:/toolroom/misc/tga and modified to customise the parameters which are scaled.

iGrind RN31 contains a simple method of scaling tools to

create the same tool in a different diameter.

The wheel wear compensation function in iGrind is accessed via

the TOOL menu.


technical specifications

CNC Data

ANCA 5DX, Core 2 Duo min., 1 GB RAM, 15” touch screen, DVD RW, usB connectivity

Mechanical Axes

X-axis Y-axis Z-axis A-axis C-axis p-axis

Position Feedback Resolution 0.0001 mm 0.0001 mm 0.0001 mm 0.0001 mm 0.0001 deg 0.0001 deg

0.0000039” 0.0000039” 0.0000039” 0.0000039”

Programming Resolution 0.001 mm 0.001 mm 0.001 mm 0.001 mm 0.001 deg 0.001 deg

0.000039” 0.000039” 0.000039” 0.000039”

Software Axes: (patented) B, V, u, W

Workpiece: Diameter 300 mm (12”) max., length for OD and end-face grinding 400 mm (16”) max, weight 25 kg (55 lbs) max*

Drive System: ANCA Digital (Sercos standard). Direct drive on linear and rotary axes

Machine Data

Grinding Spindle: ANCA direct drive 37 kW (49 HP) induction motor; 10, 000 RPM standard (15,000 RPM optional)

Wheel Arbor: BigPlus BT 40 Taper

Electrical Power: 25 kVA

Probe System: Renishaw

Base Material: ANCAcrete polymer concrete

Colour: RAL 7035 / RAL 5014

Cell Data

Robot: Fanuc M20i/A

Power: 3 kVA

Wheel Changer: standard nine wheel packs expandable up to 24. up to four wheels per pack, 15s change time

Wheel Diameter: up to 300 mm on selected wheel pack stations

Tool Loading: standard two pallets, expandable up to four, tool dia. range 3-32 mm, max. tool length 325mm, 15s change time

Large Floor Plan Small Floor Plan

*Depending upon tool set-up

Height: 2230 mm [87.8”]Weight: 10 000 kg [22 000 lbs]

ANCA globalAsia PacificANCA Pty Ltd, Melbourne Australia +61 3 9751 8200ANCA Machine Tool (Shanghai) Co. Ltd Shanghai China +86 21 5868 2940ANCA India Bangalore India +91 80 4219 8107ANCA Japan Nagoya Japan +81 561 53 8543ANCA Thailand Ltd Rayong Thailand +66 3 895 9252ANCA Motion Taichung Taiwan +886 4 2336 4386Sahamit Machinery Bangkok Thailand +66 2 295 1000CKB Hiroshima Japan +81 82 227 3211 Nagoya Japan +81 52 776 4832 Osaka Japan +81 6 6442 3270 Tokyo Japan +81 3 3498 2131Allied Chase Shanghai China +86 21 6284 2166 Leeport (Holdings) Limited Hong Kong China +852 2427 7991SH International Seoul South Korea +82 3 1777 3130

EuropeANCA GmbH Mannheim Germany +49 621 338 100ANCA Italia Vicenza Italy +39 0444 341 642ANCA (UK) Ltd Coventry United Kingdom +44 24 7644 7000Karel Redig – ANCA Edegem Belgium +32 3448 4165Christophe Chaumet – ANCA Meximeux France +33 675 186 395Slawek Antoszczyk – ANCA Wielkie Drogi Poland +48 668 150 552Springmann Austria GmbH Feldkirch Austria +43 5522 70960ALBA Precision sro Brno Czech Republic +420 548 214 098KR Trading Juelsminde Denmark +45 75 69 01 35Soumen Hiontakone OY Mikkeli Finland +358 40 5055 159Tek Team Ltd Yehud Israel +972 3 632 3576Ravema AS Oslo Norway +47 66 85 90 10MAVIS VS Impex srl Bucaresti Romania +40 311 046 636ZAO Rosmark Steel St. Petersburg Russia +7 812 336 2727ALBA Precision sro Banska Bystrica Slovakia +421 48 414 8627Grupo Delteco Eibar Spain +34 943 70 70 07Ravema AB Varnamo Sweden +46 370 488 00Springmann SA/AG Neuchatel Switzerland +41 32 791 1122 Niederburen Switzerland +41 71 424 2600Tool Man SARL (French region) Veyrier-Geneve Switzerland +41 22 890 0405CNC İleri Teknoloji ve Tic. Ltd. Şti Istanbul Turkey +90 212 786 6200

North AmericaANCA Inc. Wixom, MI USA +1 248 926 4466ALTA Enterprises Center Valley, PA USA +1 610 866 8866Beckman Precision Inc. Greer, SC USA +1 864 801 8181Earth Falcon Lauderdale-by-the-sea, FL USA +1 945 202 9090Grinding Solutions San Pedro Garza Mexico +81 1776 5851Innovative Machine Solutions Inc. Watertown, WI USA +1 414 333 1343Machine Tool Marketing Inc. Tulsa, OK USA +1 918 369 7065Machines & Methods Inc. Bellevue, WA USA +1 425 746 1656 Beaverton, OR USA +1 503 617 1992Magnum Precision Machines, Inc. Albuquerque, NM USA +1 505 345 8389 Metalworking Technologies Limited Arlington Heights, IL USA +1 847 818 5800Modern Tools Inc. Stoneham, MA USA +1 781 438 3211Productivity Inc. Minneapolis, MN USA +1 763 476 8600 Cedar Rapids, IA USA +1 319 632 4288 Omaha, NE USA +1 402 330 2323Shenk Machinery Menlo Park, CA USA +1 650 766 7264Smith Industrial Machine Sales Rochester, NY USA +1 585 738 8323Smith Machinery Salt Lake City, UT USA +1 801 263 6403SMS Machine Tools Rexdale, Ontario Canada +1 416 675 7300Tornquist Machinery City of Industry, CA USA +1 714 572 6830 Phoenix, AZ USA +1 602 470 0334Triad Machine Tool Co. Wheat Ridge, CA USA +1 303 424 0268

South AmericaANCA do Brasil São Paulo Brasil +55 15 3221 5512

with anca’s innovative txcell seven hot tips docs/sharpedge2011.pdf · with anca’s innovative...

Documents