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The essential tool for the global

precision engineering industry

22 September 2022

@MachineryMktmag on all XYZ INING E E E
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10,000+ followers LOW H HIGH SPEED MILLING Z C CNC machi ININ
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Craig Lilley operating one of two Citizen T RA V VE LS FR OM:M
Cincom A20-VII sliding-head, bar-fed lathes
on the shopfloor at S Lilley & Son Ltd, Birmingham. 5 0 0 - 3 0 0 0 m m in n X
Shown right is the working area of the Cincom producing parts up to 32mm in diameter. In
XIILFV.
A20-VII highlighting the arrangement of linear gang January 2022 a fourth Cincom arrived, an L32- 4 0 0 - 1 0 0 0m minY n
between cuts, leading to very high productivity Director Simon Lilley said: “Even though
tooling that ensures the lathe’s short idle times
cam-type lathes can produce more components
per hour than their CNC counterparts, the abil-
ity to set the latter machines so much more
quickly and run them unattended through the
night during the week and into a ghost shift on
Saturday mornings means that in terms of pro-
duction output, one Cincom can do the work of T ouchscr een
three of the older single-spindle cam autos. In-
deed, the ability to produce long runs of com-
ponents — such as 100,000 hexagonal lock nuts
— on the CNC machines without an operator
in attendance is a massive advantage. During
the daytime the sliders are ideal for producing
smaller quantities of say 500-off, whereas cam- T ouchscr een
type lathes would need to be set to run a mini-
mum of 10,000-off to be economical; and in any
case, most of this type of work has long since
disappeared overseas. Being able to reduce eco-
96
nomical batch size so substantially, down to RO ONL L Y Y
about 100-off, has resulted in substantial savings F FROM O
£3.
in inventory and space and the cost of holding .96 *
large stocks.”
Chip-breaking benefits £3 .9
Bush-less sliding-head turning low-frequency vibration (LFV) chip-breaking
The new L32-XIILFV features Citizen’s latest
H
technology in the Mitsubishi control. This ma-
chine is also the mainstay for manufacturing in- PER HOUR
creasing quantities of a particular type of heavy
The ability to remove the guide bush has ‘heralded clamping allows deeper cuts to be taken without can equate to a considerable monetary saving. brass screw lampholder known as the Edison 11 August 2022
“Furthermore, bar other than round — such as
E14; and as with the other sliders on site, this
chatter, resulting in further efficiency gains
hexagonal or extruded — may be machined if
a natural successor to the single-spindle cam auto’ machining demanding materials.” the guide bush is not present; and if support is could be regarded as being best produced by
as well as better surface finishes, even when
machine is rarely used with the guide bush fitted.
In fact, so resolute is S Lilley & Son’s policy
in this regard that longer parts up to 5D, which
not necessary for the stability of a part during
Guide bush-less operation on a slider brings
other advantages in addition to the productivity machining, it is better to remove the guide bush sliding-head turning, are instead machined
as it can compromise accuracy. Holding round-
travel is unimportant to S Lilley & Son as most
price can be tolerated, as there is no bush for it
manufacturer of top-quality brass lampholders, that is now move in X and Y. However, the shorter Z-axis benefits. Bar of lower dimensional quality and ness then becomes easier on short components, halfway in the main spindle and transferred to
in its sixth generation of family ownership, S Lilley & Son of its components are less than 3.5D. to slide in; and the remnant after the last part has as the ability to achieve tolerance is dictated the sub spindle for the remainder of the turning
ALtd has nearly finished phasing out the 20 or so cam-type Moreover, Citizen says that “because the col- been machined from a bar is around one-third by the high quality of the spindle rather than and milling to be completed. This approach
single-spindle bar autos it has used in its Birmingham factory since let grips the bar much nearer the work than in the length left after true sliding-head turning, the bushing. “Moreover it is possible to run at higher rota- saves half an hour’s work installing the guide
bush and another half an hour removing it.
More than 95% of the Birmingham firm’s
classical sliding-head turning, the more-rigid
so there is less material wastage — a fact that
and surface finishes; and when bush-less turn-
the 1950s. In their place are to be found 11 modern CNC, twin- tional speeds to achieve better production rates turned parts are made from free-machining
spindle bar-fed lathes up to 65mm capacity with driven tooling, ing, multiple passes are feasible and shallow brass bar, but lately there has been an increase in
six of them supplied by Bushey-based Citizen Machinery UK Ltd Ornamental roughing cuts can be taken to alleviate chip- demand from its customer base for aluminium
parts up to 32mm in diameter, and for plastic
(www.citizenmachinery.co.uk). brass couplers breaking problems associated with turning components such as acrylic LED lenses and ac-
for lampholders
etal grommets (about a quarter of the company’s
produced by the
to size in one pass.”
Two are Miyano BNA42-MSY fixed-head higher, and thereby lower the cost of manufac- Cincom A20-VII Transition to CNC throughput is contract machining of such special
v ab
turning centres of 42mm capacity installed in turing parts up to 40% longer than the nominal components for luminaire manufacturers already The late est a range of XYZ Machining Ceentres are a vaila le in a “UNBEATABLE”
2017 and 2021, while the other four are Cincom maximum by taking advantage of higher speed S Lilley & Son’s transition from cam-type buying Lilley brass lampholders and lighting
The rationale for investing in sliding-head
ing, milling and drilling bar up to 32mm in production without the guide bush. lathes to CNC lathes started in 2008; and while accessories).
sliding-head models (sliders). Two are for turn-
r
turers, the company had sound reasons for the
diameter and two for processing 20mm stock. lathes and operating them without the guide this was somewhat later than for many manufac- member concluded: “Anodising-quality 2011
Craig Lilley, another director and family
Moreover, to achieve the high speed of produc- bush for most of the time, rather than buying delay. As tolerances on its electrical products T3 aluminium is not as free-machining as it is r ange of siz es and speecifications to suit y our nee to areds, r ange a demonstration
tion for which cam technology (albeit outdated) a fixed-head lathe, is due to the speed of produc- are not particularly tight, their production is rel- made out to be and the 6026 T9 grade we turn TUSCAN POWER & RIGIDITY
is renowned and couple it with the inherent
is even worse in terms of its tendency to gener-
atively unaffected by the age of a machine tool.
tion that is possible using the in-line ganged cut-
advantages of CNC technology — unattended ters typically found in a sliding-head machine, Also, the fittings are frequently needed in large ate stringy swarf. Most plastics are similarly
problematic when machined. LFV repeatedly
as the cross slide can achieve very fast tool
volumes that can be accommodated by single-
nomical batch sizes — S Lilley & Son operates changes between cuts. Indeed, cycles times spindle cam auto operation; and the company oscillates the tool clear of the bar surface for a contact y our Area Saales Manager toda ay y! Don’t orfot f get to ask about the Suuper LARGE SWING, LARGE SPINDLE, LONG BED CNC LATHE
running and rapid changeover for smaller eco-
the sliding-head machines almost exclusively can sometimes be halved compared with using was fortunate to employ a highly skilled cam fraction of a second, fragmenting the swarf into
without the guide bush in place, since most a fixed-head turning centre in which the tool auto setter-operator who retired as recently as manageable chip sizes. TUSCAN LL950 5-BEDWAY CNC LATHE
.
2019 — the year the penultimate cam-controlled
“There is no longer a need to stop the ma-
components for the light fittings the company
carrier is generally a revolving turret that takes
makes are shorter than 3.5-times their diameter. longer to index the next cutter into position; and machine was sold. The single remaining auto chine to clear swarf tangled around the tool and Deduction Scheme ouYoY u could sa v av e £1,000’ s! Time is ticking by y, it ends March 2023.
Normally a ratio of 2.5D is about the limit
because the bar is clamped by a collet closer to
when stock is not supported in a bushing (or the spindle nose on a slider when it is used with- is devoted to a particular long-running job. component, so production output is maintained. 8 September 2022
by another means such as a tailstock or sub out the guide bush, the Z-axis stroke is restricted Lilley family to accelerate the purchase of Cin- tion can be programmed to cut in and out dur- NEW
This setter’s departure was the trigger for the
Moreover, by simply inserting G-codes, the func-
spindle), otherwise the protruding length of bar to around one quarter of what is possible when com sliders. A pair of 20mm-capacity A20-VII ing a cycle. It is turned off automatically when * Hourly y rate is based on a 5 ear agryy g eement with a depos and based on a 39 hour/46 , sit,p w eek yeary r. BEDWAY FIVE
deflects under pressure from the tool, causing
stock slides through a bushing. This is because
it is not needed for chip breaking, so the slight
models was installed, one in 2019 and another
inaccuracy during machining. However, the rel- the whole spindle head rather than just the bar in 2020, as direct, more productive replacements reduction in material removal rate during LFV
atively open tolerances of the lampholder parts moves in and out of the working area to present for the former single-spindle cam autos. These machining is minimised. It really could not be
produced allows the company to push the limit the part to platen-mounted tools that can only joined an L32-XII that was installed in 2017 for more flexible.”
IN STOCK
24 Machinery Market +44 (0)20 8460 4224 22 September 2022 22 September 2022 www.machinery-market.co.uk 25 XYZ XYZ XYZ XYZ 3 and 4 Metre Universal Bed Mills
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Lagun LU S simultaneous
and LU C continuous
LL950 Exclusive UK Distributor heads in action.
SERIES Zero steady interference
Max turning dia 950mm up to 10m ctr LL950 x 6000
TUSCAN high precision CNC lathes are based on 40 years’ of experience, accumulating
abundant and excellent technology to create superior CNC lathes to meet customers
demanding requirements. Assembly, alignments and testing to CNC 7000 and ISO1708
standards, static testing, dynamic, backlash compensation, pitch error compensation,
dynamic balancing and NC function testing.
For more information call +44 (0)1908 647707
Axe & Status, 2 Holdom Avenue, Bletchley, Milton Keynes, MK1 1QU, UK. Email: sales@axestatus.com Ref: TU03
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