TURNING THE CORNER: TURNING CENTERS

CNC TURNING CENTER IDEAL FOR LARGE PART TURNING
The Slant Turn NEXUS 550M is a powerful, heavy-duty CNC turning center designed for large part turning applications such as oil field pipes, pipeline control valves, turbine wheels, aircraft and off-road parts and the production of power generating components for the aerospace, oil, gas, coal and nuclear industries. The Slant Turn NEXUS series is a renovation of Mazak's successful Slant Turn series of CNC lathes.

The STN550M headstock features a ø 10.8 in bore mounted on a 60 hp, 1,000 rpm turning spindle generates up to 5,163 ft-lbs of torque for heavy duty cutting of large workpieces. The spindle is also used as a C-axis, capable of being indexed at 0.001 deg increments to accurately position the part for slotting cuts and precisely drilled holes. Additionally, the C-axis spindle is a full-function CNC controlled axis for milling.

For convenient tool management, the STN550M utilizes a 12-position drum turret for rapid tool indexing. The machine is also equipped with a 10 hp, 4,000 rpm high speed milling spindle for roughing, grooving, endmilling and facemilling operations, allowing many processes to be completed in a single machine cycle. The STN550M's total travels are 18.25 in on the X-axis and 129.88 in on the Z-axis, with a 40.7 in swing capacity and a capacity steady rest of ø 16.14 in.

The machine also features an NC servo-driven tailstock to enable automated processes. The tailstock is fully programmable, driving the W-axis on its own AC servomotor and ball screw. Through the part program, the tailstock will retract to a known position and its center makes contact with the part with consistent holding pressure. Further, because of its positive independent drive system, the tailstock can be used to drill holes on a shaft centerline adding versatility to the jobs it can process.

The sixth-generation Mazatrol Matrix Nexus CNC simplifies multi-tasking metalworking operations on the STN550M. It offers a 12 in LCD color display and the familiar QWERTY keyboard. A pointing device, acting like a mouse, and USB port for downloading programs are also at the operator?s fingertips.

Conversational part programming can be accomplished in Mazatrol language while the machine is cutting another part, or off-line in a CAD/CAM system. Once imported into Mazatrol MATRIX, a realistic 3D cycle simulation verifies the machining cycle and checks for machine interferences, greatly reducing the need for test cuts.

TURNING CENTER IDEAL FOR JOB SHOPS
The Quick Turn SMART series of 2-axis lathes offers high productivity turning at an affordable price. The line's QT-SMART 200 delivers fast axis feed rates and a new, user-friendly Mazatrol SMART control, making it ideal for job shops and other high production environments.

The QT-SMART 200's headstock features an 8 in chuck, mounted on a 20 hp, 5,000 rpm integrated spindle motor with a 3 in spindle bore that is optimized for machining performance. The turning center utilizes Roller LM guides on the X- and Z-axes to ensure high rigidity and smooth cutting at feedrates of 1,811 ipm on the X-axis and 1,299 ipm on the Z-axis.

The QT-SMART 200 also features X-axis ball screw pretension for high accuracy, as well as a 12-position, high-speed, non-lift drum turret for rapid tool indexing. Additionally, the machine is very reliable, particularly when set up for long runs with an automatic bar-feeder system.

The recently developed Mazatrol SMART control simplifies turning operations on the Quick Turn SMART series. Mazatrol SMART is designed for ease of operation and offers a 10.4 in LCD color display and the familiar QWERTY keyboard. A pointing device, acting like a mouse, and USB port for downloading programs are also at the operator?s fingertips. Conversational part programming can be accomplished in Mazatrol language. Mazatrol SMART control also accepts EIA/ISO programs.

The machine also features an NC servo-driven tailstock to enable automated processes. The tailstock is fully programmable, driving the W-axis on its own AC servomotor and ball screw. Through the part program, the tailstock will retract to a known position and its center makes contact with the part with consistent holding pressure. Further, because of its positive independent drive system, the tailstock can be used to drill holes on a shaft centerline adding versatility to the jobs it can process.

SYSTEM MEETS AUTOMATION NEEDS FOR JOB SHOPS
Job shops will benefit from adding Mazak?s Hyper Quadrex 200MSY to their operations. New to the Hyper Quadrex family of two turret CNC Turning Centers, the HQR 200MSY features two high performance spindles and upper and lower turrets to target balanced cutting for medium to high volume unattended applications.

Enhanced Done-In-One processing allows the HQR 200MSY to complete machining from slug material in the 8 in chuck range in one setup. Additionally, the balance cutting capability by the upper and lower turrets provides the ultimate part throughput, with Y-axis travels on both turrets ensuring the manufacture of a wider range of workpieces.

Major Hyper Quadrex 200MSY technologies include twin opposed turning spindles with 5,000 rpm and 30 hp each, plus full C-axis CNC control for part positioning and contouring at a resolution of 0.0001 deg. It also carries upper and lower 12-station tool turrets for fixed and rotating tools alike and Y-axis machine travels for each turret for off-the-centerline machining. The HQR 200MSY can handle bar stock up to 2.55 in diameter and can mill on both turrets with 7.5 hp spindles.

Mazak also equipped the HQR 200MSY with a factory installed RL100 Gantry Loader. Designed to maximize productivity for a wide range of applications within an extremely compact floor space, the five-axis robot loader features a three-jaw double robot hand with sensors, and accommodates up to two workpieces that are 0.78 in to 3.93 in length and 22 lbs.

In the twin-turret and twin-spindle configuration, shops can gain innovative process opportunities. The main and secondary spindles can operate together or separately, allowing a single part to be machined on all surfaces through a coordinated ?hand-off? between spindles, or two different parts can be machined simultaneously on one machine. Since the twin turrets can operate independently or together on the same part, opportunities abound for machining of two features simultaneously or balanced machining strategies.

In balanced cutting, two tools work together on the same feature such as rough and finish turning, rough and finish milling, or opposed feature drilling, tapping or boring utilizing the Y-axes. In cases where the part configuration permits, balanced machining can remove up to 25 percent of the cycle time. www.mazakusa.com