REDUCE YOUR PRECISION GRINDING COSTS

Flexibility is the key to making money in precision grinding. If you are looking for ways to reduce your grinder operating costs and improve your margins, check out the flexibility these machines offer.

MULTI-SURFACE GRINDER FOR COMPLEX PRECISION COMPONENTS
Bryant Grinder (Springfield, VT), a division of Vermont Machine Tool Corporation, offers the LL2U-MS (Universal-Multi-Surface) modular multi-surface grinding machine with extended flexibility to grind complex workpieces. This machine can be configured as a chucker, shoe type centerless, roll type centerless and center type work (between centers).

The machine has 10 in (255 mm) of Z axis travel, 10 in (255 mm) of X axis travel and an optional U axis, also with 10 in (255 mm) of travel. All linear axes use the proven round hydrostatic way system with 300 deg of bearing wrap to ensure accurate tracking in all degrees of freedom. This system offers “big” machine capacities inside a “small” machine footprint.

Configured as a chucker, the machine can swing up to 14 in (355 mm) diameter over the table; as a center type, 4.0 in (100 mm) diameter by 10 in (255 mm) long with a hydraulic tailstock and live centers. The center type configuration may be outfitted with a chuck and a C axis to grind OD non-round workpieces. Workpieces up to 6 in (1250 mm) diameter can be ground in shoes (hydrostatic shoes are available for special applications). The standard machine allows ±5 deg of taper adjustment; configured with an optional B axis, ±45 deg is available.

Linear glass scales provide position feedback with resolution of 0.000004 in (.0001 mm) on all linear axis. Linear prime movers are Fanuc linear motors with 6,000 N thrust positioned in the same plane as the linear way system. The motors are liquid cooled to optimize motor performance and minimize the heat transfer to other machine components.

The workhead rotary axis is powered by either a Fanuc servo motor or a Fanuc synchronous built-in Dis servo torque motor with a high accuracy rotary encoder. Both applications use direct drive to maximize the relationship with other CNC axes to ensure geometric accuracy on non-round grinding applications. The base is cast in granite epoxy and includes a thermal stability system with thermocouples that are strategically placed within the base to monitor temperature. With the optional thermal control system, the sensors provide feedback to the Fanuc 30 series control and Bryant Revelations® software to control the base temperature by heating or cooling as required.

Replacing the standard bridge with an extended bridge and workhead option offers processing opportunities for long awkward parts with bore depths or OD surfaces up to 11 in. With the standard bridge/workhead or the extended version the Dis direct drive workhead offers coupled C axis accuracy to non-round applications. With the U axis, stacked X and Z axes and multiple wheel head configuration, the LL2U-MS becomes a bore, face, seat grinder for fuel management applications.

A full range of standard and special support products are available for this machine tool, including High Precision Workheads, High Frequency Dressers, Roll Dressers, Radius Dressers and Generation II high torque wheelheads from 5,000 rpm to 165,000 rpm with built-in sensors for adaptive gap, dress, and grind. This machine tool is ideal for aerospace, bearing manufacture, automotive, medical, fuel management and job shop manufacturing applications. bryantgrinder.com

GEAR GRINDER HELPS MACHINE BUILDER BRING WORK IN-HOUSE
Drake Manufacturing (Warren, OH) is a mid-sized U.S. machine tool builder that designs, builds and services state-of-the-art precision CNC grinding, rack milling and gear hobbing machines that help maximize productivity, improve quality and reduce production costs for a wide variety of demanding applications.

The company is steadily developing a reputation in Asia as a premier supplier of precision grinding equipment. Okamoto Corporation of Singapore produces an excellent line of surface, internal, cylindrical and centerless grinders. But when Okamoto wanted to lower costs and improve quality of worm gears for their machines by producing them in-house, they turned to Drake.

Drake supplied Okamoto with its GS:G2-LM 200 linear motor CNC worm grinder equipped with pneumatic tailstock and ± 45° CNC wheel helix. The machine was programmed during construction for Okamoto worm shafts and now produces them to an AGMA Class 14. A GS:G2 equipped with worm grinding hardware and software lets manufacturers source near-net-shaped or hobbed gears from low cost suppliers, yet still gives them control over the final product.