Increasing 5-axis machining in a small footprint

The Hurco trunnion-type VMX30Ui is Pro-Cut's latest purchase and the first full 5-axis VMC on the shop floor in Milton Keynes
The Hurco trunnion-type VMX30Ui is Pro-Cut's latest purchase and the first full 5-axis VMC on the shop floor in Milton Keynes

Steve Holmes, owner of subcontract machining company Pro-Cut Precision Engineering in Milton Keynes, founded his business in 2010 and bought a second-hand Hurco VMX30 3-axis vertical machining centre (VMC) to carry out prismatic machining operations.

Today, specialising in a mixture of prototyping and small batch work as well as longer production runs, he has seven modern machines from the same supplier on the shopfloor. One of the most recent additions was the first full 5-axis model on site, a trunnion-type VMX30Ui for producing more complex components.

It joined an existing VM30i 3-axis machining centre in an adjacent unit that has benefitted from the addition of a Kitagawa rotary-tilt table with Lang workholding. The machine provides further 5-axis capability while retaining the possibility of using the full 1,270mm X-axis for processing larger components. When carrying out five-sided metal cutting operations, the machine is often programmed using Hurco’s powerful transform-plane software in the Max5 control.

Mr Holmes advised that the move towards 5-axis was a natural progression for the company and having two different configurations of machine allows him to produce a greater variety of workpiece sizes and shapes. He is impressed with the reliability and performance of the Hurco machines and says they produce components of high accuracy and surface finish.

The Hurco VM30i 3-axis machining centre at Pro-Cut has a Kitagawa rotary-tilt table to provide further 5-axis capacity
The Hurco VM30i 3-axis machining centre at Pro-Cut has a Kitagawa rotary-tilt table to provide further 5-axis capacity

On-site also are three smaller VM10i 3-axis VMCs, which he described as "absolutely brilliant", as they run every day for up to 15 hours making production parts for the agricultural industry. "The machines never, ever stop and they don't go wrong," he adds.

He regards the VM10i models as having a good specification for their size with 20 tool pockets in the magazine and a 10,000rpm spindle in addition to such control system features as pocketing cycles, 3D cycles and rigid tapping. Moreover, he was able to squeeze all three VMCs as well as the two 5-axis machines into two adjacent 980ft² units.

He recently added a further 1,500ft² of factory space to start his next expansion phase and in early October 2021 installed another 3-axis VM30i and a larger VMX42Ui 5-axis machine.

Speaking of his first full 5-axis acquisition, Mr Holmes says: “Compared with other models on the market, the VMX30Ui can handle surprisingly large sized components, considering the relatively small footprint of the VMC.

“We are happy to machine 5-sided components in 3+2 axis mode or undertake fully simultaneous 5-axis work, the more complex parts presently being required mainly for the motorsport sector.

“Flexibility to be able to serve a variety of customers is key to our business success and the latest, larger capacity 5-axis model will help us further in this respect.”

Much of the subcontractor's simultaneous 5-axis machining of more complex parts is for the motorsport sector
Much of the subcontractor's simultaneous 5-axis machining of more complex parts is for the motorsport sector

Pro-Cut has recently added two seats of Open Mind hyperMill CAD/CAM for programming complex work, but the Max5 control on the 3-axis machines and the WinMax twin-screen control on the latest 5-axis model are used for creating cycles for simpler work and are regarded as a perfect way of getting into CNC.

With the benefit of having used Hurco machines for more than two decades, including in previous employment, Mr Homes describes the proprietary control as having become better and faster over the years. Its outstanding conversational programming capabilities and the quality of the graphics are nevertheless undiminished.

He concludes: “To keep the spindle's turning during our longer production runs, all machines have either augers or swarf conveyors that easily manage the build-up of swarf. We are known for our fast turnaround of high-quality CNC machined components, whatever the batch size, and the inherent reliability of the Hurco machines underpins that reputation.”

Hurco
www.hurco.co.uk

Company

Hurco

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