Let things slide

One of five Star multi-axis CNC lathes on show, it will take centre stage on a stand which, at 350m², is Star GB's largest ever. Emphasising that it is always a cost-effective manufacturing solution that a customer wants, rather than just a machine tool, Star will play host to an array of partner companies and their products. All are designed to extract maximum benefit and productivity from sliding headstock lathes. Equipment on display will include LNS bar feeders, high pressure coolant systems from Pumps & Equipment, Filtermist oil mist collection and filtration, Nobel fire suppression, PSL Datatrack production management software, cutting tools from WNT and NTK, and two agency lines from Emmaco UK, namely IBAG high speed spindles and Argotech acoustic and power monitoring systems. In addition, manufactured parts can be inspected on a Hommel Opticline non-contact measuring system from Metrology Direct. Demonstrations running on all five Star machines will show their full capabilities in conjunction with the above equipment. In addition to the new ST-38 fitted with an FMB Turbo 5-55 bar magazine, there will be a 10mm capacity SR-10J equipped with an FMB Micromag and three 20mm capacity lathes. There will be an SR-20RIII with LNS 5-42 3m magazine, ECAS-20T plus FMB Turbo 3-36, and the SR-20JN without guide bush fed from an LNS short bar magazine. Although sliding head lathes above 32mm capacity are available on the market, it is rare to find one in use in the UK. “With the arrival of the ST-38, more companies will be able to take advantage of sliding headstock technology, with its faster cycle times, greater accuracy and higher productivity compared with fixed head turning,” enthuses Star GB's managing director Bob Hunt. The new lathe has 12 CNC axes shared between two C-axis spindles and three live turrets for one hit machining of complex components. X and Z axis rapids are 30m/minute, resulting in short idle times. A 3-axis and a 2-axis turret can perform combinations of turning and prismatic machining concurrently on round or hexagonal bar rotating at up to 7,000rpm in the main, 11kW spindle. Another 2-axis turret is devoted to simultaneous back working on a parted-off component in the 7.5kW/7,000rpm counter spindle. Each turret has 10 tool stations driven by a 4kW/5,700rpm motor for carrying out prismatic cross working and end working operations. As each station can accept two tools, a total of 60 cutters can be resident in the machine. Control is provided via a standard Fanuc 30i-A CNC system and for parts involving a combination of simple and complex operations, the complete cycle can be made up from both motion control programming and traditional ISO format. The ST-38 is a strong, robust machine weighing well over six tonnes. It has 350mm of headstock stroke in Z, allowing parts up to this length to be produced in one chucking. The other 11 CNC machining axes are C on the main spindle, Y, Z, C on the synchronous sub-spindle, X and Y on both the left and right rear turrets, and X, Y, Z on the front turret. Star Micronics
www.stargb.com
Hall 5, Stand 5250