A mill-turn alternative to a driven tool lathe
Tony Bess, director of subcontract machinists Plalite in Sittingbourne, Kent, has invested £3 million in capital equipment in the last three years.
On the ball milling
Open Mind Technologies’ hyperMILL CAM software has been used to conduct the 5-axis programming of a replica basketball hoop.
As one of the leading developers of CAM software solutions, hyperMILL was used in conjunction with a Grob G350 5-axis machining centre using conical ball barrel cutters from OSG to machine the basketball hoop.
Starting with a block of aluminium weighing more than 80kg and using a 320mm cutting tool length, the finished basketball hoop was milled to a final weight of 565g, a 99.3% material reduction.
The hoop has an intricate design that was machined to high levels of detail. The application showcases hyperMILL’s extreme high-performance capability for complex 5-axis machining including milling deep pockets and finishing curved shapes. Superior collision control enables a long cutting tool to cut in extremely tight contours.
The outer regions were machined with hyperMILL MAXX Machining roughing applied with a 5-axis shape-offset roughing process. HyperMILL provides users with a broad array of features designed to improve their manufacturing process with high speed and flexibility.
Open Mind www.openmind-tech.com
Company
Related Articles
How 3D printing and 5-axis machining can work together
Matsuura demonstrates how additive manufacturing (3D printing) and 5-axis machining can work together for quicker production.
5 years ago
Videos
Most recent Articles
Enhancing manufacturing efficiency with smart products
In the dynamic landscape of Industry 4.0, the evolution towards smart factories is revolutionising manufacturing processes. With the integration of intelligent machines and sensors, production facilities are transitioning towards error-free machining with the use of smart products.
2 hours ago
News
£86m investment announced for UK wind turbine research facilities
Plans to keep the UK at the forefront of technology development in offshore wind have been given the green light, with the announcement that UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) will provide £85.6m of capital funding for the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) Catapult to expand and upgrade its testing facilities and enable the evolution of the next generation of wind turbines.
8 hours ago
News
Three Unison machine tool brands explained
Unison, a UK manufacturer of tube bending machines and the inventor of all-electric tube manipulation, speaks to PES about its range of machines, including from sister company Nukon Lasers UK and wire bending machinery manufacturer, Pneuform Machines.
8 hours ago
Videos
