Founded in 2007, the Taiwanese firm produces vertical and horizontal machining centres with X-axis strokes up to 2,500 mm, B-axis and trunnion-type 5-axis machining centres with up to four metres travel in X, large bridge-type mill-turn centres with capacities up to 16 x 5 x 1 metre, horizontal borers, and both horizontal- and vertical-spindle turning centres.

Tim Whitehouse, Managing Director of Whitehouse Machine Tools, Kenilworth said, “We are delighted to represent WELE and its wide portfolio of machines, which have won numerous awards at international machine tool shows.

“The group’s product range greatly enhances Whitehouse Machine Tools’ offering to British and Irish manufacturers and dovetails neatly with machines from our other principals.

“They include Japanese 30-taper turret machine producer, Brother; German machining centre and lathe manufacturer, Spinner; Taiwanese builder of mid-capacity machining centres, Averex; Italian CNC turning centre manufacturer, Biglia; and machining centre, grinder and automation system provider, Toyoda.”

One of the latest new products to be introduced by WELE is the AA1165 vertical machining centre. It is a powerful, high accuracy machine that has undergone extensive hand scraping and offers a working volume of 1,100 x 650 x 600 mm.

Mr Whitehouse mentioned that the first one has been sold to a market‐leading manufacturer in the UK of split valves for the pharmaceutical industry, complete with a tailstock and Kitagawa 4th CNC axis. Another has been ordered for stock at the agent’s Kenilworth showroom and technical centre. View the complete WELE range here.

The robust construction of the AA1165 3-axis VMC manufactured by WELE.
(Click to enlarge)

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Rigidity and accuracy are assured by deploying a +1°/-110° B-axis spindle to provide the fth CNC axis, avoiding having to swivel the rotary table. A xed table to the right of it allows workpieces up to 1,650 mm long to be supported horizontally for 3-axis metalcutting, extending the machine’s versatility.

The spindle head centreline is o set by 200 mm to the left of its centre of rotation to allow features closer to the table to be machined.

Notable also is the patent-pending method of protecting the table’s Y-axis guideway from swarf and coolant ingress using a single wiper system, eliminating the need for a telescopic cover. The depth of the machine is consequently shorter, leading to a 30 per cent reduction in overall footprint.

As the table moves to the extremes in the X-axis, automated loading and unloading from the sides is simplified. Another characteristic of the machine is FEM-optimisation of the cast structure, which provides a high level of rigidity and vibration damping for elevated cutting performance and high standards of surface finish on machined components. Further advantages are that tool life is extended and accuracy of machining is enhanced.

A user can choose from a vast array of alternative features and options, such as a 464 Nm high-torque spindle or a 18,000 rpm high-speed spindle, a 96-pocket magazine for SK50 / HSK100 tools or 138 pockets for SK40 / HSK63, 70 bar high-pressure coolant instead of 22 bar, linear scales in X, Y and Z, and either a Siemens 840D sl control with Spinner’s 24-inch Touchpanel 4.0 interface or a Heidenhain TNC640 with 19-inch screen.

Often overlooked when drawing up a machine tool shortlist is the aspect of chip disposal. Spinner has optimised efficiency in this area by providing four spiral augers to deliver chips to a conveyor at the front of the machine for convenient removal. It also ensures negligible heat transmission and allows space on the shop floor to be saved when installing the 16-tonne machine.

All Spinner machine tools are manufactured in its Munich factory. The medium-sized enterprise has delivered more than 20,000 since its inception in 1950 and currently sells in excess of 1,000 CNC machines per year.

See the Spinner VC1650 5-axis machining centre in action on YouTube.

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All are highly productive, with tool change in under one second, 0.2 second spindle start / stop, 50 m/min rapids, 30 m/min cutting feed and 377 m/min synchronised tapping, for example, coupled with simultaneous movement of up to five CNC axes to minimise non-cutting time. The automated component load / unload option exploits that speed to the maximum by delivering parts to the spindle faster than an operator is able to and without interruption.

The plug-and-play automation unit, which communicates with the machining centre via a Profibus interface, is supplied with a 6-axis ABB robot and the manufacturer’s smart teach pendant incorporating a customised Speedio page. Extended periods of unattended and overnight running are possible, enabling manufacturers to make the most of their investment in the machining centre in the knowledge that the automation has been designed specifically for it and is not a generic solution provided by a third party.

Having a handling capacity of 10 kg or 20 kg, the robot can be equipped with standard interchangeable grippers with two or three fingers or an adjustable double gripper, all with an air blow nozzle if required.

A camera vision system and built-in PC allows the robot to detect where on the upper inlet conveyor a workpiece has been placed. After machining, components are returned to an output conveyor positioned below the first.

Accessibility to the machine from the front is maintained by positioning the automation unit to the side, a configuration that allows it to serve two Speedios.

Options include a static station for regripping a component, a turn-around station, and equipment for deburring, washing, air cleaning and part marking.

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A video of the machine demo-cutting an aluminium component from a solid billet may be viewed at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=_JogzBxM7uA

Improvements include an integrated, high output, direct drive motor in the C-axis to replace the previous roller drive powering the 2,000 rpm turning table. The A-axis trunnion rotates through a 50 per cent larger angle, from +120 to -30 degrees, allowing machining of features at the rear of components and facilitating loading and unloading of parts at the front of the machine.

Furthermore, the A-axis is now tilted by a backlash free roller drive, promoting high accuracy metal cutting. A holding force of 400 Nm without the need for a mechanical clamping mechanism delivers high speed indexing combined with rigidity when milling parts at an angle or turning them in the horizontal plane.

A new option is a 16,000 rpm BIG Plus face-and-taper contact spindle, which can 1 be specified in place of the standard 10,000 rpm spindle. X / Y / Z travels of 200 / 440 / 305 mm remain the same, but the distance between the table surface and the spindle nose has beenincreased to 455 mm, providing more space for the fixture, workpiece and cutting tool and hence extending versatility of production.

Brother has removed every conceivable element of non-productive time. For example, not only are speeds fast during non cutting motions, but they also take place simultaneously in X, Y, Z, A and C, together with tool change. The spindle motor’s rapid acc/dec and a highly responsive servo control enable a 0.2 second start / stop time. Startup time of the turning table from zero to 2,000 rpm is less than 0.3 second.

The specification of the Speedio M140X2 includes 0.9 second tool change from the 22-position magazine, giving 1.4 seconds chip-tochip time. Rapids of 50 m/ min in the linear axes help to minimise non-cutting times further, while 30 m/min cutting feed rate maximises metal removal rate. Synchronised tapping is world-leading at 377 m/ min peripheral tap speed.

Accessibility for workpiece transfer is ergonomic and the generous door opening can be automated for high production environments or to automate load / unload. Swarf management measures are comprehensive, as befits a machine that is likely to handle large volumes of aluminium chips. A new, high speed C-00 control completes the package.

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The U-630 and U-1530 ranges of 3-, 4- and 5-axis vertical machining centres (VMCs) from German manufacturer, Spinner, have been significantly uprated in response to suggestions from end users. Sole sales and service agent for the UK and Ireland, Whitehouse Machine Tools, explains the improvements.

Called U-Advanced Series, the machines offer larger magazines up to 122 pockets for SK40 / BT40 or HSK63 taper tools, higher speed spindles with maxima of 12,000, 15,000 or 20,000 rpm, longer axis travels, higher coolant pressure to 70 bar, improved chip flow and a swarf conveyor as standard.

CNC options are the most modern versions of Siemens (840D sl 4.x) and Heidenhain (TNC620 / TNC640) controls, both with 15” screen. For operator convenience, the height and angle of the control can be adjusted. Digital drives from the same two manufacturers ensure high precision machining, with linear scales fitted for accurate feedback of axis position.

Despite the longer strokes, now 630 x 530 x 465 mm for the U-630 and 1,530 x 530 x 465 mm for the U-1530, the footprints of the machines have been reduced to enable installation in smaller workshops. Furthermore, the overall height is lower, facilitating access to factories.

U3 machine variants are 3-axis VMCs with a fixed table. Built into the base of U4 models is a larger, more dynamic, rigid rotary table that pivots around a horizontal axis to allow workpieces to be clamped on both faces.

For full 5-axis machining, U5 versions have an integrated rotary-tilt table that can optionally be equipped with a counterbalancing system to eliminate the influence of workpiece weight. Direct-drive rotary tables are available.

Low-cost automation is offered in the form of a 5- or 9-pallet pool with automatic pallet exchange. Positioned to the right of the machine, the configuration is said to be particularly well suited to mould making. Alternative automation arrangements accommodate up to 50 pallets.

Whitehouse Machine Tools advises that more than 1,000 of the original U-Series VMCs have been installed and that U-Advanced Series sales in Germany already exceed 50 units. A U5-1530 is available for demonstration in the agent’s Kenilworth showroom.

It is also noteworthy that the new machine range is complemented by the entry-level Compact Series of 5-axis VMCs from Spinner, intended for up to 4-axis simultaneous cycles.

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Its compactness is a result of employing a novel method for protecting the 1,800 x 820 mm table’s X and Y axis guideways from swarf and coolant ingress using a single wiper system and without recourse to telescopic covers.

Designated VC1650, the 3-axis machine joins the smaller VC1150 model with 1,150 x 620 x 600 mm travels introduced two years ago. Both machines are available in the UK and Ireland through sole sales and service agent, Whitehouse Machine Tools, Kenilworth. An informative video showing the VC1650 in operation and giving representative cutting data may be viewed at: www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Pbi6I_rtLg0

Another notable characteristic is the 14.5 tonne, FEM-optimised cast structure, which provides a high level of rigidity and vibration damping for elevated cutting performance and high standards of surface finish on machined components. Further advantages are that tool life is extended and accuracy of machining is enhanced, assisted by optimal chip evacuation via a conveyor at the front of the machine which ensures negligible transmission of heat.

The distance from the operator to the front of the table, which accepts components weighing up to two tonnes, has been minimised to 200 mm for convenient workpiece loading and unloading without strain. Operator convenience is extended further by the ability to adjust the control panel height and keyboard angle.

The machine is nimble despite its size, with rapid linear traverse in X, Y and Z of 48 m/min. Options available on the machine are a 32 or 60 tool magazine; a choice of Siemens 840D SolutionLine, Heidenhain TNC620 / TNC640 or Fanuc 32iMB controls; and an SK40, SK50 or HSK63 spindle with speeds from 8,000 to 18,000 rpm and power / torque up to 62 kW / 343 Nm.

There are numerous other opportunities to customise the Spinner VC1650. Further equipment that can be supplied include a rotary table, coolant mist suction unit, high pressure coolant delivery (22 or 70 bar), hydraulic workpiece clamping, workpiece and tool measurement, glass scales and various tooling packages.

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See the machine in action via the video link on our Brother page

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Diecaster pleased that specifying a big working envelope no longer means settling for a slow machining centre.

Largely as a result of receiving new medical and aerospace contracts, turnover has increased by 70 per cent in the last 12 months at MRT Castings, an aluminium diecasting company in Andover. Noteworthy is that the tonnage has scarcely changed. The increase in business is nearly all derived from machining the castings, which are becoming ever more complex, and from producing sub-assemblies.

A user of Brother machining centres since the early 1990s, MRT has invested in six further machines in the last year and a half from UK agent, Whitehouse Machine Tools to cope with extra demand, bringing the total number of these Japanese-built, Diecaster pleased that specifying a big working envelope no longer means settling for a slow machining centre. 30-taper machines on site to 18.

The latest two, designated S1000X1, are the first in the UK of a new model with a 1,000 mm X-axis. It is around one-third longer than that of the largest machine available from other 30-taper machining centre manufacturers, including Brother until now. Despite the 1,100 x 500 mm table, the machine’s footprint is compact at a nominal 2.4 metres square.

Phil Rawnson, managing director of MRT commented, “Designers from Brother visited us in mid-2013 to ask what type of machine we would like them to develop next. Consulting with its customers is a good sign, as it means that the machine builder is listening to what the market wants.

“As we are milling, drilling and tapping nearnet-shape aluminium castings in low to medium volumes and removing typically only a couple of millimetres of material, a 30-taper spindle is suitable for our needs.

“We told Brother that we wanted a larger machining envelope to give us more flexibility in the way that we fixture parts. Two years later, in June this year, the two S1000X1s were on our shop floor.”

As a 30-taper machining centre with a one-metre X-axis stroke did not previously exist, Mr Rawnson bought 40-taper machining centres to process MRT’s larger castings. There were disadvantages, however. 40-taper machines are of unnecessarily high power for skimming off 2 mm of aluminium and are consequently overly power-hungry. They also tend to be more expensive to buy and the rapid traverses and spindle acc/ dec are slower, so cycle times are longer and productivity is lower.

The S1000X1 design avoids these negatives by providing a highly productive machine with 50 m/min linear rapids (slightly higher in the 300 mm Z-axis). Tool change executed by the 21-station turret takes under one second, giving a chip-tochip time of 1.4 seconds, and is performed at the same time as X and Y axis movements and rotary table indexing to reduce idle time further. Rapid cutter exchange is an important aspect, as a large mix of tooling is needed to machine MRT’s castings.

A new ISO control, CNC C00, provides faster processing, more functions and higher accuracy machining, especially in 3D. MRT’s existing programs for its 16,000 rpm Brother machines run 10 per cent faster on the S1000X1s without any modification, sometimes even faster depending on the type of cycle and the number of tool changes.

If a program is transferred from an earlier 10,000 rpm spindle Brother machine fitted with the previous control to a 16,000 rpm S1000X1 with the CNC C00, average cycle time savings are even higher at around 30 per cent.

When asked how he harnesses the extra working volume of the Brother S1000X1s , Mr Rawnson replied, “There are four ways we use the capacity.

“First, we had a 150 mm column riser fitted to both machines so that we can swing a 550 mm part on a trunnion arrangement comprising a rotary table and tailstock. By using a bridge style fixture with pockets in the fixture plate, the fourth CNC axis allows machining to be completed on four faces of a casting in a single operation.

“Secondly, if we need to hit the remaining faces of a component, we can carry out the secondary machining operation sequentially by fixturing parts side by side on a single fixture. “Thirdly, we are able to fixture a larger number of smaller parts to fill the table. By putting more castings under the spindle at the same time, fewer tool changes are needed per component and productivity is increased.

“Lastly, of course, we can machine castings up to one metre long in three or four axes and at the highly productive rates possible using a 30-taper machine. Shoehorning larger parts onto our smaller machines is a thing of the past and it saves a lot of time.”

Irrespective of how the machine is employed, speed is of the essence at the two machine shops on the Andover site. MRT uses four pressure diecasting cells, the fastest of which are capable of producing a casting every 40 seconds, and nearly all of them need to be machined in cycle times ranging from two to 20 minutes.

To keep up with the metalcutting requirement over an extended day shift, the 18 Brother machines are of two configurations. Eleven have fixed tables, while the others are equipped with automatic twin-pallet changers utilising a total of 25 pallets set up with rotary trunnions and dedicated fixtures to speed changeover to the next batch. This occurs typically every one to two days per machine.

The twin-pallet Brothers are generally used if cycles are short, say less than five minutes, to minimise spindle idle time during sequential op 1 and op 2 machining on six sides of a casting. Fixed table machines are more economical if cycles are longer, as one operator is able to load and unload a pair of machines to complete the two operations in tandem.

To keep pace with production, trouble-free operation is as important as speed. Mr Rawnson affirms that there has been little downtime on the Brother machines over the years and their inherent reliability is reinforced by maintenance contracts and prompt service back-up from Whitehouse Machine Tools.

Accuracies achieved are impressive, sometimes down to a couple of microns for bearing bores. Some electrical assemblies, for example, comprise up to 20 individual castings and tolerance build-up can become a problem if such tight limits are not held. Other work for the electronics, defence and top-end lighting sectors also stipulate tolerances that are sometimes very tight. Parts coming off the Brothers are not only dimensionally accurate but also highly repeatable, according to Mr Rawnson.

He concluded, “Whitehouse Machine Tools supplies every new machine as a as turnkey cell complete with tooling, through-spindle coolant, a fourth axis, mist extraction and tool and part probing. Programs, fixtures and tools are freely interchangeable between the machines, which gives us a lot of production flexibility.

“MRT Castings has been a family run business since its formation in 1947 and has always worked in partnership with its customers, constantly evolving to meet their demands. Brother has adopted a similar partnership approach by listening to what we and other subcontractors want and developing new machines to fit our changing requirements.”

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Italian CNC lathe builder, Biglia, represented in the UK by Whitehouse Machine Tools (www.wmtcnc.com), offers a range of lathes that alleviates the difficulty. It does this by allowing the sub-spindle to be offset downwards and to the front of the machine by up to 115 mm, instead of being collinear with the main spindle.

The main reason for the manufacturer providing this feature is to eliminate the possibility of interference between the two (or three) turrets when they are working simultaneously in certain configurations. However, Nylaplas Engineering (www. nylaplas.com) in Nailsea, near Bristol, has identified an additional advantage that results from offsetting the spindles.

While a plastic component is being turned in the main spindle the coils of swarf, which tend to move horizontally to the right before falling away, do not interfere with simultaneous machining of a parted-off component in the sub-spindle, as it is lower and more importantly offset horizontally.

If the spindles are on the same level, the right hand machining area invariably becomes covered in swarf from the left hand side, which is detrimental to second-operation machining, compromising both accuracy and surface finish.

On the other hand, the ability to move the sub spindle back in line with the main spindle is also useful, as it allows the former’s B-axis to come into play. A long component can be gripped and rotated at both ends to avoid it deflecting during turning and cross milling or drilling.

Nylaplas is a global supplier of thermoplastic machined components and stock shapes to the nuclear, defence, aerospace, pharmaceutical and semiconductor industries. Technical director, Andrew Bassett, who runs the family-owned firm with brother James and mother Leonora said, “We discovered this feature of Biglia lathes by chance when we installed our first model 15 years ago.

“It had two C-axis spindles served by two turrets with live tooling and proved very productive in the manufacture of a 2 long-running job involving turning molybdenum disulphide-filled nylon bar into carriage rollers for a rail motion system. We needed to produce 120,000 of the 48 mm diameter by 25 mm long components per year.

“We only had a single spindle, single-turret CNC lathe on the shop floor at the time and we needed a more productive machine with in-cycle second-operation capability to lower the unit manufacturing cost and keep the work from going to China.”

The Biglia lathe managed to secure the carriage roller contract for Nylaplas, taking 15 seconds out of what would have been a 63-second cycle on the single-spindle lathe. Driven tooling was not needed for this particular job, but has proved valuable for a multiplicity of other work that has been put onto the machine. A majority has been in the 30 to 70 mm diameter range, with smaller components generally being produced on sliding-head lathes.

Tolerances can be as tight as 0.05 mm, but a couple of degrees Celsius variation can cause some engineering and advanced thermoplastics to expand or contract by more than that, so temperature management is crucial. One-hit machining is a major advantage in this respect, as a component stays in one environment during the entire manufacturing process. Most plastics are annealed before machining to stress-relieve them and help stabilise the materials.

When the time came in March 2015 to replace the Biglia lathe, Mr Bassett reviewed the market again but decided in favour of another of the Italian-built turning centres. A 10-axis B465 T2 Y2 equipped with an LNS Quick Load Servo short bar magazine was duly installed.

As the machine’s designation implies, it has the added advantage of Y-axis CNC movement on both turrets, each of which has 12 live stations. Coincidentally, when the company was visited, a batch of cube-shaped components was being produced from round plastic bar that could not have been machined for the required price had the lathe been purchased without the optional Y axes.

Another improvement on the latest Biglia lathe is a twin conveyor arrangement on the output side, rather than a parts catcher. A component emerging from the machine on one conveyor is directed onto a second conveyor at right angles that carries it into a waiting container at the front.

However, by the time a bar remnant arrives on the first conveyor, the control has already told the second conveyor to reverse direction so that the bar end is routed to another container at the rear.

Control is provided by a Fanuc 31i-B CNC system, which allows programming on the shop floor of even quite intricate parts as well as 3D simulation. More complex components are programmed offline using a OneCNC CAD/CAM package. Mr Bassett concluded, “The Biglia machine’s design has proved ideal for machining our plastic materials, including laminates, PTFEs and PEEKs, for a decade and a half and continues to do so.

“The technical input from Whitehouse has proved useful as well. For instance, they showed us how to adapt a peck drilling macro in the control to generate a chip breaking action.

“It is good for roughing plastics, especially when carrying out balanced turning using a tool in both turrets.

“We have also been impressed with their backup. The staff are attentive and provide a prompt and personal service. Notable is the standard of training they provide.

“As an added bonus, they managed to find a buyer in Italy for our second-hand Biglia lathe, which despite being 15 years old was in good condition, as it had only worked a single shift cutting plastics.”

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