Included among the Walter and Ewag innovations for tool machining will be developments in Ewag tool insert grinding and Walter tool measuring, Walter Ewag UK reports – and both set new standards in insert production and the measurement of complex tools.
Making its first public debut, the six-axis Ewag Compact Line is a high-precision, compact and flexible machine for the grinding – including peripheral grinding – of inserts in tungsten carbide, cermet, ceramic, PCBN and PCD.
Applying protective chamfers on inserts’ main cutting edges is ensured by the machine’s optimised kinematics as well as by the new C axis. Machine downtime is minimised by the machine’s short travel distances and by the integrated six-axis Fanuc robot that offers agile handling and a high degree of flexibility for loading complex inserts.
The Ewag Compact Line’s ‘three-in-one’ dressing unit ensures grinding wheel concentricity and high process reproducibility, plus offers wheel dressing, regeneration and ‘crushing’ in a single package.
Machine usability and effectiveness is also guaranteed by the integrated ProGrind software, and the Fanuc control system enables all grinding routines to be programmed quickly and easily via its user-friendly touch-screen panel.
Also on the stand (after its debut earlier this year), Walter’s new Heliset Plus manual measuring device promises to help optimise the erosion (machining) times of complex tools by up to 30 per cent by being ‘integrated’ into the tool production process.
Walter’s new Heliset Plus manual measuring device promises to help optimise the erosion (machining) times of complex tools by up to 30 per cent
Data output via XML to the Walter Window Mode software – in the Walter Helitronic Power Diamond or Diamond Evolution erosion machines, or Walter Helicheck measuring machines – also saves valuable working time.
Heliset Plus replaces stand-alone tool measurement operations previously carried out remotely in the tool preparation area or in the erosion machine, directed by an intuitive user interface and touch screen operation.
With no need for formal training and with no machine programming, operators can now view a ‘live’ front light image of a tool for the fast positioning of measuring points and the representation of cutting edges already measured.
Tools up to 350 mm diameter and 400 mm long can be measured.
The Walter Heliset Plus workstation set-up includes manual axis adjustment, ISO 50 spindle, a front light and a back light camera with 45x magnification. The device can also measure grinding wheels.
