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(Gewefa Headquarters) |
Gewefa GmbH, the German parent of Corsham based Gewefa UK Limited and Europe’s leading independent manufacturer of precision toolholders has completed the latest phase of an on-going investment in its Burladingen, Germany head quarters and manufacturing plant. Burladingen is about an hour from Stuttgart and Gewefa has been manufacturing toolholders in the factory for over 50 years.
The expansion programme will see increased manufacturing capacity along with greater space for the administration operations. It has created a further 2000 square metres of productive capacity and includes a major investment in machine tools.
Notably, these include 4 vertical milling centres, 2 CNC lathes with automatic handling, a CNC grinding machine and a bespoke sawing machine. These are complimented by a laser marking machine and two additional CAD/CAM work stations.
Gewefa has always placed a great emphasis on being as self contained as possible in its manufacturing operations. The Burladingen plant has machine shops, engineering and design facilities and a heat treatment plant.
In recent times Gewefa has invested in a Montforts dedicated hard turning cell and an automated pallet loading system for HSK/DIN toolholding production cell
Toolholders manufactured in the plant are in use across Europe, the UK, the USA and Far East as a consequence of Gewefa’s extensive network of representation.
“The investment in the operations is testimony to the continuing success of Gewefa products globally,” observes Graham Horwood, managing director of Gewefa UK. “It will ensure Gewefa will stay in the forefront of tool holding expertise for many years to come,” he adds.
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New from Gewefa UK is the EWS VariaSet bench top pre-setter that offers the combination of accuracy and ease of use coupled with a competitive price. |
New from Gewefa UK is the EWS VariaSet bench top pre-setter that offers the combination of accuracy and ease of use coupled with a competitive price.
Off-machine pre-setting ensures that downtime on the machine tool can be kept to a minimum as the operator can be setting the next set of tools while the machine is still cutting metal.
Not everyone however can afford the luxury of an optical pre-setter but the VariaSet is competitively priced, starting at around £2500 which includes a 40 ISO adaptor.
Available with two length and radius measurement options, VariaSet machines offer accuracy to 0.01mm and provide contact measuring with an LED display read out and an acoustic signal.
The VariaSet-300 model has a 350mm length with 125mm radius while the larger VariaSet-500 has a 516mm length with a 240mm radius.
There is a range of quick change adaptors covering VDI, SK and HSK tool holders.
Gewefa has no doubts that off machine is best … and also the most productive.
“Depending on what you have to sell you are bound to opt for the ‘on or off’ option that is going to create income,” claims Gewefa UK managing director Graham.
“We sell off machine systems but nonetheless I feel the argument in their favour for the benefit of the end user is compelling, above and beyond the entry in our sales ledger.”
Gewefa has considerable experience in all aspects of tool holding technology, selling its own Gewefa branded and manufactured tool holding systems as well as equipment from leading European brands such as EWS, OTT, Pibomulti and OTT. In addition they are the sole UK distributor for the world leading American Parlec pre-setter range and since becoming their UK partner in April 2005, have sold over 30 units in the UK and Northern Ireland.
Significantly, their biggest area of success has been in aerospace where Gewefa has supplied 10 machines into the primary aero engine sector along with a number of units into manufacturers of civil and military aerospace structures. This is in addition to pre-setters supplied to many of the leading aerospace sub-contracting organisations in the UK.
The most recent order for the aero engines sector has been for 3 Parlec series 2500 ultra-precise measuring platforms which, combined with the new ParleVision® PGC6 control system, offer the most advanced and accurate tool measuring machine in the world.
So why is Gewefa so convinced that the off machine route is best?
Graham Horwood elaborates; “However big or small the size of operation and however sophisticated or otherwise the machine tools there is only one area that creates income – cutting metal. All the rest is by the by. Cutting metal at some £60 per hour is what pays the bills. Therefore it goes without saying that a proprietor is going to be pressing his machine shop manager to keep his machines running as productively as possible for as long as possible.
“Now, if you have a shop that concentrates on small batch work you might need to make 2 or 3 tool changes a day. That might involve upward of 20 tools to set at each change and on machine setting is realistically going to take an hour per set-up. Multiple that by three and you have lost £180 a day in set up costs. That’s £900 a week or based on a 48 week year, £43,200 of lost income. That’s also on one machine. What if you have a dozen?
“We could sell you a Parlec machine for about £8,000 that would handle all of those set up’s off line while your machines are productively cutting metal. With minimal training the machine operator could be doing his own setting while the batch is being machined, so making better use of his or her. Which one makes sense?”
Moving away from the monetary aspect, Graham Horwood also points out the limitations of many on-line setting units. “You cannot set form tools or reamers on line, for example. Neither can you provide the levels of feedback that on off line machine can generate and transmit.
“Even an entry level Parlec machine – the 1500 – can interface with the machine tool controller to transmit data. Further, if you are operating a tool management set-up, an on-line pre-setter will not be able to interface with it, unlike an off line unit that will become an integral part of the tool management network.
“At Gewefa we think the argument for off-line is compelling and increasing numbers of our customers – both big and small - are agreeing with us,” he concludes.
Upgrading can be highly cost effective.
Parlec 1500 tool pre-setter breaks new ground
The Parlec 1500 tool pre-setter is claimed to be the most thermally stable construction of any pre-setter available today.
The latest design is based on Parlec’s SYMMETRY design concept and features a ductile iron base and column. A high-resolution video camera utilizing smart camera technology with a 1/2" megapixel CMOS digital image sensor in combination with the regulated LED system produces the most accurate imaging solution available.
Also integral within the series 1500 machine is the newly developed PSC software system that offers the very latest, high accuracy measuring capabilities.
The 1500 is available with three (z axis) column heights - 400mm, 500mm & 600mm and features ergonomic quick positioning for smooth and effortless motion. An optional fine adjust/axes brake provides .001mm unlimited precision adjustment.
As with all Parlec machines, the 1500 has been designed around its philosophy of ‘backwards compatibility’ which means that the customer typically retains the same mechanical system but still has the ability to upgrade to higher specification software.
For example, the option to upgrade just the software enables the user to swop to a full PC based system that permits networking options, the creation of tool management data and post processing. The base unit remains the same (although the column can be extended for a longer version if necessary) protecting the initial capital outlay but for the matter of a few thousand pounds what started out as an entry level machine can very soon become a highly sophisticated hub at the centre of all tool setting and management activities in the machine shop.
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The EWS Slotting Unit is an innovative lathe attachment that permits in-process broaching. |
Now available from their exclusive UK partner Gewefa UK Limited, EWS, the German static and driven tooling specialist has introduced an innovative unit that permits slotting operations to be undertaken on CNC lathes as part of the machining cycle.
The ‘EWS-Slotting Unit’ operates in much the same way as a powered milling or drilling operation, with the drive shaft coupling of the unit fitting into the powered tool station on the machine turret to provide the drive. Gearing within the unit converts the rotary drive motion into a Z axis forward motion which also has an integrated lifting function on the return stroke.
Cutting speed is dictated by the turret motor’s drive and the unit offers a broaching stroke (length) of 30mm and a width of up to 10mm.
EWS – which developed the Slotting unit in conjunction with Paul Horn Tools – has paid particular attention to the manufacture and build quality within the Slotting unit to ensure it remains highly durable yet consumes minimal power and reduces lathe component wear in what can be an arduous process.
Gewefa’s team of specialist applications engineers will be able to advise of the set up of the Slotting unit which necessitates programming of the C and Z axis positions, selecting the appropriate turret motor speed and the X axis feed per stroke to achieve the required groove depth.
In addition to this, Gewefa UK has teamed-up with Horn UK who manufacture and supply the slotting cutting tools to ensure the end user receives the latest and most productive geometries from their extensive tool programme.
The Slot complements the equally innovative EWS TKW driven gear cutting head accessory and in combination, the two units will permit totally in-process manufacture of complete drive assemblies.
As Gewefa UK sales manager Keith Warner comments; “this innovative unit fits just about any lathe and will be particularly useful in sub contracting environments, manufacturing components such as shafts and turned parts requiring internal key ways or internal or external splines by utilising the machine’s C axis. Gewefa can not only supply the Slotting Unit but our engineers are adept at advising on the application and programming relative to the customers lathe and operating system. It is a very innovative unit and will provide considerable productivity gains in the right environment.”
A totally new design of tool pre-setter from Parlec is claimed to be the most thermally stable construction of any pre-setter available today. The Parlec 1500 tool measuring machine is now available from Parlec’s exclusive agents Gewefa UK Limited of Corsham. The new design is based on Parlec’s SYMMETRY design concept and features a ductile iron base and column. The regulated LED lighting system in combination with the CMOS sensor also produces the most accurate imaging solution available.
Integral within the series 1500 machine is the newly developed PSC software system that offers the very latest, high accuracy measuring capabilities. The 1500 is available with three (z axis) column heights - 400mm, 500mm & 600mm and features ergonomic quick positioning for smooth and effortless motion. An optional fine adjust/axes brake provides .001mm unlimited precision adjustment. Another new feature is the high-resolution video camera utilizing smart camera technology with a 1/2" megapixel CMOS digital image sensor.
As with all Parlec innovations, the new 1500 machine has been designed around its philosophy of ‘backwards compatibility’ which means that the customer typically retains the same mechanical system but still has the ability to upgrade to higher specification PC based software incorporating tool management options.
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The new Parlec 1500 tool pre-setter |
The Parlec 1500 TMM features newly developed PSC software |
Following the announcement that Corsham based Gewefa UK Limited is now the exclusive UK distributor the OTT-Jakob products, the company’s technical sales team has recently undergone an intensive 3 day indoctrination into the comprehensive range of OTT-Jakob equipment.
OTT is a long established supplier of equipment such as power drawbars for steep taper tools, HSK clamping units, unclamping units, rotary unions and pull force gauges for power spindles.
“The OTT range sits very comfortably alongside our existing portfolio and in order that we build upon their strong reputation it was vital that the sales team were able to discuss the intricacies and applications of the OTT-Jakob range at first hand with their experts,” explains Graham Horwood, Gewefa UK’s managing director.
Present at Corsham for the training days were Hubert Sykora and Roland Theurer from OTT-Jakob who met with Gewefa’s 5 strong technical sales team and demonstrated many of their products.
In addition to OTT-Jakob, Gewefa already represents EWS GmbH, Pibomulti, Parlec Inc. and Simon Nann GmbH in the UK in addition to offering the full range of Gewefa toolholders and tool storage equipment.
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The Gewefa UK technical sales team (seated with OTT-Jakob representatives Roland Theurer (standing centre) and Hubert Sykora (standing right). |
Gewefa UK managing Director Graham Horwood (left) welcomes OTT-Jakob’s Hubert Sykora and Roland Theurer (right). |
Gewefa UK has added to its extensive tool holder programme with the introduction of an MC 'roll type' milling chuck that is particularly adept in applications requiring high volume, high precision, heavy duty milling. The tool is particularly suited to the types of heavy milling operations encountered in the aerospace industry where deep and heavy milling of super alloys and titanium based work piece materials places great emphasis on the consistent performance of the cutter and tool holder.
At the heart of the MC chuck design is its patented radial groove gripping system that offers unsurpassed torque when uniformly securing the tool shank along its entire length, producing smooth and powerful milling without vibration or the risk of the tool slipping. Gewefa claims the gripping torque on the tool shank created by the radial groove system is 5-6 times greater than that achievable by most collet chucks. When tightened, nut/needle roller bearings uniformly collapse the radial groove sleeves around the tool shank to create the uniform grip characteristics. Oil on the shank can also be evacuated as it drains along the grooves.
In addition, the thick wall construction of the tool holder ensures more rigidity in the tool and eliminates vibration or tool 'chatter', contributing to greater cutting precision - .0002" TIR - and prolonging the insert life. The chucks can be supplied with coolant through the spindle or through the flange and are available in CAT/ANSI, BT, DIN and HSK formats in 20, 25 and 32 diameters. Reduction sleeves are also available that fit into the cutter and permit other diameter tool shanks to be securely gripped.
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Gewefa UK’s new MC roll type milling chuck is suited to applications requiring high volume, high precision, heavy duty milling. |
Corsham based Gewefa UK is the leading independent supplier of tool holding solutions and allied equipment. In addition, through its partner companies it offers driven tooling, collets, speeders, adaptors, pre-setting and measuring equipment, power drawbars for steep taper tools clamping and unclamping units and pull force gauges for power spindles. The vast experience of its sales and technical support team gives it a unique perspective on advising, specifying and supplying the correct equipment for the job but as managing director Graham Horwood explains, it is always best to consider all of the options before you purchase.
“In our view there is no such thing as a universal tool holding system,” observes Mr Horwood.
“While proprietary systems undoubtedly have their merits - and indeed we supply them – there are many, many occasions when a much simpler and far less expensive system will more than adequately do the job and be better suited to the application. Recently we had a case where a customer was adamant that hydraulic chucks were the only consideration for a particular task. In truth a Weldon fitting or simple end mill tool holder would have adequately performed in this instance at a fraction of the cost and with the same end result. It’s very much a question of horses for courses and factors such as length of run, accuracy and the capabilities of the machine tool itself are all considerations to take into account."
Getting to grips …
"Then there is a question of grip. But just how much grip do you need?"
Gewefa offers a vast heat shrink clamping programme of tool holders with the technique widely recognised as offering the ultimate in tool grip and accuracy.
"But shrink clamping is not suited to every application by any means", adds Mr Horwood. "There are occasions where shrink clamping is simply too rigid for the application and damping may be necessary. A hydraulic chuck is likely to be more satisfactory in these circumstances."
Gewefa offers a vast heat shrink clamping programme of tool holders with the technique widely recognised as offering the ultimate in tool grip and accuracy. Working to a 2-micron tolerance between the bore and the tool taper, Gewefa heat shrink clamp have a guaranteed bore/taper tolerance and there is effectively nothing to go wrong in these tool holders, there being no collets or rollers, no nuts, screws or seals to fail and the solid one-piece body also optimises insert life.
"Shrink clamping has established itself in a niche – albeit a very large one – particularly where high speed machining, cutter balance, accuracy and grip are paramount", adds Graham Horwood.
Aerospace is such an area. Cutter failure – usually due to the cutting tool 'slipping' in the tool holder - can lead to expensive work piece scrapping. Not once has Gewefa ever had a shrink tool holder returned due to the cutter slipping – testimony to the security of the tool holder/cutter connection and the quality of manufacture.
"Gewefa shrink clamp tool holders can comfortably withstand up to 40,000 tool clamping/unclamping movements without loss of accuracy and grip", he claims.
A question of balance …
The question of balancing is also very important, as he explains; "very often when assessing the technical merits of a tool holding solution, heat shrink clamping tool holders are compared with roll-type hydraulic chucks. We at Gewefa sell roll type chucks and they undoubtedly have a place in heavy milling applications. But for high speed, high precision applications without hesitation we would recommend the heat shrink route in 9 out of 10 cases.
"This is simply because roll type milling chucks are nigh on impossible to balance consistently. Once the chuck ring is tightened the whole balance of the chuck is lost which will prove problematical in environments where you are looking for sustained accuracy, better insert life and optimised, long term operation in often arduous cutting conditions."
Concluding, Graham Horwood re-iterates the need to consider he options.
"Modern day machine shops place great emphasis on flexibility and speed of set up. That is why tool holders with an HSK connection will offer the largest number of options and at the most cost effective prices. They are also universally available without tying in to one manufacturer’s system which can have disadvantages in terms of cost, availability and in some cases the limitations of the design".
As the UK’s leading independent toolholding supplier Gewefa UK offers the aerospace industry an extensive capability in the supply of not only toolholding systems but also allied equipment such as pre-setters, speeders, static and driven tooling, collets alongside specialist equipment such as power drawbars, rotary unions and pull force gauges for power spindles.
Since being established as a subsidiary of the German Gewefa GmbH organisation which has extensive manufacturing resources in Burladingen near Stuttgart, Gewefa UK has majored on offering a comprehensive package – to use the tried and trusted cliché, a genuine ‘one stop shop’.
Subsequently, a key feature of the develop ment and success of Gewefa UK has been its desire to offer customers a comprehensive range of not only toolholding products but those designed to optimise the complete machining and metal cutting process.
To this aim, Gewefa has established strong partnerships with leading names such as EWS, Pibomulti, Nann, Parlec and OTT-Jakob, all of whom are leading names in their respective fields and whose products are exclusively available in the UK via Gewefa.
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Gewefa has supplied toolholders used in the assembly machining of components for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF) project. |
Parlec pre-setters are increasingly accepted as the world’s leading brand and since representing their interests in the UK Gewefa has supplied 10 machines into the primary aero engine sector along with a number of units into manufacturers of civil and military aerospace structures. This is in addition to pre-setters supplied to many of the leading aerospace sub-contracting organisations in the UK.
The most recent order for the aero engines sector has been for 3 Parlec series 2500 ultra-precise measuring platforms which, combined with the ParleVision® CNC control system, offer the most advanced and accurate tool measuring machine in the world.
The Series 2500 Parsetters® provide an exceptional mechanical structure with the most accurate, repeatable machine available anywhere. They are constructed for the most demanding automated or manual applications where micron repeatability is required and provides a highly flexible, precise cornerstone to a tool management capability.
With a maximum measuring capability of 950mm x 1000mm, Series 2500 presetters combine symmetrical design methodology with stable and durable cast iron materials ensuring a thermally stable platform for the ultimate in precision measuring and inspection.
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The Parlec 2500 with ParleVision CNC control system. |
Aerospace manufacturers have long favoured roll type milling chucks due to their combination of robust design and high torque machining capabilities.
Gewefa’s recently introduced MC ‘roll type’ milling chuck is particularly adept in applications requiring high volume, high precision, heavy duty milling and a number of units are now in operation with North West Aerospace Alliance companies.
The tool is particularly suited to the types of heavy milling operations encountered in the aerospace industry where deep and heavy milling of super alloys and titanium based work piece materials places great emphasis on the consistent performance of the cutter and tool holder.
The chucks can be supplied with coolant through the spindle or through the flange and are available in CAT/ANSI, BT, DIN and HSK formats.
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The Gewefa MC milling chuck. |