Makino launches new 5/6-axis HMC for titanium cutting

Makino's sole agent for UK and Ireland, NCMT, hosted the European launch of the T2 5/6-axis, horizontal machining centre at its Middlemarch technical centre, near Coventry on 7th July 2011.

Suitable for manufacturing titanium components, representatives from manufacturers throughout the UK and Europe, including some of the foremost aerospace companies, were able to witness the cutting power of the machine.

The T2 is able to hog up to 500cm³ of Ti-6Al-4V per minute and will be capable of higher metal removal rates when cutting tool technology catches up. Even so, current metalcutting performance is five times faster than the industry average. Despite having such impressive roughing performance, the machine is also capable of 5-axis simultaneous finishing to very high precision.

With a 2,000mm x 2,000mm x 1,800mm working envelope and a compact, 7m by 9.8m footprint, the T2 incorporates a significant technological advance in that it has three rotary CNC axes. The ±110º A-axis and 360º C-axis are on the spindle head, while the B-axis table also provides 360º of continuous movement. Only two of the three rotary axes may be interpolated simultaneously with the linear axes.

Customers can choose A/C mode and position the B-axis for machining airframe parts, for example. Alternatively, they can select A/B for efficiently machining engine casings and other circular components. In either case, the sixth CNC axis can be repeatedly repositioned during a machining cycle.

www.ncmt.co.uk