When a job may need removing from a machining centre many times during its manufacture, .
In providing wax pattern tooling to some of the largest investment casting companies in the UK – primarily in the aerospace industry – the need to remain competitive in quality, service and price is Tooltech's prime objective. Using the lost-wax process, Tooltech provides steel castings and all the ancillary tooling to companies further up the supply chain that manufacture turbine blades.
“We won an order for a new tooling suite and would have lost at least 30 minutes set-up time each time we took the aluminium block off to reposition the workpiece or change the cutters,” said Tooltech's managing director, Mark Newcombe.
Delphin is a modular zero-point clamping system that allows the machine table to be equipped with position-determining chucks. It allows the maximum area of the machine table to be used. Setting up jobs can be done outside the machine so that no time is wasted so that the machine can keep cutting with very little changeover delay.
“I had seen Delphin at a previous MACH exhibition and it had stuck in my mind. System 3R was very helpful and they initially provided us with a hydraulic unit to prove the point,” continued Newcombe. “It was exactly what we wanted so we bought it. We were able to save up to 20-25% on machine time as there is no need to reset the datum, with Delphin providing assured repeat accuracy and positioning.”
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