Cylindrical Grinder Increases Productivity

Increasingly, short lead times and flexible call-offs by customers mean that Hinckley based O.L.D. Engineering have to offer ever-shorter response times.

O.L.D. Engineering’s need for flexibility in precision finish-grinding hundreds of different components means ease of programming, incorporating both grinding and dressing cycles, is paramount – hence the attraction of the Ultramat Easy external cylindrical-grinding machine from Jones & Shipman.

“Additional capacity was the initial driver for considering a new machine, but when the capability of the Ultramat’s software became evident, we soon appreciated the additional benefits of very short set-up times. Indeed, the machine’s operator can now look after two machines in the cell. Not untypically, we could be producing hundreds of different components per week in a variety of batch sizes so minimising non-productive time between batches is particularly important,” explained Joint Managing Director Chris Topp.

The Ultramat Easy

The Ultramat Easy, with a 1m grinding length, covers most of its likely shaft lengths (the machine features a one-piece ‘T’ bed design with a fully supported table). A touch-screen provides access to the Easy software, while automatic dressing and grinding cycles mean the machine can be quickly set and left to run unmanned.

A proportion of O.L.D. Engineering’s work is grinding the heat-treated bearing surfaces of shafts to ±4 microns, without in-process diameter gauging. The Marposs wheel-head-mounted touch-trigger probe for shoulder location is vital to ensure that component positioning is precise (in the Z axis) relative to the master datum of each component type.

Components are gauged manually during the grinding cycle, but they are subjected, after completion, to individual high-accuracy inspection on a Tesa Scan 52, which offers colour-coded classification of the measurement values and allows the analysis of the results at a glance.

In conclusion, Mr Topp says: “Since its installation in June 2015, the Ultramat has become an invaluable part of our operations and has given us an immediate payback in reduced down-time alone. Indeed, we now have the capacity to offer a sub-contract grinding service, such is the combination of our operator skills and the machine’s Easy software.”

To discover how O.L.D. Engineering can help you, please call Don Doman on 01455 612 521 or email sales@oldengineering.co.uk today.