Holroyd Edgetek machines slashing process times

Holroyd Edgetek machine

Holroyd’s Edgetek range are produced with high power/high speed spindles that optimise the use of plated CBN wheels at surface speeds of up to 9000m/min. This enables them to achieve high depths of cut and optimised metal removal rates far exceeding those of more conventional machines, such as CNC lathes, milling and machining centres and grinders.

In addition, the Holroyd Edgetek machines are manufactured with a polymer granite base, which has been shown to have strong damping properties. These have been proven in dynamic response tests carried out by AMTRI. Developed to satisfy the need for extreme rigidity and enhanced vibration damping, the polymer base typically weighs 3 tonnes and has no resonant frequency. As a result, it enables higher precision machining to be achieved.

Combining this stiffness and damping capability with the Edgetek’s ultra high speed machining capabilities and plated CBN wheels, is drastically reducing cycle times in many crucial industry sectors. In one example, the cycle times for producing automotive parts manufactured from sintered metals were reduced from 1minute 10secs per component to just 22 seconds. At the same time, the Edgetek’s plated CBN technology is cutting consumable parts costs, achieving a reduction from $1 US to just 3.3 cents per component. This is the result of the Edgetek machine producing a much larger number of components between tool changes: 15,000 as opposed to the 50 achieved with conventional milling and turning machines.

In another UK application, a single 5- axis Edgetek machine is slashing process times with single lift and set-up. The Edgetek is replacing seven conventional milling and grinding machines, providing a reduction in the throughput time for a complex finished part from 8 hours to just 12 minutes. “This application epitomises Lean Manufacturing technology,” said Holroyd Sales Director, Neil English. “It provides the opportunity to begin with a hardened blank, and then produce a part complete in a single set-up, using plated CBN wheels.”

“It is not the cost that is driving the trend toward plated CBN but the productivity,' said Neil English. “Smaller production runs and more set-ups, means that many companies no longer have the luxury to amortize the cost of bonded wheels, and the long non-productive set-up times associated with them, over extended production runs. Plated technology fills the need for high metal removal rates with short set-up times and eliminates the need for dressing.” 

“The plated CBN form wheels we use on our Edgetek machines have several advantages over bonded conventional or superabrasive wheels: they have higher material removal rate capabilities, and are freer cutting, which reduces thermal metallurgical damage to the work's surface. Equipped with steel cores they are also safer, providing safety at high operating speeds in excess of 20,000 sfm.”

“In addition, plated wheels offer the highest levels of consistency: they grind virtually the same profile, from the first cut to the last, across hundreds or thousands of workpieces. As a result, the times associated with set ups, wheel changing, and wheel dressing are significantly reduced or eliminated. Also greatly reduced is the average wheel cost. This is because the wheels can be stripped of worn CBN and re-plated several times.”

The flexibility of the Holroyd Edgetek design, and the huge variety of machine types and multi-axis configurations available, enables the machines to provide unparalleled levels of precision and productivity in the manufacture of almost any type of parts - gears and sprockets, rotors and impellers, medical instruments, hand tools, air foils and nozzle guides, airframe actuation components, ducting supports, mechanical seals - and many, many, more. The machines serve a broad spectrum of industry types, including power generation, automotive, aerospace, medicals, tools and general engineering. They can be tailored to suit specific applications and supplied as complete turnkey solutions as part of a manufacturing cell. A worldwide service network provides support for the machines, and they also benefit from manufacturer- developed preventative maintenance plans.