Today’s capital equipment must be more flexible and capable than ever. With this in mind, Makino has introduced the G5 Grinder horizontal machining center, capable of grinding, drilling, boring, and milling all on the same machine.
“The biggest advantage of a machine like the G5 is the ability to eliminate non value-added time in the manufacturing process,” says Tim Jones, product manager of horizontal machining centers at Makino. “Because you can go from milling to grinding in one machine, you’re not only saving on capital equipment, but you’re also able to keep the part in the machine, eliminating all the out-of-cut time that does nothing but add to your costs and lead time.”
Using a single machine to grind and mill helps to eliminate setups, work in process, stack up errors due to multiple setups, reduces fixture costs with five-axis capability, and simplifies the manufacturing process with NC controlled intermittent dress.
The G5 is a full five-axis machine, with a B-axis of .5/1.5 sec (90/180), a C-axis at 100 rpm, a 60-tool automatic tool changer that will hold up to a 8.7 inch (220mm) diameter grinding wheel. A unique two-axis coolant nozzle allows the G5 to accommodate variations in wheel diameter and changes in cutting direction while maintaining ideal cutting conditions. It also allows for intermittent rotary dressing, an NC controlled, hydraulically powered feature that redresses the wheel to reestablish profile geometry on the cutting wheel. For added reliability, the G5 features one-piece X , Y, and Z -covers, proven 1-Series tool changing systems, and 10 micron cyclonic secondary filtration.
Thermal growth and stability are areas which Makino pays special attention because high speed machining and hard milling are techniques many shops are implementing to cut down on lead times and costs. Features that allow the machine to be thermally stable include an integral spindle with the cooling jacket linked to the bed temperature for part consistency, a coolant chiller to maintain high precision machining, core-cooled ball screws in all axes, and the use of high volume high pressure coolant. Coolant is applied to the grinding process at the ideal orientation to achieve better cooling than traditional grinding processes. These and other features achieve superior part consistency.
As far as stability is concerned, the stepped column machine construction provides optimum rigidity and speed, with close proximity of the ball screw to the column center of gravity, large LM guides, reduced column weight, and dual supported pre-tensioned ball screws. Also, the NC rotary table has a large diameter bearing surface, assuring rigidity.
For more information call (800) 552-3288 or visit [www.makino.com].
