Diversified machining capability for the UK market
Said to offer all the features required for diversified machining capabilities - and at a price that will help keep manufacturing costs down - the YCM XV560A vertical machining centre has been specified to meet the demands of the UK engineering market.
Developed in conjunction with Yeovil-based machine tool specialist, YMT Technologies, the XV560A has axis travels of 560 x 410 x 450 mm in X, Y and Z for maximum machining capacity within a compact footprint 1850 mm wide by 2234 mm deep.
An extra wide cast Meehanite base provides the 700 by 420 mm worktable with a maximum load capacity of up to 300 kg to make the most of the generous working envelope.
Equipped with a spindle chiller as standard, the 45 – 10,000 rpm spindle uses an IDD (Isolated Direct Drive) design and is driven by a 9 kW vector drive AC motor directly coupled to the spindle. This is contained within a symmetrically designed headstock, which allows the homogenous absorption of thermal expansion and avoids thermal deformation.
An unclamping cushion protects the spindle bearings from the tool unclamping force from the BT-40 or CAT-40 toolholders, which extends the life of the spindle. 
A bi-directional 20-station side-mounted tool magazine is serviced by a dual-arm automatic tool changer (ATC), to minimise non-machining time.
Capable of accepting tools weighing up to 6 kg each, the ATC has a tool-to-tool change cycle of just 3.5 seconds, while chip-to-chip is accomplished in less than 5.5 seconds.
YMT Technologies director, Howard Mancey, explains the reasoning behind the development of the XV560A: “Many of our customers were asking us to recommend a replacement machine for their aging 500 and 600 mm wide vertical machining centres. This is an extremely popular machine size, so we worked with our principal YCM to develop a VMC that had all of the features that our customers requested, on a machine that could fit into the space previously occupied by an aging VMC600.
“The feedback we had suggested they wanted a modern spindle design, updated tool changer and spindle nose, but the most requested feature was a Heidenhain control system.”
Although the highly advanced Heidenhain iTNC530 CNC system offered on the XV560A is the most popular choice, other control systems are also available. Howard Mancey concludes: “Rigidity and accuracy have always been the goals of the machine tool industry. The XV560A has been specified and built to achieve tight tolerances, using high quality components and the very best control systems.
"Every XV machine is ball-bar tested and laser calibrated to meet the highest standard in the industry, and achieves an accuracy of 0.010 mm and repeatability of 0.007 mm. All of this performance comes from a machine tool that costs just over £40,000.”
