New WY-250 from Nakamura-Tome
The new WY-250 turning centre from Nakamura-Tome adds even more capability to the company’s twin-spindle concept. Available from sole UK distributor Turning Technologies, part of the Engineering Technology Group, the WY-250 will be launched in the UK at MACH 2008.
With two Super Mill Y-axis turrets giving 10kW of milling power available on every tool station, the WY-250 allows for the highly productive machining of complex parts in one hit from bar, billet or blank. Offering the reliability and capability required for high-volume lights-out production, the WY-250 also has the flexibility and versatility required for varied small and medium batch manufacturing.
Each of the two Super Mill Y-axis turrets can hold up to 24 driven tools and is specially designed to accommodate the heat generated during heavy machining – with larger gears, rigid drives, a large diameter drive shaft and oil mist cooling. As with all of Nakamura’s larger machines, the WY-250 also features box-type slide-ways on all axes.
Typically, the WY-250 could produce a complex aerospace component in one hit from stainless bar combining the heavy milling of features such as cross-bores and fine details such as oil ways, to the highest levels of accuracy. With 10kW of power available on any tool and milling speeds of up to 6000 rpm, the two turrets can work on either spindle individually or simultaneously to achieve high rates of metal removal. The collet size on the driven tooling is AR32 and the maximum face cutter size is 80mm diameter.
Built to the highest Nakamura standards, the WY-250 features heavy duty box-way construction, hand scraped for micron accuracy, with temperature control to all major machine elements.
The WY-250 is fitted with Fanuc 31i-A control and incorporates as standard software that can reduce the number of fixtures required, cut setup time and avoid crashes. ‘Nakamura Navigator’ is a material recognition function that uses a piece of plain bar to probe for the component location and orientation. As soon as the probe touches the component, the machine senses the torque variation and determines the position of the component. This means that the machine can accommodate billets of varying lengths and automatically set up non-round castings, forgings or extrusions, thus removing the requirement and cost of a turret mounted touch probe.
A similar method is used to detect and avoid potential crashes, caused by human error. With ‘Nakamura Air Bag’ the servo drive detects the overload and reverses the axis in less than eight milliseconds.
