Satisfied faces at EMO 2017

When EMO 2017, the world's leading trade fair for metalworking, came to an end in Hanover on 21 September, satisfied faces emerged after six days of the fair. The Precision Tools Association of the VDMA also revised its sales forecast upwards due to the successful first half of 2017. Many questions remain unanswered on the subject of e-mobility and the challenges this poses for tool and turned part manufacturers. It is clear that EMO has shown that users demand grinding machines and grinding processes that enable them to react flexibly and quickly to changing market requirements. Haas Schleifmaschinen GmbH demonstrated in Hanover the degree of flexibility offered by Multigrind® grinding machines and Multigrind® Horizon grinding software.

Profile cutting plates today, rotationally symmetrical tools tomorrow

If you want to produce profile cutting boards today and VHM milling cutters tomorrow, you usually need two grinding machines. Unless he has a Multigrind® from Haas Schleifmaschinen in the hall. "With the Multigrind® CU or Multigrind® CA, our customers can process both very well: Profile cutting plates and rotary tools such as VHM milling cutters," says Zimmermann. "Added to this is the Multigrind® Horizon grinding software, which is currently unique when it comes to versatility". At GrindTec 2018, according to reports from Trossingen, this grinding software will be supplemented by further modules and components. This will make it even easier for users to program "their tools" quickly and efficiently. Haas Schleifmaschinen has produced the Multigrind® AF since 2001. The first series developed specifically for the needs of precision tool manufacture. Driven by the success of the Multigrind® AF and the constantly growing market requirements for the precision and variety of cutting tools, Haas Schleifmaschinen has developed its successor, the Multigrind® CU. This machine also meets customer demands for increasingly unmanned production.

Milling cutters, drills, profile cutting boards: this is how flexibility works

How universal the Multigrind® CU is with a footprint of just 5.2 sqm is shown by the example of Meyer Drehtechnik from Marienberg in the Erzgebirge. The manufacturer of precision turned parts has been using Haas Multigrind® machines for two years and produces the profile cutting boards for its CNC lathes on a Multigrind® CU. Meyer also uses the same grinding machine to produce milling cutters and drills, which are also used in the company's own machining operations.

"The compact Multigrind® CU is well received,"

says Heiko Zimmermann. "Because it is not just a slimmed-down Multigrind® CA or Multigrind® CB, but a fully-fledged machine. We have packed in all the grinding technology the customer wants". The cutting tools or workpieces may be a maximum of 300 mm long and 180 mm in diameter. The rotating machine table is well dimensioned at 800 x 290 mm. The tool changer, which the engineers at Haas Schleifmaschinen placed under the machine table in a technical trick, offers space for up to nine grinding wheels of 200 mm each. Impressive when you consider that the compact power pack is just 1,600 mm wide.

90 percent of users want automation

The Multigrind® CU is equipped with an integrated automation unit as standard. Four pallets with 60 places each can, for example, be equipped with profile plates. "This means that unmanned shift operation, as required today for cost reasons, is possible without any problems," explains Heiko Zimmermann. "One of our customers uses it to produce carbide inserts for ball milling cutters in fully automated operation. If the internal loading capacity is insufficient, the Multigrind® CU, like its big sisters Multigrind® CA and Multigrind® CB, can easily be equipped with an external robot unit. According to Haas Schleifmaschinen, 90 percent of all inquiries already include the desire for automation.

Grinding in one setup

In addition to automation, complete machining is always at the top of the wish list of Haas Schleifmaschinen customers. This applies not only to the tool industry, but also to the manufacture of turbine components and medical technology, also industries in which Multigrind® machines are popular. "In principle, automated complete machining is always our goal," says Zimmermann. "The clamping and unclamping of workpieces costs time and precision, our motto is: grinding in one clamping. Haas Schleifmaschinen has hundreds of clamping devices in its program. And when all the cords are torn, a new, tailor-made solution is designed. Haas flexibility is also evident here.

Measuring and dressing in the process

In addition to grinding, clamping and automation technology, a complete grinding process also includes sophisticated measuring technology and dressing of the grinding tools. "The accuracies required today in the smallest µm range can only be achieved if all requirements in the process are taken into account," explains Heiko Zimmermann. "At Haas Schleifmaschinen, we rely on structure-borne sound measurement to measure the disks and detect the workpieces in the machine. The structure-borne sound measurement runs for pure measurement in the process or in the dressing process. This technology offers the possibility of measurement recognition and process visualization for possible error analyses. Haas Schleifmaschinen also rely on compensation measurement, in which the measurement results are used for automatic correction of the grinding path, for example.

XING-Dressing

If you want to grind precisely, you have to dress your grinding tool precisely - preferably in the grinding machine without a reclamping operation. In all Multigrind® machines, the grinding tools made of corundum, CBN or diamond are dressed in the machine. Since high-precision but also sensitive diamond pointed profile discs are used for the machining of profile cut-off plates, an optional XING dressing unit can be installed. In XING dressing, the diamond pointed profile wheels are machined with a dressing wheel at a 90-degree angle to the grinding wheel. This results in less pressure on the grinding wheel, less wear on the dressing wheel and improved profile fidelity of the sharpening wheel.

Freedom in programming

In addition to the flexibility that Haas Schleifmaschinen offers its users with grinding technology, it is the Multigrind® Horizon grinding software that convinces precision tool manufacturers. Heiko Zimmermann points out that the Multigrind® Horizon enables the user to program directly from the 3D model and to include existing DXF contours and macros in his tool design. "The degree of freedom offered by our software is extraordinary," Zimmermann emphasizes. Even though he admits that programming is not easy for the inexperienced. "But once you're familiar with the software, there's actually no limit to how you can create tools or other components. That's why our customers don't just buy a grinding machine, they get a bit of independence from us." One notices the honest enthusiasm for the Swabian grinding technology of Haas Schleifmaschinen. If you ask where this enthusiasm comes from, you'll get a clear answer: "I'm out there with the customers almost every day and see what the users conjure up with our machines. That's impressive! 

If you would like to talk to Heiko Zimmermann about the possibilities offered by the Multigrind® CU, please send him an e-mail. He is delighted!