Star lathe is a fantastic piece of kit

The company was recently awarded a two-year contract by a customer in the construction industry to p
Read More

18/05/2012

The Samsung’s Weight and Tool Size Won it for Dugard

In November 2011, the company made their first Dugard purchase, a Samsung PL45MC CNC lathe
Read More

18/05/2012

Medical device manufacturer invests in new Doosan high-performance turning centre

The machine – a Puma 2600Y – was installed at the company’s purpose-built manufacturing facility in
Read More

17/05/2012

Dugard ECOs ideal for Steel, U Drilling, Hogging and Profiling

Whitcher CNC Limited was founded by Peter Whitcher in 2008, just at the start of the recession
Read More

Machine Tool Workholding solutions for Turning and Milling from Thame Engineering

Story added 07 April 2010.

MORE NEWS

Thame Workholding began by specialising in the manufacture of soft jaws, and new ranges and sizes of both soft and hard jaws are among the many new products appearing on the company’s stand at MACH 2010. Other areas of expertise for the Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire company include replacement chucks and special chucks; mandrels, collet chucks and steady rests; vacuum clamping; manual, hydraulic or pneumatic fixtures; vices and zero point pallets; and modular automation.

The right jaws for the job

One example from Thame’s extensive range of standard jaws available from stock is the Inogrip jaw, which secures a workpiece by locking a precise tooth form into pre-stamped defined indentations. This ‘form-closure technology’ gives an exceptionally secure grip with minimal clamping distortion.

Soft jaws are now available in more than 600 sizes and styles, and are the backbone of a range of chuck jaws that includes hard and soft jaws to suit chucks from all the leading manufacturers. In addition, Thame has the specialist experience needed to design and manufacture dedicated workholding solutions for all types of machining application and virtually any shape of workpiece.

Vacuum alternative to conventional clamping

As well as in-house manufactured products Thame works with longstanding partner Witte to offer standard and special vacuum clamping solutions to secure workpieces that cannot be held by conventional clamping. Vacuum workholding is a highly effective technique for holding thin or irregular shaped or non-magnetic parts and while parts with a large surface area are ideal, as the holding force is also large, there are techniques for holding small parts as well.
Various types of fixture can be supplied, one example being the Vacmat system. This transfers the vacuum to numerous suckers on a replaceable rubber mat, with each sucker helping to hold the part. Not every part of the mat needs to be covered, so it is quick and easy to switch from one component to another of a different shape. It is also possible to machine through the part into the mat and still maintain the holding power. An alternative is the grid system that uses Neoprene cord in the grid grooves to provide an airtight seal under the part.

New range of standard chucks

Thame is now marketing the Samchully range of premium quality standard chucks, which includes power chucks, hydraulic cylinders and scroll chucks. Manufactured in the ISO 9001-accedited factory of Samchully Machinery Co Ltd of Korea, these chucks are fitted to machine tools manufactured by indigenous manufacturers such as Doosan (Daewoo) and Hyundai-Kia, with Samchully also supplying overseas machine tool builders such as Haas Automation.

Samchully standard hydraulic chucks are available as closed centre, standard bore, large bore and mega bore options, with all models available in two-, three- or four-jaw configurations. Also available are large diameter (up to 2 m) hydraulic chucks that are ideal for aerospace and heavy industry applications, with chucks of 1.6 m diameter and larger designed to be used as a three-jaw hydraulic chuck or a four-jaw independent chuck. Samchully also manufactures fully automated auto-indexing chucks that cater for multi-surface CNC machining in a single clamping.

Modular automation system for machining centres

Although best known for its workholding products, Thame also offers a route into affordable automation with Lang modular automation. This contributes a significant boost to the productivity of machining centres by way of an ‘easy to install and operate’ pallet system based on patented ‘form-closure technology’. This innovative method of fixturing requires just 3 mm of clamping depth on a square or rectangular workpiece, while providing material savings due to minimal wastage; fast set-up; and unrestricted access for five-face CNC machining, which facilitates the use of short cutting tools. A further advantage is that this modular system offers an inexpensive route to unmanned operation during evening hours and weekends.

Once clamped in position on the pallet, workpieces are transferred via an integral vertical elevator into an Eco Tower, a space-saving vertical configuration magazine capable of storing up to 120 Quick Point pallets.

Stored pallets slide down the Eco Tower’s spiral chute under gravity – the number of spirals determining the unit’s storage capacity – and are transferred as required to the designated machine tool by an Eco Feed handling unit. The floor-mounted Eco Tower and Eco Feed units can be sited to provide either a front or side entry load/unload capability for various makes and models of machining centre.

An alternative to the Eco Tower displayed on Stand 5060 is the Eco Compact, which is the latest addition to the Lang system. This is a cost-effective load/unload option specifically designed for small batch production. The Eco Compact features a horizontal indexing table capable of holding up to ten Quick Point pallets that are accessed by an integrated Eco Feed handling unit.

Whatever the eventual configuration of a Lang modular automation system, the low pneumatic drive forces involved mean a minimum requirement in terms of housing, enclosure or other form of man/machine safety barrier. This imposes much less restriction as regards the operator’s freedom to access the working environment around the machine tool.

GO BACK