Diversity Draws The Crowds at MACH 2018 for Floyd

The 2018 MACH exhibition was a roaring success for Floyd Automatic with the Baldock based sliding head tooling experts claiming that it was the diversity of its collets, guide bushes, indexable tooling ranges and the application expertise that sent small turned parts manufacturers directly to the distinctive orange stand.

The extensive turning lines from Applitec and the sheer diversity of its portfolio were certainly points of note. Providing his feedback on yet another successful MACH exhibition, Floyd Automatic Tooling Managing Director, Mr Richard Floyd said: “We generated more enquiries at MACH 2018 than at many of the previous events and what stood-out for us was the high enquiry level from both new customers and overseas clients too.

The high level of new enquiries is partially down to more subcontractors embracing the benefits of sliding head technology whilst the overseas lead generation can be largely attributed to language barriers and a reluctance to engage in technical dialogue when English isn’t your first language.”

“We also invested in the Pokem technology at MACH with eight contact points that enabled us to identify what product lines generated the greater interest at the show.”

From the Pokem technology utilised at MACH, Floyd Automatic noted a high level of interest in the new Masa Microconic sub spindle collets. Precise and stable clamping of small workpieces in the sub-spindles of sliding head machines has long been an issue for turned part manufacturers; this is now solved by the revolutionary precision workholding system.

The Microconic over-grip collet system consists of a cartridge and precision collet and the over-grip collet fits inside a cartridge and is accurately adjusted before it is fitted directly into the existing collet sleeve with no machine adaptations required. The patented over-grip collets can open up to 4mm larger than the clamping diameter and also incorporate an ejection guide sleeve blank. This helps the end user to solve the difficulty of ejecting parts from the collets after machining. For manufacturers of high-precision parts in the connector, medical and electronics sector, the Microconic over-grip collet system was great find.

The second most popular product line according to the Pokem system was the new Colibri Slim Jet solution for increasing spindle speed of driven tool units on sliding head turning centres. Revealed at MACH, this brand new high-speed coolant driven spindle is powered by 20bar of coolant pressure that generates a spindle speed above 20,000rpm. The speed, torque output and other performance parameters can be constantly monitored via any mobile device with Bluetooth connectivity. This unique development was particularly pertinent among the sliding head manufacturers such as Star, Citizen and Tornos. The simple to install Colibri system consists of a clamping rod, sensor, motor housing and a tool clamping collet and ER11 nut.

Also, a major hit at MACH was the Zeus burnishing tool from Hommel + Keller. The Zeus burnishing tool is considered an all-rounder for all classical applications for burnishing surfaces regardless of whether the profile is cylindrical, conical, convex or concave.  Suitable for small geometry work on materials such as steel and high-strength materials, a single tool can be applied to a multitude of tasks. Available in tool shanks of 12 X 12mm, 16 X 16mm, 20 X 20mm and 25 X 25mm, the Series is available with two variants; the 510 Series of fixed head tools for standard operations or the 520 Series with a variably adjustable head for end faces and conical surfaces. Of course, Floyd Automatic is renowned for the unfathomable depth of its product lines, so, if you didn’t make it to MACH 2018 please contact Floyd Automatic for further details.

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