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PRODUCT NEWS
Hydrafeed and Dimac – A winning combination In recent years it has become common knowledge that a barfeeder significantly increases any CNC turning centre’s productivity. But like any piece of equipment, not all barfeeders are created equal. The Hydrafeed barfeeder offers a number of unique features. One of those is that it is a full servo-driven barfeed eliminating the need for compressed air. It can also accommodate different bar diameters and lengths including random bar lengths, and is suitable for both bar or shaft feed. One of the most important time-saving features of the Hydrafeed is that once you’ve set a bar size and saved the set-up, you never have to open the cover again. Simply call up the program from the touch screen and the Hydrafeed will set itself on the centreline automatically thanks to the servo drive bar lifter mechanism. “This feature alone puts the Hyrdafeed Barfeeder on a different level and really does take barfeeder productivity to a new level,” said Paul Fowler, Managing Director of Dimac Tooling, suppliers of the Hydrafeed barfeeder. “It’s also quick and easy to set up which helps businesses to remain flexible as they can run small batch jobs without excessive set-up times.” Other standard features include complete servo control on all axes plus a fully automated set-up through a user-friendly HMI screen. The product is CE-certified and comes with a comprehensive 12-month warranty. The quality and features of the Hydrafeed is what has attracted numerous customers to the brand. Greg Humphries from Tasmanianbased Maltec Engineering chose the Hydrafeed as it offered a number of features over and above their existing barfeeders. “The ability to quickly set up the servo-driven backstop when processing multiples of non-barfed material is a real time saver compared to having to manually set-up and fit one,” said Humphries. “Having the barfeeder mounted on linier rails allows us to move it out of the way and accurately return it to its previous position when machining longer parts or servicing the machine.”
It is not just the quality of the Hydrafeed that has seen many customers choose the brand – it is the quality of Dimac’s service and support that has been a key reason for purchase. “After the Hyrdafeed was installed we received a follow-up to ensure that the machine was functioning correctly and met our expectations,” Humphries added. “We have always received terrific service from the team at Dimac – reliable and timely service is very important to us,” he went on to say. It was the same experience for Jorge Campagno of Campagno Engineering in Melbourne. “Price of course was important in our purchase decision, but it’s the support and service from the supplier which I believe is crucial, as wasted time becomes very expensive,” said Campagno. “I’ve been dealing with Dimac for 30 years and it’s their knowledge, quality products and after-sales support that was another key reason for opting for the Hydrafeed.” To further enhance productivity, Dimac offers the Royal Rota-Rack; a patented, cost-effective device that safely collects finished parts as they come off of a CNC lathe, providing a competitive advantage to manufacturers by enabling their machine tools to run unattended for extended periods of time. “We can now offer CNC owners a unique retrofit automation solution to improve both productivity and efficiency whilst protecting the finished product,” said Fowler. “By using a Hydrafeed Barfeeder and a Royal Rota-Rack working in conjunction, you can add a massive dose of productivity, keep your machines running long after your last employee has left for the night or weekend and improve your competitiveness in the market. They can be retrofitted to any entry level CNC machine as well as multi-tasking turning centres. It’s really the ultimate in ‘lights-out’ production.” www.dimac.com.au
Mapal: Getting chips under control To ensure reliable chip breaking and the optimal machining performance, Mapal has now developed a new chip guiding stage for the machining of steel. When undertaking the fine machining of steel, long chips can prove detrimental to machining performance and surface finishes, especially when machining with tools that incorporate guide pads. To prevent long chips from wrapping around the tool and creating a negative impact on surface quality, dimensional accuracy and automated process flow, Mapal has introduced the new line of inserts with chip guides. The new chip guiding stage combats these very problems; a credit to the new geometry design. With a special geometry that has been designed and optimised with extensive finite element method (FEM) analysis and practical testing, Mapal now
AMT OCT/NOV 2020
ensures that chips are broken reliably. This prevents automated workflows and production environments from being disrupted. The chip guiding stage is compatible with all indexable inserts with AS leads. Furthermore, the new chip-guiding inserts are available with a wide variety of coatings to support the machining of a vast selection of material types. That means the new chip guiding inserts can be integrated with the relevant inserts irrespective of the application in question. www.mapal.com
