New AgieCharmilles CUT P series of wire EDM machines will be launched in the UK at Open House in May.
GF Machining Solutions UK has announced that it will be launching its new high-performance CUT P series of wire EDM machines for the first time to UK and Irish audiences at its Open House in May (9th, 10th and 11th).
The new CUT P range will replace the company’s CUT Sp and CUT mS series of wire EDM machines and, from a price: performance perspective, occupies the position between the CUT E series at one end of the spectrum, and the CUT 1000/2000/3000 series’ of machines at the other.
There are four different sized machines in the new CUT P series and, at the Open House event in May, the company will be showcasing one of these new machines – the CUT P 550 which features an automatic sliding door, linear scales, X-, Y-, Z-, U- and V-axis travels of 550mm, 350mm, 400mm, 500mm and 350mm respectively, and a 900mm x 600mm table.
In addition to the new CUT P machine, visitors will also be able to see a number of other machines in action from GF Machining Solutions’ extensive and diverse product portfolio.
These include – CUT E350 and CUT E600 wire EDM machines, a FORM 200 die-sink machine integrated with a WorkPartner 1+ automation system, and a Mikron HEM 500U (5-axis machining centre). Visitors will also have the opportunity to find out more about the company’s Laser Texturing and Additive Manufacturing (AM) machine tool technologies.
CUT P Series
The new CUT P machines will appeal to precision component manufacturers and mould makers looking for a fast, flexible, high-accuracy and reliable wire EDM machine – and feature a number of technology advantages designed to deliver process optimisation and security.
At the heart of all four CUT P machines is GF Machining Solutions’ digital generator technology. The upgraded IPG Intelligent Power Generator helps manufacturers cut parts faster (on average up to 20% faster than the previous Sp/mS machines).
The IPG generator, through its real time spark condition monitoring capabilities, controls and adapts the spark according to prevailing machining conditions to ensure fast and high-accuracy machining (positional and contour accuracies are +/- 2µm), and an ability to realise surface finishes of Ra 0.08µm
The CUT P machines also feature a number of integrated onboard SMART technologies to help customers exploit the machines’ full potential and, in doing so, increase their productivity and reduce lead times.
These include the POWER-EXPERT, SURFACE-EXPERT, WIRE-EXPERT, PROFIL-EXPERT and TAPER-EXPERT systems.
- i) POWER-EXPERT:
POWER-EXPERT optimises rough cutting speeds and, calculating the height of the part, determines (automatically) the optimum power to send through the wire.
- ii) SURFACE-EXPERT:
SURFACE-EXPERT controls sparking parameters during finishing operations to ensure superior surface finishes and, as a consequence, minimal secondary polishing requirements.
iii) WIRE-EXPERT:
Irrespective of the height of the part, WIRE-EXPERT controls the wear of the wire ensuring that high geometrical accuracies are always realised.
- iv) PROFIL-EXPERT:
During roughing and finishing operations PROFIL-EXPERT automatically adjusts machining parameters (including speed) when a change of direction is detected, enabling fine and intricate details to be machined.
- v) TAPER-EXPERT:
TAPER-EXPERT enables large taper angles to be machined accurately and quickly – 0 to 30 degrees (45 degrees as an option). The system corrects, in real time and during machining, the wire position in relation to the angle being machined.
These EXPERT systems in addition to the machines’ Quadrax and fixed table design; Integrated Collision Protection (ICP) on all 5-axes, and Advanced Thermo-stabilisation systems make the CUT P series amongst the most versatile, reliable and dependable wire EDM machines on the market.
Says Martin Spencer, Managing Director, GF Machining Solutions UK:
“CUT P machines are flexible and powerful. They provide customers with over 600 dedicated and proven ‘on-board’ technologies covering a wide range of parts (from 1mm to 800mm in height), and an equally wide range of different materials from steel, copper and carbide to aluminium, titanium, PCD and graphite.
“Customers do not need to ‘reinvent the wheel’ when machining jobs and components – instead they can tap into our best-practice knowledge and expertise (accessed via the machines’ HMI – Human Machine Interface control), and improve their productivity and performance as a result.”
Built-in Automation
CUT P machines provide users with a high degree of autonomy.
In addition to the machines’ automatic wire threading/re-threading capability, and their ability to accommodate large (25kg) wire spools – both of which help to facilitate ‘secure’ lights-out, unattended operations, the machines also have an automatic slug management (ASM) system that reduces manual intervention and increases process reliability.
These features, plus the machines’ ability to be integrated (easily) to robots and automation systems increases their productivity potential and improves ROI.
A new ergonomic control – AC CUT HMI
The AC CUT HMI available on the CUT P machines helps customers significantly reduce set-up times, and via their new 19” LCD (TFT) touch screens enable users to quickly access and use the many and varied on-board technologies.
Economic and environmentally-friendly machining
CUT P wire machines are economic to run and are environmentally-friendly. They feature Econowatt – GF Machining Solutions’ energy conserving technology that reduces or turns off the power supply when machining operations have been completed or have been interrupted.
