How do you assemble a giant machine tool? Very carefully. A lot of thought needs to be put into the machine design early on to accommodate assembly, alignment, shipping, and installation. Simple things like providing lifting points and making sure fasteners are easily accessible can help things go smoothly in the field. The above video shows a time lapse of the installation of a Waldrich Coburg Powertec gantry style machining center for customer MAN Diesel. There’s a lot going on […]
Machinery
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Large Envelope Mill for Wind Turbine Blades
This has an impressive envelope for a mill and is used in the manufacturing process of wind turbine blades. I initially guessed this was for composite trimming operations but the manufacturer lists the machine for work with “polystyrene, resins and fibres.” This is possibly used for form or blade core manufacture? This is a high-rail gantry style mill which can make part loading more difficult due to the mill legs but ultimately decreases the moving mass of […]
Machinery
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Stewart Platform Mill
The Giddings and Lewis Variax mill. They were definitely thinking outside the box on this one. Interesting concept but some of the claimed advantages seem dubious. The machining envelope appears limited for the size of the machine and the control enclosure is never shown in frame. The tool changer seems like a bit of a kludge and makes the whole system difficult to guard – everything would need to be isolated and caged as a cell. Work piece access […]