Three-Axis Mill Delivers High Performance for Mold and Die Work

Hurco Companies Inc. is demonstrating the ease of implementing machine-tending automation, and its importance across small- to medium-sized manufacturing, with ProCobots-Hurco. Visitors are able to interact with demo consoles and see its demonstration across several Hurco models — the TM8MYi with live tooling and a Y-axis; the TM8i slant-bed lathe; the three-axis VM One, VM15Di, VMX42Di; and the five-axis VMX60SRTi and VC500i — illustrating how simple it is to set up and run different jobs through the Hurco control’s Automation Job Manager feature, which eliminates the need for robot programming.

Of particular use for mold and die work is the VMX42Di (42 × 24 × 24 in XYZ axes). Part of the VMX Series, Hurco’s signature line of CNC machining centers, this three-axis mill provides high-performance capabilities, delivering speed and precision, whether for machining molds or for performing batch production.

With a 15,000-rpm, direct-drive spindle and Big Plus CAT 40 spindle taper, the VMX42Di features improved surface finish, reduced heat transfer, a quieter spindle and less head growth. It also enables reduced chip-to-chip time and fast spindle acceleration and deceleration.

The machine is backed by Hurco control, powered by WinMax, providing operators with standard technical specifications. In addition to 10,000-block lookahead achieved through the company’s UltiMotion feature is 128-GB solid-state hard drives, 4 GBs of RAM, 2.7-GHz dual-core processors and 15" LCD touchscreen control console monitors.

While Hurco is known for its conversational control, shops that use G-code and rely on CAD/CAM software have also found increased productivity by leveraging the versatility of the Hurco control. According to the company, these shops often use NC for complex parts, but use conversational programming for one-offs, simple 2D work and fixturing. There is also NC/Conversational Merge, a control feature exclusive to Hurco CNC machines that enables users to apply conversational features, such as pattern operations, scaling, tool probing, part probing and an abundance of work offsets to NC programs. Customers cited include Mastercam.

Whether a machinist decides to use conversational, NC or NC/Conversational Merge programming, there are multiple control features independent of programming type. A few of the features deemed customer favorites include Advanced Verification Graphics with 3D Solid Rendering, 3D Import, Data Block Search and the True Interrupt Cycle.

• The Advanced Verification Graphics feature lets the user view a solid rendering of the tool path that displays dynamic rotation, tool cut simulation and dynamic view manipulation. This feature reduces scrap, programming time and proves out the part program.
• 3D Import includes Solid Model Import and 3D DXF. Solid Model Import enables the user to program at the CNC control directly from an STP file. The efficiency provided by the Solid Model Import feature is further enhanced with five-sided programming because it automatically creates the necessary Transform Plane blocks. 3D DXF provides the ability to gather Z-depth information from the DXF file and program from splines.
• Hurco control also simplifies the tedious task of searching for a data block or line of code during the editing process with its Data Block Search feature. Users can easily touch the selection they need to edit on the graphics screen, and the cursor will jump to the corresponding program selection.
• The True Interrupt Cycle eliminates the need to teach the control the path the tool takes when it retracts and returns to the part. When the Interrupt button on the control is pressed, the spindle stops cutting, the coolant shuts off, and the tool automatically retracts to Z home. The operator can jog the machine in any direction to check the part or change tool inserts. Then, simply press two buttons, and the cycle automatically resumes right where it left off and at the speed chosen.

When considering the skills gap prominent in industry, Hurco returns to its Job Shop Automation feature powered by ProCobots. “With Hurco automation, you don’t run into the bottleneck or expense of an integrator to set up your automation because you don’t need to program the robot,” says Hurco. “Instead, you program the automation right on the Hurco control with the Automation Job Manager feature. This gives our customers complete control over their automation — quick changeover (less than 5 minutes), flexibility (ability to move the robot to another Hurco machine), quick installation and no robot programming.”

Hurco machines can also be found exhibited at Kawasaki Robotics, Air Turbine Tools and SolidCAM.