Hewland's Renishaw VMC technology

Manual tool setting and inspection for breakages is both skilled and labour-intensive and Dave Radley, Hewland's operations director, heard that the fully automated Renishaw 'NC1' non-contact laser system could make significant time savings, identifying tool breakage without any chance of further component damage and guaranteeing a consistent process. Radley saw the system at its launch at a MACH exhibition, and subsequently had it installed on a busy twin-pallet Matsuura vertical machining centre, used for components such as clutch rings machined from steel forgings.

A second system was put into operation on a Daewoo Mynx VMC employing a number of different small and delicate tools. This machine is used for producing a variety of high-precision details on components, such as intricate cam tracks on selector barrels.
Other work involves using distinctive cutting tools, such as a form tool with a radius face, for features on the ends of transmission halfshafts.

Radley said: "The automatic checks for tool breakage at rapid feed rates, and the ability to check each facet of a multi-faceted tool, have helped to bring us significant reductions in the need for rework, and has also helped to further raise the already high levels of quality assurance."

The Renishaw 'QC10' ballbar continuously and very accurately measures the radius of a circle described by a machine in two of its axes. Once this test has been performed, the software that controls the test also analyses and diagnoses the results. Analysis is given of 21 different machine variables, with suggestions of corrective action.

Hewland quality manager Ken Wallace said: "A major customer required us to provide traceable proof of our quality assurance, and Renishaw's ballbar gave the guarantees they sought on the machine's performance."