Water-Mix Fluid For Machining Magnesium Alloys

John Neale has developed a high-performance water-mix fluid for machining magnesium alloys. Coolant MGX is designed to meet the requirements of machine shops that exclusively or occasionally machine magnesium alloys. It exhibits high stability when machining Magnesium alloys and has been designed to cope with water harnesses of over 3,000ppm.

The product has been designed so that there is no compromise when machining aluminium or other aerospace alloys due to advanced synthetic lubricant additives, which means high surface finish on all aluminium-machining operations and stainless steel. Coolant MGX has been designed with Magplus technology, which ensures high levels of product stability when machining Magnesium alloys.

The replacement of normal emulsifier systems with the Magplus technology allows for significant Magnesium-ion buildup with no adverse effect on the emulsion quality and no scum buildup.

Fluid Metering Unveils Smooth-Flo PDS100 System

Fluid Metering has introduced the Smooth-flo PDS100 valveless dispensing and metering system that uses dual fluid metering pumps synchronised to eliminate pulsation. Pump heads are integrally mounted to the control unit, which includes stepper motors, drivers and programmable electronics, housed in a rugged anodised aluminium enclosure.

The Smooth-flo is menu driven and uses front-panel membrane switches and a large LCD display for programming. The system features pulse-free fluid delivery down to 15uL/min continuous flow. The precision dual-stepper-controlled pumpheads are factory calibrated to the user's flow range. The Smooth-flo PDS100 system offers RS485, 4-20mA, a 0-5V and 0-10V electronic control interface for connection to process sensors and PLC and PC control systems.

The rugged anodised aluminium enclosure is suitable for wall-mounting or bench-top installation in the laboratory or production areas. The system includes tubing, fittings and configuration instructions for Smooth-flo PDS100 system operation. The universal power input operates on 100-240VAC 50/6.

Schmitt Unveils Fluid Acoustic Emission Sensor

The latest addition to the Schmitt portfolio of AEM (acoustical emission monitoring) sensors is the Fluid Acoustic Emission (AE) sensor. The SBS acoustical emission monitoring system (AEMS) is an established method of monitoring grinding wheel processes with high precision. Also known as 'gap and crash control' or 'gap-crash', AEMS uses acoustic technology to monitor high-frequency signals generated on the grinding machine during key events in the grinding process.

The Fluid AE sensor is suitable for situations where direct acoustic contact is required during the grinding process. For example, where machine design, high-frequency bearing, mechanical or electromagnetic noise, prevents the use of other types of AE sensor. The Fluid AE sensor uses the existing oil or water-based grinding machine coolant with a separate feed from the cutting stream directed at the component or dresser. The noise of the grinding wheel touching the component or diamond is then transmitted back up the coolant stream to the AE sensor and detected by the Schmitt electronics within one millisecond.

User benefits include elimination of the grinding gap time in the grind cycle, notification and prevention of machine crash conditions, automatic quality monitoring of wheel dressing and machine positional control. The AEMS allows rapid, automatic grinding wheel in-feed right up to the point of initial contact with a new part loaded in the machine. The system can automatically detect the initial contact and report this event to the machine control, stopping the wheel in-feed without operator intervention.

Typical cycle time savings of up to 20 per cent have been achieved using this system, said Schmitt. The AEMS can be stand-alone or added to any SBS grinding wheel balancer controller providing two sensor input sockets. A four-channel SBS controller can give up to eight inputs from eight different AE sensors. Data can be downloaded via a 0-10V analogue output to a PC or external datalogger for QA purposes. Schmitt said that its acoustic sensors can be retro fit, are highly resistant to grinding machine coolants and grinding paste and give reaction speeds faster than traditional methods of spindle load or current monitoring.

Korloy CBN Inserts Hard-Turn Without Cutting Fluid

Cutwel has released Korloy CBN inserts, which can be used for hard turning with no cutting fluid. Existing or standard ISO toolholders can be used to hold the inserts. Typical materials that are hard-turned are grey cast iron (180-230HB), high-temperature alloys (over 45HRC), sintered alloy, carbide roll and high-speed steel roll.

Grade KB320 is suitable for intermittent and continuous cutting on hardened steel, and Grade KB330 for heavy intermittent cutting on hardened steel. Other grades include Grade KB360 for continuous cutting on cast iron, sintered alloy, heat-resistant alloy and carbide roll, and KB420, for continuous cutting on hardened steel.

Advantages include the following: cycle times and set-ups are generally much shorter on lathes than on grinding machines; CNC lathes are generally recommended for hard turning, but manual lathes can be effective as well; hard turning requires a rigid machine with a rigid toolholder system.

CBN inserts promote faster cycle times, cut cost of machine tool investment, improve accuracy, give high-quality surface finishes, permit higher metal removal rates (two to four times faster than grinding), allow multiple operations in a single chucking, and make wet or dry cutting an option (dry cutting avoids coolant expense and disposal issues). Full technical back-up is offered on insert selection, speeds feeds and recommended depths of cut.