Countersinking and ultrasonic cutting: two major breakthroughs

Aerospace, the industry continuously searching for innovative materials offering better performance and always looking for micrometrical accuracies.

An industry that needs someone who can promptly develop cutting edge production solutions which could be both competitive and reliable.

That's why many major Aerospace players selected Breton as a partner, the Italian company manufacturing high-speed machining centres who recently introduced two revolutionary technologies that open up new machining horizons for the aero-applications.

COUNTERSINKThe heart of one of these is a machining head that can drill and countersink not only faster but also more precisely than ever before. It can be installed on a variety of 5-axis machining centres, such as those of the Breton Matrix and Breton Eagle families.

No special programing is required since automatically 3 accurate probes around the cutting tool come into contact with the surface of the workpiece to detect the real position in the space, directly adjusting the perpendicular direction to the surface and measuring the exact countersinking depth.

All in one shot!

It's a unique solution, which has already been adopted by various aerostructure manufacturers who now supply components with a higher degree of accuracy in much faster lead times.

ULTRASONIC
Another exciting innovation focuses on the accessories Breton has developed for ultrasonic cutting, ideal for machining core materials with aramid and aluminium honeycomb, for structural components which must be lighter than ever while maintaining their structural rigidity, produced at incredible speed.

MULTITASKING CONCEPT
Both technologies are automatically managed and are interchangeable with other conventional rotary cutting tools, for a perfect multitasking concept, performing a series of operations with just one machine thus reducing investments, production costs and times, while guaranteeing greater accuracy and more efficient productivity.

For info and requests about Breton machining heads, write now to mail@breton.it.

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5-axis high-speed machining, aerospace, aerostructure, breton eagle, breton matrix, countersink, drill, honeycomb, ultrasonic cutting

From aluminium to steel with zero problems with Breton MATRIX vertical machining centre

Demo Technology chose the Matrix 1000 Dynamic CNC machining centre with 5 continuously interpolated axes to produce finished steel and aluminium dies for the automotive industry. Stiffness and flexibility are the winning features of Breton's solution.

(by Davide Davò and Andrea Pagani for June issue of Tecnologie Meccaniche)

People who work in the automotive industry are used to a frenetic pace of production, shrinking delivery times and constant project changes before final approval. These factors are all too familiar not only to the world's car makers but also throughout their supply chain among so-called tier 1 companies. To make their products, suppliers in turn rely on another tier of vendors, the tier 2 companies, which must work within even tighter schedules for obvious reasons, offering the utmost rapidity and flexibility in meeting the broadest possible range of requests. This situation is well known to Demo Technology, a company based in northern Italy in Pionca di Vigonza (Padua) having several decades of experience in the production of metal dies for the automotive industry. Demo Technology has recently purchased one of Breton's Matrix 1000 Dynamic machining centres to streamline its production of aluminium and steel dies, thus further increasing the company's production flexibility.

Castings and dies

«Our company was incorporated in 1974 under the name Demo Meccanica – explains Demo Technology owner Gherardo Demo. From 1974 to 1985 we operated in the foundry sector as patternmakers, initially making wooden patterns and then progressing to metal patterns. In 1985 we purchased our first 5 axis CNC machine tool - a major investment that gave us a competitive advantage. In 1990 we extended our operations to the tooling industry, producing dies for gravity casting, low pressure casting and pressure die casting. We have been specialised in the production of dies for wheels for around ten years, although this sector suffered a sharp decline in the early noughties, obliging us to approach a different group of customers, while remaining in the automotive industry».

In 2010 the company demerged into two entities working independently, although remaining in close contact: Demo Technology and Demo Modeltech, the former specialised in the toolmaking industry and the latter in patternmaking. Demo Technology today produces tooling for lots of industrial processes (injection moulding, pressure die casting, etc.) for customers operating in the automotive sector. Remaining in the automotive industry, the firm also produces gauges and jigs for checking components such as doors and bumpers.

«In recent years we've invested heavily in machinery and in the engineering department – explains Demo – With regard to plant, we currently have five 3-axis CNC machine tools and six 5-axis CNC machining centres, half of which with continuously interpolated axes, which allow us to produce small series of medium and large size parts».

The acquisition of the very latest technological solutions is a necessary by-product of market evolution, resulting in demand for parts with increasingly complex shapes and hence dies with geometrical features that are ever harder to machine. Evolutionary changes have also affected the methods used by customers to send us the specifications of the components they need.

Gherardo Demo continues:  «Around ten years ago our customers stopped supplying drawings of parts and replaced them with the mathematical characterisations. This led to the need to procure CNC machine tools and, above all, to ensure our engineering department was capable of handling the incoming data and processing them with computerised design and simulation tools. In this process our customers supply the geometrical characteristics of the part and specify the working life required of the tool. It's then down to us to design the tool in such a way that it is optimised for the production of 30,000 parts or to guarantee one million production cycles».

Multiple criticalities, one solution

Geometrical complexity is therefore one of the technological criticalities that the Veneto based company is faced with, plus the need for extreme precision of machining work and impeccable surface quality of the finished die.

«Each sector has its own problems – notes Demo – With regard to the production of jigs and gauges, for example, we need to guarantee tolerances in the region of tenths of a millimetre on parts of up to 1500 mm in length and with complex morphology such as doors, bumpers and chassis members. Conversely, with regard to dies, one parameter of primary importance is the aesthetic appearance of the part so that in addition to guaranteeing compliance with tolerances and surface roughness specifications  the surface must also be completely uniform and free of machining marks left by the mill, or, as in past times, by the operator performing manual polishing operations. That's why in recent years we've invested in increasingly high performance plants, capable of precision machining work and able to finish parts without removing them from the machine».

These criticalities are further compounded by the frenetic nature of automotive industry activities, which call for speed and mental and productive flexibility to provide an ultra-quick response to requests for a range of extremely diverse products.

«The 5-axis CNC machines in our factory allowed us to work on aluminium dies with optimal results – continues Demo – The production of steel dies has been similarly successful, but we realised that our existing machine tools were working close to limit conditions, especially in the case of series of 20 or 30 parts. That's why we started to seek a more robust solution in a process that terminated with our recent purchase of a Matrix 1000 Dynamic machining centre with 5 continuously interpolated axes, made by Breton».

Bigger and more robust

The Padua-based company had already purchased a Matrix 800 in 2001 and, having confirmed the validity of the solution in terms of precision, productivity, finished part quality and reliability, they decided to contact Breton again to choose a new plant.

«We opted for the Matrix 1000 Dynamic mainly due to its ruggedness – explains Demo – To excel in our sector we have to be proactive in responding to our customers' needs, and that means that we need machines that can handle aluminium finishing or heavy chip removal on steel without problems. Our existing Matrix 800 handles both tasks correctly, but thanks to its enhanced rigidity the Matrix 1000 Dynamic model is ideal for removing large volumes of chips when working with steel, while assuring precision in the region of hundredths of a millimetre».

The machine's ruggedness is the result of the Metalquartz frame employed by Breton. The machine's shoulders are composed of a sandwich structure made of stabilised arc welded steel, with ribbing embedded in a quartz composite material with a polymeric matrix. In addition to imparting a high level of structural rigidity, this technology offers excellent vibration damping, which translates into a superior surface finish and longer working life for the milling tools. In addition to the qualities listed above, the machine features generously sized recirculating roller guideways that further increase its structural solidity while simultaneously supporting maximum rapid traverse speed of 60 m/min on the X and Y axes.

«The choice of the Matrix 1000 Dynamic was also based on the need for a longer Z axis stroke – explains Demo – In the execution of angled machining and when working with long overhang tools we needed to pay careful attention to the tool path to avoid collisions with the workpiece. This problem has now been removed with the new machine, which with its additional 200 mm stroke on the vertical axis is able to follow the paths defined automatically by the anti-collision system without difficulty. In addition to simplifying the movements, this system also means we can allow the machines to operate unmanned with the utmost tranquillity».

Technologically simple

Having purchased the machine primarily for steel processing, Demo Technology decided to equip the Breton machining centre with the most suitable spindle for the task, i.e. the 40 kW, 137 Nm 18,000 rpm unit. Like all the machine tools made by the Veneto builder, also this Matrix 1000 Dynamic is equipped with thermal stabilisation of the spindle and software capable of compensating for spindle thermal expansion during the various machining stages. Just like the rest of the structure, also the spindle was designed using solutions selected to ensure structural rigidity and vibration damping, including a cast iron dual fork head.

«Despite its high technological contents, the Matrix 1000 Dynamic has proven to be straightforward and intuitive to use – Demo concludes – Our personnel soon became familiar with the system and we're currently accumulating the experience we need to exploit its full potential, always secure in the knowledge that we can rely on the support of a reliable and expert builder like Breton whenever we need assistance».
Thanks to Davide Davò and Andrea Pagani of TM-Tecnologie Meccaniche.
For details and price about Breton MATRIX 1000 Dynamic and Matrix 800 write now to mail@breton.it.
Well, that’s all for today. 
Bye-bye.
Sergio Prior

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5 axis CNC machine tool, breton machinìng centres, breton matrix, Breton Matrix 1000 Dynamic, breton matrix 800, Demo Technology

Red Bull continues to win

2013 Formula 1 Constructors’ and Drivers’ World Championship: another title for Red Bull team and Sebastian Vettel.

The racing cars of the Austrian team mount components produced also by Breton MATRIX 5-axis vertical machining centres.

Breton is presently installing a new MATRIX 1300 K30 machining centre alongside of the three existing MATRIX:

- 2 MATRIX 1300

- 1 MATRIX 800

Breton Matrix 1300 K30

Breton Matrix 1300 K30

Breton Matrix 1300 K30

Red Bull racing cars also mount OZ wheel rims produced by Breton XCEEDER vertical machining centre.

Breton Xceeder

Breton Xceeder

Write to mail@breton.it for more INFO about our high-speed machining centres.

By-by
Sergio Prior

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breton machining centre, breton matrix, breton xceeder, composite machinery, high speed vertical machining centre

Fast, for complex moulds

Mondialstampi needed to produce large, high quality moulds with complex profile shapes as quickly as possible; the answer was the Breton Flymill 1000 machining centre, and considering the mould improvements achieved, it was exactly the right choice. 

When we move around the home or the garden we rarely pay much attention to the objects around us because we see them every day and know them well. If we did stop to look at them closely we'd soon realize that most of them are made of plastic. The same conclusion would be reached also if we were to examine our cars, both inside and out.   What's fascinating about this is the complexity of some of these parts: wafer thin in sophisticated shapes. A lot of work goes into the design of parts like these, not just the design of the part itself but in particular the mould into which the plastic will be injected. 

For Mondialstampi  a company that has become highly successful in the industry since its incorporation in Vicenza in 1990, solving problems in the plastic injection-moulding process is their daily bread.

For your home and car

“Our company is entirely dedicated to the production of injection moulds,” says Mondialstampi owner Giorgio Cortese. “We specialize in medium-large moulds mainly for household goods, such as under-bed storage units, boxes and other storage units of various shapes and sizes. We also produce moulds for automotive parts, such as bumpers, wings and interior trim, and last but not least, we make moulds for various garden articles such as outdoor storage cupboards, plant containers, composters and ornamental objects. In collaboration with third parties we also touch on many other minor sectors, but the three I have mentioned are the primary drivers of our business.”                  

“We've always worked very intensively in Italy, although market conditions have led us increasingly to look towards exports,” continues Diego Bertollo, Head of Mondialstampi's Engineering Department “Today, our production is roughly half and half: 50% for the domestic market, and the rest for export, mainly to other EU countries. We also export to Russia, Canada, and South America and, on a smaller scale, to several other countries.”
Today the company has a workforce of around 50, of whom 10 in the Engineering Department, where mould design activities are conducted using CAD/CAM systems. We have 20 technicians in the workshop and another 15 people engaged in mould assembly and testing procedures.

A well-defined structure

The Engineering Department has a very delicate job: the moulds are produced in a co-engineering process together with the customer since this approach has proven to be the optimal way to produce any given component, but it means we must also adapt each and every solution to comply with the technology and plant available to the customer.                               

Once the 3D model of the part has been created, meetings are held to eliminate any possible misunderstandings between the mould designer and the customer in terms of the solutions to adopt. When the project has been approved, the 3D model is used to produce the actual mould. First, the guidelines of the mould are defined, and then the engineering department uses CAD software to produce the definitive 3D model. The next stage involves the transition to CAM, the implemented features of which mean it can automatically recognize a large number of the work processes defined in CAD. 

“At this point the production department takes over, but first the steel ordered by the engineering department for the mould is checked before it goes into production,” explains Cortese. “The initial roughing operations are now performed on some of the machine tools at our disposal. As the production cycle proceeds, the plates are moved to the finishing machines to create angled holes and for other special machining processes.”

Once machining chips have been removed, the plates are transferred to the assembly area, where operators check conformity of the parts before proceeding with assembly. “To aid our personnel and minimize the risk of errors we've equipped the various assembly areas with CAD stations,” explains Bertollo. “Thanks to this solution, our personnel can actually see how the various parts fit together, leaving no room for doubt.” Once finished, the mould is tested in a mould testing press to check for any problems and see if any minor corrections are needed. Final testing is performed in the presence of the client, and if all requirements are met, the go-ahead for production can be given.

There's no dedicated unit in charge of quality control, which is instead performed directly on the machine using probes that can detect even the smallest imperfection so that the part can be reworked without having to remove it from the machine. Mould quality is therefore guaranteed by the two Breton machining centres installed in our factory, which are used for mould finishing operations.

Reliability pays

“In the household articles industry in particular we work with very thin parts where even one-hundredth of a millimetre can make a difference”,  continues Bertollo – “We need machining centres that can guarantee the highest quality and that’s why we chose the Breton Flymill 1000.”

“Producing large, complex moulds, reducing milling times, improving surface quality and increasing working life.  These were the requirements we wanted to address by purchasing a new 5-axes machining centre,” says Cortese. “Ten years ago we bought a Breton Matrix 800, and we've never had any problems with the plant or the after-sales service. That's why we decided to look at the possibility of purchasing another Breton machine.”

The company finally opted for a Flymill 1000, a 5-axes machining centre that differs from the Matrix in its working range, structure and spindle power: longitudinal travel of the new machine in fact is up to 8 meters and it is equipped with a 5-axes head with Direct Drive motors. In any case, both solutions were designed specifically to meet the requirements of high-speed machining in the mould  making industry, so they are the natural choice for these applications. 

In particular, the Matrix is a travelling cross beam gantry type machining centre with a fully enclosed structure and drive assemblies located at the top of the machine, making it extremely safe for operators and guaranteeing the highest level of reliability and precision during machining. The high quality and precision of the machining work are also a result of the thermal symmetry of the structure, while a thermal stabilization system for the Z axis ball nuts and bearings and axis drives keeps the temperature of these parts the same as the machine structure.

Both the Matrix and the Flymill are equipped as standard with a continuous rotation Direct Drive twist head with C axis continuous control, and the spindle can be used with a continuous power output of up to 40 kW at 18,000/28,000 rpm giving the machine considerable chip removal capacity. 
Mondialstampi actually purchased the Flymill with a more powerful head to use the new machining centre not only for finishing, like the Matrix, but also for prefinishing operations.

In addition, the new machine is much faster than the original one: 60 m/min for the X and Y axes and 100 rpm for the C axis compared to the 40 m/min and 19 rpm of the Matrix. This performance derives from the choice to equip the machine with guideways mounted on racks rather than on recirculating ball screws, giving the system a more rigid structure and allowing it to reach higher speeds.  
Furthermore, the Flymill is ideal for machining complex profiles thanks to the generous working range of the A axis, which is from –105° to +120° thus making it possible to machine difficult undercuts without having to reposition the workpiece.

“Both units are extremely high-tech solutions and that's why they're entrusted to highly specialized technicians dedicated exclusively to running the machine”. Cortese concludes – “Our aim is to exploit the Flymill to its maximum potential in order to transform our investment into a technological advantage that will help us consolidate our market position.”

For more INFO about Matrix  800 and Flymill 1000 write to mail@breton.it.

Thanks to Mondialstampi

Thanks to TM - Tecnologie Meccaniche, by Davide Davò. 
By-by
Sergio Prior

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aerospace machining, automotive machining centre, breton flymill, breton machining centre, breton matrix, mondialstampi

Mold machining: Promises kept with Breton Matrix

Meeting the delivery times and high precision parts are the foundations of company philosophy for Focus on molds. To keep these trump cards in our hand, the company puts its trust in qualified personnel and hi-performance machine tools such as the Breton Matrix 800 K25/2T.

Designing injection or pressure die-casting molds is an interesting challenge for the engineering department, as these components push the designers’ creative energy and come up with new solutions. The special feature of the molding process is that two similar pieces need different dies: just a small geometric variation may mean redesigning the shape and position of elements such as deburring chambers or heat exchangers. This redesigning is frequently required in the automotive industry; imagine how many parts change shape from one car to the next, or even two different versions of the same model.

So similar, so different

“Molds may seem all the same, but every customer has its own special requirements as the mold will be used in different ways on different presses to those of the competition,” says Giuseppe Ghilardi, general manager of Focus on molds, “so there's a study I might even call tailor-made that goes into every die and punch design developed by highly qualified personnel. Here at Focus on molds we dedicate a great deal of time and energy to our employees, concentrating our efforts on their training and rewarding those deserving the highest praise. We're convinced that the quality of the parts and therefore customer satisfaction is the result of their work, rather than just the performance of the machine tools. This has been our philosophy since 2002, when we launched the brand.”

Over a decade of success thanks to an important change of direction in 2002 when the new management took over a company established in 1979, completely restructuring both the staff organization and work method. 
At the end of 2012 we moved to the new works in Cologne (BS) with an area of 10,000 m2, half of which covered. “During the transfer, we took the chance to assess the conditions of our machine tools, to see whether it was worth moving them, or if it was more economically viable to purchase new models,” mentions Ghilardi. “In the case of Breton, in the old works we had a machine with seven years of service, and although it still managed to keep up with the required quality standards of production, some minor imperfections had begun to appear.”

More than words

The positive results in these seven years convinced Focus on molds to continue collaborating with the Italian company, purchasing a Matrix 800 K25/2T. “Until a few years ago I hadn't even heard of the Breton machines,” continues Ghilardi. “During our first meeting I was told their product had certain characteristics and could offer a certain type of performance. I'm happy to say that the promises made by the sales staff and technicians were kept, not just when the machine was purchased but in time too. For this reason, when it was time to renew our machines we were in no doubt whatsoever and contacted Breton immediately.”

Initially Focus on molds asked if it would be possible to retrofit the old model already installed, but the characteristics of the Matrix 800 K25/2T in the catalog convinced the company from Brescia to invest in a new machine. “The Breton technicians explained that the new machine had numerous improvements to reduce head noise, improve recovery from thermal expansion and improve accuracy on some machining types even more than before,” Ghilardi adds. “As the promises made have always been kept, I put my trust fully in the new machine and signed the contract.”

As this machine is mainly used for finishing and superfinishing molds, the improvement in precision and maintaining this performance in time were parameters of fundamental importance. As well as the difficulties associated with the dimensional variations of the molded piece in fact, there is also the problem of having to produce net shape components with very close tolerances. 
The Matrix 800 K25/2T meets these requirements with ease, thanks also to its very rigid head and the ability to work at high rotation speeds, which lets you work a wide range of materials.

Punctual precision

This machine is ideal for making the majority of molds, which otherwise would need to go through a spark erosion process, increasing production and delivery times. It's important to emphasize that timely performance is something of a motto for Focus on molds: we're proud to say that over the years we've always managed to deliver our customers' orders by the date of delivery. 

“90% of our production is for the automotive industry, and when working with the major names like Audi, Mercedes, BMW and Jaguar you must be fully aware of your potential and times, because delays will surely mean a customer lost,” states Ghilardi. “This is extremely important for us, as first and foremost it's an indication of our professional standards and lets us establish trustworthy relations with our customers: if the customer trusts you, you're sure to be one of the first suppliers they'll contact for future orders. The problem is that the person placing the order takes precision for granted, and requests tighter and tighter deadlines. 

This means we have to take great care when deciding which proposal to accept. Sometimes in fact in spite of everything we've had to turn down interesting projects because of the impossible deadlines, despite the fact that from a feasibility point of view they were well within our scope. A contract we signed recently represents a different case though, as the customer gave us an ultimatum in terms of the number of parts and the delivery date for consigning the job. We accepted, despite the fact the contract would mean a notable effort on our part, putting our trust in the potential of the Matrix 800 K25/2T.”

Precise, versatile, reliable

The Breton machine is a highly versatile milling center that can meet any work requirements, thanks also to its extensive operating range that lets you position a complete mold without having to remove it, if only minor milling is required. Furthermore, thanks to its 5 axes, the Matrix can perform complex operations and the workpiece can be positioned on the machine in one simple operation, so there is no time wasted and there can be no errors in precision as the piece doesn't have to be moved. 

“The main advantage is the way the head moves and turns,” explains Ghilardi. “The Matrix can perform complicated movements extremely easily also thanks to the numeric control installed, which may be either a Heidenhain or Siemens NC, and simply transmits the data from the Cam program to the machine, so it responds as quickly and smoothly as possible.” This makes the Breton machine very easy to use, so easy in fact that training here at Focus on molds is limited to new personnel, and is basically only on learning how to use the NC.

On paper, Matrix is a machining center that's easy to use, and in practice it's proven to be highly reliable too: until now the new machine hasn't needed any kind of repair call, even tele-assistance type. This is a very interesting service offered by Breton, and thanks to the tele-assistance support the technicians can remotely run diagnostics and, for repairs that require field service, they arrive just with the right tools and parts to solve a problem, although most of the time problems can be solved over the phone. 

This is more than just an advantage in terms of image for Breton; it means customers can respect their times, as any repair call will be timely answered and targeted.

“In general, we're very pleased with Breton  both from a machinery point of view and for the quality of the pre and post-sale service,” concludes Ghilardi. “They always met our requirements, and above all kept their promises. For us this means added value, because it's exactly the same way we've earned our customers' trust and is the mark of a serious and reliable partner.”
(Thanks to TM - Tecnologie Meccaniche for the article)
Sergio Prior

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breton matrix, cnc vertical milling machine, high speed cnc machining centre, matrix 800, mould