Lymington Precision EngineersGrinding of large components with wall cross-sections 2 mm thick

Challenge

  • Grinding of large components with wall cross-sections 2 mm thick.
  • Bores up to 1.1 m deep.
  • Stringent quality standards. Tolerances of 0.01 mm.

Solution

  • A horizontal grinder with additional cycles for internal thread grinding, including touch-probe measuring cycles
  • Machining of workpieces of up to 3,000 mm in length, 650 mm in diameter and 1.5 tonnes in weight.
  • Workpieces with tolerances of 0.02 in concentricity, 0.01 in diameter & Ra 0.4.

Equipment

HG-72 horizontal grinder:

  • A head made up of three grinding wheels for machining external & internal diameters and threads.
  • Head powered by a 45 kW motor for peripheral speeds of up to 45 m/s and grinding wheels with a maximum diameter of 610 mm.
  • Five spindles, one with a carbon fibre shaft due to the extreme ratio of diameter to length.
  • Dual coolant system. This enables a quick switch to be made from the "clean" coolant required for the specific application to regular coolant for general work
  • Internal covers made from stainless steel to prevent contamination of workpieces.
  • DANOBAT MDM multi-diameter measuring system. In-process measuring for various diameters.

 “We handed over three difficult parts to our usual supplier and DANOBAT, and while the former only talked about the additional cost involved DANOBAT just got on with developing the process. They offered us additional cycles for internal thread grinding including touch-probe measuring cycles and they committed to working in close cooperation with us throughout the project. Some of the parts have bores up to 1.1 metres deep with wall thicknesses as low as 2 mm. We are now able to grind these parts to tolerances of 0.02 for concentricity and 0.01 for diameter. DANOBAT took on responsibility from start to finish and offered solutions to problems, not just preconceived ideas. This convinced us that we had chosen the right supplier, which would enable us to blend our knowledge of the parts with their experience in grinding.”

  • Nathan Davies
  • New Product Development Manager
  • Lymington Precision Engineers

Lymington Precision Engineers

Lymington Grinding of large components with wall cross-sections 2 mm thick 1
Lymington Grinding of large components with wall cross-sections 2 mm thick 2

Article

Lymington Grinding of large components with wall cross-sections 2 mm thick

Lymington Precision Engineers has gained a reputation over its 30 year history of being a ‘can do’ organisation, growing to a £50 million turnover business on the back of targeted investment in people and manufacturing technology. Now under the wings of the Senior PLC as a member of its Flexonics Division, LPE is continuing to invest and diversify as well as increasing the capacity for existing customers within the Oil & Gas, Telecommunications, Aerospace and Defence, Land and Sea Systems, Nuclear and Marine industries.

In the past 12 months LPE, which is accredited to ISO 14001 and 18001 and is working towards AS9100, opened a second manufacturing location, this additional 30,000 ft2 facility takes total floorspace to 121,000 ft2 and enhances the company’s ability to project manage large, low-volume components on machines with up to 4 m capacity as well as higher volume work on its two flexible machining systems. All of its work tends to be high-tech, high-added value, working with difficult to machine materials to tight tolerances. Within the new facility is a purpose-built, temperature-controlled, environment for its latest machine tool investment, a DANOBAT HG-72-3000-B11, a universal heavy-duty grinding machine. This 3000mm between centre machine is capable of grinding diameters up to 640 mm weighing up to 1.5 tonnes and, the integrated torque motor on the CNC-controlled B-axis allows the machine to carry out a wide range of grinding functions, including external and internal grinding, thread grinding. The machine’s wheelhead is powered by a 45kW motor that generates peripheral speeds of up to 45 m/s on the machine at LPE, with a maximum wheel diameter of 610 mm.

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