KOMET Group's reputation of leading the metalworking industry in innovative tools and a comprehensive range of solutions has remained strong throughout 80 years of service. Today the KOMET Group is made up of the three prominent companies KOMET, JEL, and Dihart that are represented in the machining areas for drilling, thread machining, and reaming. This union has allowed KOMET to cover over 92% of the tooling requirements for drilling and internal machining. KOMET of America is headquartered in Schaumburg, IL with locations in Michigan and Mexico to provide additional support. Complementing our quality solutions are KoA's highly skilled sales and application engineers, who are dedicated to providing technical assistance and on-site training.

KOMET anticipates future trends in technology with the ongoing exchange of information to create innovative tooling concepts. A solution complementing our progressive concepts is the KomTronic U-axis system, which allows controlled U-axis motion on standard CNC machining centers. This system was developed to offer end-users maximum flexibility and the opportunity for use with new or existing machining centers. The new generation KomTronic U-axis system has a compact design to ensure higher spindle speeds and is tool-changeable with a variety of spindle connections from CAT to HSK. Staying in-line with our customers' requirements and providing adaptable process changes is KOMET of America's goal. As a result, we confidently strive to remain a step above the competition.

Haas Automation Europe held its inaugural Productivity Solutions open house at the company's European Distribution System headquarters in Brussels in October. The open house drew visitors from a number of countries to the company's new 37,000-square-foot showroom and support facility. In addition to attending numerous technical presentations and seminars, visitors were able to see 25 of the company's machine tools in action. The event also featured product demonstrations from eight Haas partners. These included DP Technology (Camarillo, California) and Gibbs and Associates (Moorpark, California), which showed their latest CNC programming solutions to help maximize the productivity of Haas machines. The move to the new facility came 3 years after the company first opened its European operations at the city's Paepsem Business Park. According to Peter Hall, the managing director of Haas Automation Europe, the company has experienced a sales increase of more than 80 percent in the past year.

Constructed on Meehanite cast iron base, Model HGC 400 offers 3, 4, and 5 axis capabilities and utilizes Heidenhain scales for X, Y, and Z axes. Five-axis rotary trunnion features roller gear table with zero backlash mounting 400 x 400 mm pallet. Machine is equipped with HSK-100, 35-50 hp, 12,000 rpm direct drive spindle with chiller and GE Fanuc 16 IM CNC control. Automatic tool changer features 40 positions to accommodate all CBN and conventional vitrified grinding wheels.

Milldale, CT October 20, 2005...MAX -TEK, LLC founded to design and market superabrasive grinding systems using plated and vitrified CBN grinding wheels for HEDG (high efficiency deep grinding). The company has introduced the HGC 400 Horizontal CBN Grinding Center with 3, 4 and 5th axis capability for applications in aerospace and power generation including gas turbine blades, vanes, nozzle guide vanes, shroud segments and more.

Constructed on an accurately machined heavy Meehanite cast iron base, the HGC 400 utilizes high precision linear ways and Heidenhain scales for X, Y, and Z axes. Travel in the X/Y/Z axis is 584mm to 600mm. The available 5 axis rotary trunnion features a high precision roller gear table with zero backlash mounting a 400mm x 400mm pallet. The machine is equipped with a HSK-100, 35 - 50 HP, 12,000 RPM direct drive spindle with chiller and a GE Fanuc 16 IM CNC control system, drives and servo motors. The automatic tool changer features 40 position standard (60 position optional) to accommodate all required CBN and conventional vitrified grinding wheels as well as milling/drilling tools for additional operations. Popular options include an automatic pallet changer, table mounted dressing for vitrified CBN and conventional vitrified wheels and probing systems for part, tool and workpiece measurement.

MAX -TEK LLC was founded by Ed Elie in December 2004, who previously started Edgetek Industries in 1988, and pioneered the first domestically produced superabrasive grinding systems. MAX TEK LLC designs and markets superabrasive grinding systems to suit aerospace, power generation, automotive, compressor and medical applications. The company is headquartered in Milldale, Connecticut, in a facility that houses an experienced staff that offers a direct knowledge of superabrasive applications and machinery that includes machine and systems design, application engineering and full service support. The product line includes horizontal CBN grinding centers and automatic CBN grinding centers for high production applications.

Northern Manufacturing Co. (Oak Harbor, OH) is a 75-person fabrication shop offering cutting, punching, forming, welding, finishing, and assembly of metal parts to customers in power generation, furnace and oven, paper pulp processing, waste water treatment, glass tooling, and farm machinery, among other demanding industries.

Since its founding 55 years ago, the company has built a reputation for know-how that goes beyond that typically expected of a fab shop. In 1992, for example, Northern developed the patented Versagage metrology tool that is widely used in metal fabrication. As a fabricator, the company has become known as a go-to source for fabrication of complex shapes and sizes, mostly in difficult stainless alloys-a capability that wins Northern jobs for everything from free-form sculptures to components requiring tight tolerances over very large dimensions. For welding workpieces in relatively low quantities, the majority of Northern's jobs, the company has adopted Demmeler modular welding fixturing systems from Bluco Corp. (Naperville, IL).

Quintin Smith, Northern's CEO and sales manager, first saw the Demmeler system at a trade show while exhibiting the Versagage product. He could see that adding a modular fixturing system for welding in his facility was a natural next step. The first purchase was a D16 system for a new robot welder purchased in 1997. Today, Northern has a total of six D28 systems and tables operating in all areas of the plant.

The Demmeler system is based on a five-sided high-tensile-strength steel table with a grid of accurately located 28-mm bores on 100-mm centers, a pattern of grid lines across the top, and a scale etched on all four edges to aid setups. Flatness of the table is 0.10 mm overall and the bores are located ±0.030 -mm hole-to-hole and ±0.05 mm overall. System angles and blocks can be attached to the sides of the table to act as outriggers for parts that are larger than the table surface.

Fixture elements are precisionengineered to match to the table's hole and grid pattern for quick setup, repeatable performance, and easy removal. Structural pieces have slots to locate around irregular assemblies that are between the hole grid pattern. Positioning and clamping bolts attach the fixture angles, workpiece positioners, and other elements to the worktables or to each other. The hardened clamping bolts provide up to 3 tons (27 kN) of clamping force, and withstand up to 25 tons (222 kN) of shear.

Northern is using the Demmeler modular fixturing in an application involving the large-scale laser welding of a "box assembly," a large component critical to the operation of paper-processing machines. The nozzle-like part is 20' (6.1-m) long and made of stainless. Its large area and complex surfaces make it difficult, if not impossible, to form from a single sheet of stainless, so several pieces need to be joined.

Northern utilizes one of its two Prima Rapido CNC five-axis laser cutters/welders to weld the long joints. The Rapido laser is of a moving bridge type on which the workpiece remains stationary while the bridge-plus-laser head moves to generate all five axis motions.

The laser is well-suited to welding a joint this long. Chad Geretz, process engineer, explains: "Northern obtains high strength joints with minimal distortion due to heating, a small heat affected zone (HAZ), a narrow weld profile with good appearance, and considerably faster weld rates than traditional welding, but all of this would not be obtainable without precision fixturing." The various subcomponents making up the finished box assembly are assembled prior to reaching the Rapido laser machine, which performs final welding operations.

To accommodate the overall length of the part, Northern has replaced the table that came with the laser with a 5 × 10' (1.5 × 3-m) Demmeler table. The part is longer than the travel on the laser, so one section is welded, and then the part is indexed to a new position to complete the welding operation.

The laser operator uses the Demmeler horizontal clamps to ensure that all joints are properly aligned and secured. Angles mounted to the sides of the table extend the surface to support and locate larger parts. "When you're CNC laser welding, it's absolutely critical to precisely locate the joint. The laser welding head moves to an absolute position, and the parts better be exactly there," Geretz says. "Tackling this job would not have been as fast and precise without the Demmeler system."

Another job requiring special setup that benefits from Demmeler modular fixturing is fabrication of a stainless steel frame for an egg packaging machine. Northern found it could improve assembly efficiency through use of a "slots and tabs" method to speed positioning of loose frame pieces prior to welding. The same operation that laser cuts the frame pieces also cuts the slots and tabs. While this method speeds initial positioning of parts, the entire assembly still needs to be precisely aligned prior to welding. This is accomplished on Northern's 1000 × 2000-mm Demmeler table with a D2S modular fixturing system.

Solid carbide, Multi-Axis Series MA allows ultra-aggressive feed rates on most ferrous materials. Featuring neck-relieved design, tools are suited for deep pocket milling operations, as well as ramping, pocketing, slotting, and 3D contouring. They help reduce need for preparatory operations such as pre-drilling.

PITTSFIELD, MA - Data Flute CNC, a manufacturer of high-performance, solid-carbide cutting tools for demanding applications, has introduced an innovative series of end mills for multi-function machining.

The MA Multi-Axis Series features a unique, patented design that enables users to achieve high-productivity rates on virtually any CNC machine tool. The tool geometry allows optimization of machine tool feed rates, so users can achieve ultra-aggressive feed rates on most ferrous materials. Data Flute's MA Series end mills include a neck-relieved design for deep pocket milling operations. They are also ideal for ramping, pocketing, slotting and 3-D contouring. In addition, the Multi-Axis end mills help reduce the need for preparatory operations such as pre-drilling.

Like all of the company's tools, the MA Series of high-performance end mills are manufactured to the exacting tolerances and specifications that end-users have come to expect from Data Flute.

Made of premium-grade, solid carbide, Series AFDH Aluminum Finisher/Double-Helix end mills are suited for roughing and finishing non-ferrous metals. Geometry allows tools to perform double-duty operations. Aggressive roughing can be achieved with full engagement cuts of 1x diameter. Wide range of sizes and styles are available, as well as application-specific coatings.

PITTSFIELD, MA - Data Flute CNC, a manufacturer of high-performance, solid-carbide cutting tools for demanding applications, has introduced an innovative series of end mills for roughing and finishing aluminum.

The AFDH Aluminum Finisher/Double-Helix Series features unique patented and patent pending geometry allowing the tools to perform "double-duty" operations. Although the tools are designed primarily for finishing, they are also ideal for roughing applications. The tools deliver unparalleled surface finishes in aluminum and other non-ferrous materials. Aggressive roughing can also be achieved with full engagement cuts of 1x diameter at elevated productivity levels.

All of Data Flute's new high-performance end mills are made of premium-grade, solid carbide. They are available from stock in a wide range of sizes and styles. They are also available with application-specific coatings to enhance performance and tool life.