Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools Limited

The second in a new series of machine tool videos has been released by Geo Kingsbury. It shows that a component can be turned and milled 35 per cent faster in a German-built Index C200 twin-spindle lathe compared with using the next fastest machine of similar size and configuration from another manufacturer.  

For the production of large prismatic elements that go into Index and Traub lathes, the German machine tool group has made a major investment in machining centres at its Deizisau factory. Geo Kingsbury, the UK and Ireland agent, says that the automated, high precision machining centres have been purchased from Burkhardt+Weber (B+W), which coincidentally is also represented by Geo Kingsbury.

A portal machining centre with gantry drive for the production of large, high accuracy components has been launched by SHW Werkzeugmaschinen. The machine features a new, dynamic toolchanger that exchanges HSK A 100 or equivalent tools while machining is in progress, and an operating platform that can travel with the spindle into the working area. Both are believed to be world firsts.

A new machining centre, called UniSpeed 6, has been developed by the German manufacturer, SHW, for producing large, complex components weighing up to eight tonnes. There is also a mill-turn version on which the 3 x 1.6 m table is replaced by a 1.6 m diameter rotary table that allows parts weighing up to three tonnes to be turned in-cycle, with constant surface speed capability, at up to 250 rpm.

Economical production of wind turbine rotor blades, aircraft structurals, automotive models and patterns, boat structures, and large moulds and tools are some of the applications for which the new Zimmermann FZ33 5-axis machining centre is ideal. Components made from wood, expanded polystyrene, plastic, composites and light metals through to cast iron, tool steel, titanium and exotic alloys can be accommodated within a working volume from 3 to 40 metres in the X-axis and up to 5 metres in Y and 2.5 metres in Z.

A new, multi-spindle turn-milling centre, in which the six independently controlled spindles are served by both a 2-axis CNC slide and a single-axis plunge turning slide, has been launched by Index. Launched at the recent IMTS and AMB exhibitions, the machine is available in the UK through sole sales and service agent, Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools, Gosport.

A new, vertical-spindle machining centre, which can be supplied in 3-axis or 5-axis configuration, has been added to the range manufactured by Hermle, Germany. Called C 400 Basic, it is available in the UK through sole agent, Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools, Gosport.

An energy-efficient, 200-tonne, travelling column machining centre, called PowerForce 8, has been introduced by the German manufacturer, SHW Werkzeugmaschinen, for producing components within a large working volume defined by the user. X-axis travel is modular in one-metre increments from 10 to 50 metres, while the vertical Y-axis can be 7,100 mm or 8,100 mm and the cross Z-axis travel is 2,000 mm. Sole sales and service agent in the UK and Ireland is Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools.

Traub, launched a new version of its 20 mm capacity sliding/fixed-headstock TNL18 lathe, with the addition of a 100-degree pivoting B-axis on the upper turret. The machine is available in the UK through sole agent, Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools. The machine is intended for the production of highly complex parts, particularly those needing angular milling and drilling operations, which no longer require the use of expensive and often inaccurate angled driven toolholders.

To reduce production costs and increase accuracy when producing complex parts requiring rotational as well as prismatic machining, Hermle introduced at EMO 2011 an 'MT' version of its largest 5-axis machining centre, the C 60 U, capable of turning components in the same clamping. Availability in the UK is through sole agent, Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools.

The very best in 3- to 5-axis machining centres, advanced mill-turning lathes and industrial cleaning machines will be promoted on the Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools stand at Aero Engineering 2011.

For batch washing, degreasing and deswarfing of industrial components, a new, entry-level, aqueous cleaning machine that is both cost-saving and energy-efficient has been introduced by German cleaning machine manufacturer, Dürr Ecoclean.

German machine tool manufacturer, Hermle, has added a new model, the C 60 U, to the upper end of its range of vertical-spindle, 5-axis machining centres. Availability in the UK is through sole agent, Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools, Gosport.

Maschinenfabrik Berthold Hermle AG will be holding its traditional in-house exhibition again this year at its headquarters in Gosheim, Germany. The gates of the highly innovative production facility will be open for interested professionals to visit from April 13 to 16, 2011.

Incoming orders during 2010 returned sales at Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools to a level last seen in 2007, which was a record year. The company is sole agent in the UK for a number of top quality German machine tool brands and many users are at the leading edge of British manufacturing in their respective fields.

German machine tool manufacturer, Hermle, has added a new machining centre, the C 22 U, to the smaller end of its range of vertical-spindle machines. Sole UK agent, Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools, says that the design offers maximum flexibility, as the user can choose between 3- and 5-axis configurations as well as different options for table, spindle, tooling, coolant delivery, swarf management and automation.

An order valued at £1.2 million for three Traub TNX65 multi-axis CNC turn-mill centres has been received from a machinery equipment manufacturer in the West Country by Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools, Gosport.

Gears can now be manufactured on Hermle 5-axis machining centres following a tie-up between the German machine tool builder and Dutch software firm, HPG Nederland BV. Hermle’s sole agent in the UK, Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools describes the process, which is ideal for producing small batches of gears and even one-offs in the size range 500 to 1,200 mm diameter.

In the mid 1990s, Chas A Blatchford & Sons bought an Index G200 mill-turn centre, having decided it was the best machine for manufacturing metal components used in prosthetics for lower limbs. A recent reappraisal of machines on the market showed that the German machine tool builder’s technology is still the best production solution, 15 years on.

Component finishing appears to be emerging strongly from the downturn, if recent business won by Geo Kingsbury Machine Tools is anything to go by. It has recently received a number of orders for machines from its sole agency Dürr range of industrial cleaning machines.