Revamped CNC Line

Hurco will showcase its completely revamped line of CNC machine tools at WESTEC 2013 in Booth 1920. The Hurco machines to be displayed include the five-axis VMX30Ui, the performance VMX42i mill, the VM10i general purpose mill, and the TMM8i mill turn lathe. All of the i series machines feature a sleek design, new logo, and color palette that was introduced at IMTS 2012. However, the most important asset of the newly designed machines is the inclusion of UltiMotion^TM in all three- and five-axis mills instead of it being an option. UltiMotion^TM is Hurco’s patented motion control system that has numerous benefits including the ability to increase the quality of the surface finish while reducing cycle time by up to 30 percent (or more depending upon the complexity of the part), the company states.

The VMX42i (X/Y/Z travels of 42 x 24 x 24") is designed from the ground up to withstand the high velocities and accelerations of today’s applications. It starts with a heavy, ribbed frame made of fine grain, high-grade cast iron. The 12K dual-wound spindle provides more torque and the double-nut, pre-tensioned ball screws are anchored at both ends for increased accuracy and rigidity. The linear rails on all Hurco machines are larger, and spaced for increased strength.

The VMX30Ui five-axis machining center has X/Y/Z travels of 30 x 20 x 20.5 and a 40-tool ATC. The benefits of a five-axis vertical machining center go beyond simultaneous five-axis work. More shops are realizing greater profit margins on existing parts by converting to a five-sided machining process instead of using a conventional three-axis VMC. In fact, the majority of five-axis machines are used for five-sided machining to reduce setup time and eliminate the typical flipping of parts that is required on three-axis machining centers. Not only do shops increase the profit margin per part, they increase accuracy when they switch from three-axis to five-sided machining, the company states.

As with all Hurco machine tools, the true advantage of the VMX30Ui resides within the control technology. Not only does the integrated Hurco control support both ISO/EIA NC and Hurco conversational programming, machinists can program five-sided parts at the control with conversational programming—no CAM system needed. Features, such as Universal Rotary, Transform Plane, Tool Centre Point Management, and an intuitive graphical user interface ease the transition from a three-axis process to five-sided.

The TMM8i is a true slant-bed lathe equipped with live tooling. For parts that require turning and secondary milling/drilling operations, the TMM8i is reported to be the perfect machine to make small to medium lot sizes of such parts profitable. Save time with one setup and no loss of accuracy due to re-fixturing. The TMM8i has features that simplify three-axis turning. For example, when programming holes on the face of a part, you can choose to program in polar or rectangular coordinates. Additionally, the threading cycle performs multi-pass threading for outside diameter (OD) and inside diameter (ID) threads. The Hurco integrated control simplifies threading—you can easily set spring passes, decreasing depths, and multiple starts found in complex threads on one screen.

The TMM8i has X/Z travels of 7.8 x 20", a maximum turning diameter of 10.1", a maximum turning length of 17.9", and a maximum bar capacity of 2".