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mmsonline.com August 2017 MMS 85 FEATURE A lthough the annual Amerimold event is pri- marily targeted to companies involved in manufacturing plastic injection molds, anyone interested in the advanced technology that is critical to mold machining could find useful, valu- able information. In fact, I went looking for prod- uct news and application insights that would be of interest to the metalworking industry at large. There was plenty to see. Almost all of the emerg- ing developments and key trends in metalworking technology were represented at this show. The highlights of my discoveries are illustrated here. TAKUMI The Takumi H10 was one of several machine tools o n d i s p l ay. T h i s d o u b l e - c o l u m n V M C h a s a special appeal to mold manufacturers, the com- pany says, because it has the spindle speed (15,000 rpm), rigidity and precision for accurate p ro d u c ti o n of c o m p l ex m o l d g e o m etr y w i th f ine sur face f inishe s. Travels are roughly 40 inches, 28 inches and 20 inches in X, Y and Z, respectively. The H12 and H16 are larger broth- ers to this model. All are 40-taper machines. The builder also promotes these VMCs for other applications in high-speed machining, such as producing aerospace components. PROMAC Promac is an Italian machine tool builder offering large gantr y machines with fixed and moving tables. These machines are used for producing large automotive molds for complete bumpers as well as other large car parts for which molding processes provide significant weight reduction and styling options over other production meth- ods. This scale model shows the size and con- figuration of the Sharov GVT for three-, four- and five-a xis machining with an HSK A63 or HSK A100 spindle. PROTOTRAK Southwestern Industries had one of its ProtoTrak knee mills on display, partly to show off the new KMX CNC unit that is an upgrade for its older CNC units. As the company explains, mold shops, prototype houses and other manufacturers with well-equipped toolrooms tend to hang on to these machines, even for decades, making sup- port for control units with electronic components that are no longer available quite a challenge. T h e n e w c o n t r o l c o n t i n u e s t h e t r a d i t i o n o f s u p p o r t i n g t h e s k i l l e d to o l r o o m m a c h i n i s t a n d m o l d b u i l d e r w i t h p r o g r a m m a b l e C N C