BETTER PRODUCTION Shops Using Technology
mmsonline.com December 2017 MMS 95
capabilities. The old lathe couldn't quickly pick
up a thread, and operators had to guess at posi-
tioning the tool by tweaking the offset, sometimes
putting blue marking dye on the thread to deter-
mine where the tool was positioned by how the
dye scratched off the thread. With the E50, an
operator can pick up the pitch of a thread in the
middle by dialing the tool so that it skins the sides
of the thread, then defining the type of thread in
the control and "teach-
ing" th e m ac hin e th e
position of the thread
pitch. Mr. Harvey says
the shop often uses this
feature for thread repair.
T h e n e we r l a t h e's
t h r e a d c y c l e a l s o
enables the operator to
create a taper at the end
of a thread to create a
s t r o n g e r t r a n s i t i o n ,
whereas the previous
mac hine brought the
tool straight out of the
cut, leaving behind a
weak point that could
cause threads to break
off at the end.
The new lathe also is
said to hold tolerances
tighter to DIN 8605 stan-
dards, and this is espe-
cially important for some
of JBC's parts, such as
winder mandrels that
are used to make card-
b o a r d t u b e s . T h e s e
mandrels typically are
60 inches long with outer
diameters ranging from
1 to 12 i n c h e s a n d a
taper of 0.003 inch per
foot. Operators use a
steady rest and turn this
taper in sections, then
manually polish so the
sections blend together.
According to Mr. Harvey,
the mandrels that came
off the old machine needed a lot of polishing to
get an accurate taper, but because the new
machine's tolerances are tighter, polishing either
takes less time or no longer is required.
The 2,500-rpm E50 also provides spindle torque
of 1,107 foot-pounds, which has enabled JBC to
Weiler North America Corp., call 843-513-7205
or visit weilerusa.com.