Halifax-based Broadbent Stanley (www.broadbentstanley.co.uk) has extended its range with large-capacity double-column machining centres from Taiwan-based Starvision.

These machines are available with X-axis travels up to 36m and 5.7m in the Y axis, as well as five-face and simultaneous five-axis capability.

The range covers box-way and linear-guide machines, as well as moving-beam, moving-column and five-axis variants that can be equipped with a range of milling heads.

Starvision’s range combines Taiwanese manufacturing technology with German design input, as the company has a technical co-operation agreement with machine-tool manufacturer A Monforts Werkzeugmaschinen GmbH.

In partnership, the companies used design tools such as FEA (finite element analysis) to enhance structural rigidity and eliminate — as far as possible — any machine deviation.

Starvision also monitors accuracy over long bed lengths by using autocollimator optical measurement technology, which
ensures the straightness of long-stroke axes even when the table is loaded with a heavy workpiece.

The Starvision standard range of machines goes from the Compact series (with table sizes from 600 x 600mm) through box-way and linear-guideway machines (with tables ranging from 2,000 x 1,400mm up to 10,000 x 3,500mm) to moving-column machines with tables up to 36m long.

In addition to these standard machine configurations, Starvision can work to customer requirements, whether to fit an available space or to meet the needs of specific applications.

A recent example of this tailor-made approach saw a customer supplied with a 3,000mm--bed machine, but featuring a modified column in order to give a maximum clearance of 2,100mm from the spindle nose to the table.