Slough-based International Manufacturing Solutions Ltd (www.imsl.eu), the UK agent for the Spanish machine tool manufacturer GER, has announced the launch of the SR 400-100 CNC plane and profile surface grinder.

Although the 4m machine is currently the largest profile surface grinder manufactured by GER, the company can make machines with capacities up to 6m, if required.

With a capacity of 4,000 x 1,000mm, the machine was initially developed for an Austrian press tool manufacturer; it is equipped with a 500mm-diameter x 100mm-wide wheel, mounted to a wheel-head featuring a 30kW spindle motor and three independent rotary diamond dressers.

All slideways incorporateprecision ball screws, Fanuc drive motors and Heidenhain linear scales. Control is via Fanuc 0i-TD.

GER’s SR 400-100 has a vertical distance (table to wheel spindle centre) of 1,000mm and accommodates components weighing up to 4,300kg.

Perlite cast iron is used for all of the machine’s major castings, which are ribbed and feature box-section construction.

GER says that because the machine’s X-axis table guideways are mounted directly to the front section of the bed, the table can accommodate heavy loads while still achieving smooth movement at high speeds; this design principle also applies to the machine’s Z-axis column guideways.

A motor assembly mounted inside a substantial casting within the column structure is a feature of the machine’s wheel-head.

GER says that this heavy-duty assembly “balances the generated masses, and because it is mounted at the rear of the guideways, it limits wheel-head overhang to avoid deflections under demanding grinding conditions”.