In response to feedback from users, Citizen’s M32 sliding-headstock lathe has undergone a fundamental makeover in its fifth design iteration, to the extent that half of its constituent parts are new.
It is also ‘considerably more robust’, with a bed 500kg heavier than that of its predecessor, bringing the installed weight to 4.3 tonnes.
The 10-axis Cincom M32-VIII is available in the UK and Ireland through Bushey-based Citizen Machinery UK Ltd (
www.citizenmachinery.co.uk).
The 10-station turret, which runs on hardened box ways, incorporates a new tooling system with a single 2.2kW drive to the live cutters; and because only the selected tool rotates (a ‘world first’ for Citizen), heat generation and
vibration are suppressed, enhancing machining accuracy and surface finish. Power consumption is also reduced, and there is less wear on the gears and bearings.
The gang tool post has been equipped with 1.5-times-faster live tools powered by a 2.2kW motor; there is also a programmable 50rev/min B axis that allows simultaneous machining in five CNC axes, while the back tool-post with
Y axis now has adjustable-angle tooling.
Both features allow the production of more-complex parts — and three tools can be in cut at the same time. This capability, which shortens cycle times and raises productivity, is supported by the Mitsubishi M850W control with 15in touch-screen.
The 8,000rev/min main spindle has been upgraded to 5.5/7.5kW, and the counter-spindle offers the same power, improving flexibility with front-working and rear-working cycles able to be shared between the two spindles.
The Z-axis feed drive has been uprated to 1.5kW, although the 32m/min rapid-traverse rate remains the same.
Also new is the optional possibility to swap over (in half an hour) to using the machine in guide-bush-less mode; this reduces the remnant length when turning shorter components (up to 2.5-times their diameter) and allows the use of cold-drawn bar up to 38mm in diameter.
Other enhancements include: the machine door and its window being enlarged by 65%; reduced overhang of the counter-spindle headstock on its slideway to provide ‘more robust support’; larger and more-rigid ballscrews; and a 30% reduction in air consumption.
Furthermore, Citizen’s Eco Function hybrid technology automatically saves energy through the ‘intelligent use of power during non-cutting periods’.
The effectiveness of this can be monitored on a control-screen window that shows graphically the present, maximum, cumulative and historical power consumption values.