A bumper EMO for AGS with records broken

Rollomatic 660 grinding machine

Coventry-based Advanced Grinding Solutions (AGS) reports record levels of enquiries by several of its principals at last month’s EMO Hannover 2023 exhibition. AGS managing director Chris Boraston said leading the way was the Swiss company Rollomatic: “A highly respected manufacturer of multi-axis CNC grinding machines, Rollomatic reported record customer attendance on every day of the show — in addition to a record number of serious enquiries. Rollamatic also reported a large number of sales for its tool-grinding machines, including ‘walk-on’ unexpected ones. Of particular interest were the Rollomatic GrindSmart machines, along with the various automatic loading solutions, which included a robotic system that can load 20mm-diameter toll blanks in about 8sec. Furthermore, 1,000 tools can be stored in pallets for unmanned running throughout entire shifts.

The automatic changing of grinding wheels was well catered for, with the compact six-position wheel changer having a capacity of 24 grinding wheels and the ability to change wheels — complete with coolant pipes — during the tool load/unload cycle.

“There were also many serious enquiries regarding Rollomatic’s new Femto Laser machine, which can produce complete micro tools — such as end mills and drills — in the diameter range 0.1 to 0.8mm in one clamping; and because machining is by laser there are no issues with tool deflection as encountered with grinding. Confirming the popularity of Rollomatic grinders is the fact that there are more cylindrical cutting tools produced on them in the UK than on all other similar machines combined.”

Tschudin, another one of AGS’s principals, also reported very strong interest in its range of CNC centreless grinding machines, of which two were displayed on the stand — a Cube model with an integrated Fanuc robot, and a large-capacity eco400 machine. Mr Boraston continued: “Both these benefit from several patents, including a movable workpiece support that allows a range of process options to be incorporated; these include roughing and finishing in a dual cycle, grinding sharp edges, and grinding precise cones and radii. Areas of application include plunge-cut grinding, grinding several operations in a single cycle, oscillation of the component during grinding, and through-feed grinding. This versatility means that the Cube 350 can undertake a variety of applications — from toolmaking for very small batch sizes for medical technology to mass production for the automotive industry.”

Mr Boraston also made mention of the interest shown at EMO in the Comat super-filtration systems, which deliver ≤2-3μm filtration quality throughout the entire working cycle for maximum coolant consistency. He concluded: “With remote monitoring of the performance of its filtration systems from Comat’s headquarters near Milan in Italy effective after-sales support is ensured. Today, more than 20,000 machine tools use Comat filtration systems, with more than 20,000,000 litres of metal-working oil super-filtered every single day.”