Gewefa alliance with Hurco eclipses 20-year mark

Close-up of some Gewefa milling toolholders in a rack, ready for use in Hurco’s showroom and demonstration centre

An alliance of more than 20 years has existed between machine tool provider Hurco Europe Ltd and tool-holding equipment supplier Gewefa UK Ltd. The latter has been a perennial participant at the annual Hurco Open Houses held at the machine tool manufacturer’s High Wycombe showroom and technical centre, along with about a dozen other supplier firms promoting everything from cutting tools to metrology, workholding to fire suppression, finance to CAD/CAM.

David Waghorn, managing director of Hurco Europe, said: “I regard our association with Gewefa UK over the years as a partnership rather than a supplier arrangement. About 20% of the machining centres we supply to customers include back-end tooling packages and 75% of those are sourced from Gewefa UK.”

Pictured left: David Waghorn (left), managing director of Hurco Europe with Paul Mantle, applications manager

He went on to explain that the remainder of the back-ends are mainly Hurco’s own toolholders, which are ideal for entry-level, lower-spindle-speed applications. For Hurco machines that offer higher spindle speeds, generally from 12,000-18,000rev/min, especially the Hurco five-axis models in the SRT, SW, VC and U series, Gewefa UK is the preferred toolholder supplier and a majority of machines are shipped with its products.

One Hurco machining centre, the three-axis VM10HSi, which is now fitted with an HSK-40 interface rather than the previous BT30, is offered with a 30,000rev/min spindle and it is difficult to imagine it being delivered with anything other than holders from Gewefa UK.

The reasons for adhering to this supplier are many, according to Mr Waghorn. He asserts that the quality/price ratio of the toolholders is equivalent to that of the machines Hurco supplies and that the holders are positioned towards the upper end of the market in terms of their functionality. Gewefa UK has in its portfolio a vast range of BT and CAT 30, 40 and 50 holder options and their HSK and DIN equivalents to suit any requirement and is very willing to tailor its standard tooling packages to suit an end user’s needs.

For example, collet holders will frequently be swapped out for other varieties, such as a side lock (Weldon) type, or a shrink-fit or hydraulic holder with through-coolant or air delivery, both of which are designed for high tool grip, vibration damping and consistent, repeatable accuracy. Likewise, special extended holders are often supplied. All toolholders are dynamically balanced as standard, with those destined for high-speed machining receiving an additional, higher-grade precision balance.

Extremely tight tolerances
Once the content of a typically 14- to 24-piece Gewefa tooling package for prismatic machining has been established, consistent with the type of work generally carried out by the OEM or sub-contractor, from fairly open tolerance up to extremely tight tolerance, delivery is described by Mr Waghorn as prompt. Perhaps more importantly, the after-sales service provided by Gewefa UK to Hurco customers to provide any additional tooling is also timely, as well as comprehensive.

In the case of the fixed-head turn-milling machines that Hurco supplies, the relationship with Gewefa UK is somewhat different. More than 90 percent of driven-tool Hurco lathes, whether they have a VDI or BMT turret, are delivered with a tooling package from EWS Weigele, Germany, one of six European tooling product manufacturers represented in the UK exclusively by Gewefa UK under sole agency agreements.

Pictured right: EWS Varia.VX live holders in the turret of a Hurco TM10Mi driven-tool lathe. Many of the static toolholders supplied are also from the same source

The Gewefa Varia.VX range of toolholders with dual face and taper fit was introduced a few years ago for the rapid exchange of driven tools in lathes. It has proved popular with users of Hurco turning machines due to its rigidity, reliability and accuracy, and the good surface finish achievable on the components being machined. Recently, for exchanging static turning tools quickly and easily, the compatible Varia.VXT quick-change system was launched and these toolholders are also offered by Hurco.

Another new introduction, this time by Gewefa UK itself, is the M96 and M96+ hydraulic adapter range for live tooling, which converts ER-driven toolholders into inexpensive hydraulic chucks. The innovation avoids the limited clamping force, run-out issues and lengthy tool change times associated with mechanical ER holders, while also damping vibration and extending tool life, so are likely to prove popular with precision turned parts specialists.

The cooperation between Hurco and Gewefa UK goes even deeper. Another of Gewefa UK’s sole agency sales agreements is with German firm OTT-Jakob Spanntechnik, which manufactures drawbars used in the construction of Hurco machining centres.

Longstanding partnership
An additional German company that has appointed Gewefa UK to sell its products in the UK exclusively is Rineck Werkzeugtechnik, whose toolholder shrink-fit machines are sold by Hurco, as are the angle heads and speeders produced by Swiss firm Pibomulti, which has a similar exclusive agreement with Gewefa UK. The firm’s managing director Nicole Lloyd-Foxe said: “The longstanding partnership we have had with Hurco Europe is based on mutual support. We have developed tooling packages over the years that not only meet their customers’ requirements, but are also flexible enough to be tailored to suit the end user’s needs.

Pictured left: Further EWS Varia.VX holders in a Hurco TMX8MYSi driven-tool lathe

“It is a perfect example of our ability to deliver comprehensive, bespoke equipment packages from a single source and provide support to machine sellers in Britain and Ireland. We offer not just back-ends and other toolholding products, but also ancillary equipment such as tooling trolleys, all at a competitive price. Additional offerings include OTT-Jakob Power-Check milling spindle pull-in force monitoring devices for predicting when preventive maintenance will be needed, and EWS Varia Clean for maintaining tool concentricity and optimising the lifetime and performance of the lathe toolholders.”

Mr Waghorn concluded: “Our continued use of products from Gewefa UK is not just down to the flexibility provided by their ability to deliver a huge breadth of toolholding products. It is also due to the knowledge that the supplier brings to bear to address customers’ toolholding requirements, even those that many potential suppliers would find intractable, and to keep them running reliably for the duration of their service lives.”