The Anilam retrofitting

This was all done in a very quick, methodical and professional manner from start to finish, and we are now beginning to see the benefits of using Hydrafeed for this retrofit.' With their highly trained team, a massive wealth of experience in the field of Barfeed retrofitting, and with many satisfied customers, Hydrafeed can provide the complete package to suit all types of applications, providing maximum support and reliability, with minimum effort and worry, all at a price second to none in the Barfeed industryA three axis Anilam CNC control system more usually found controlling milling machines has transformed the capability of a rebuilt Jones and Shipman 540 toolroom surface grinder at tooling manufacturer, Electro spark. The grinder, which before being rebuilt was a manual machine, has enabled the Cwmbran (South Wales) company to reduce cycle times and improve quality levels in the production of components which are now machined under full three axis (X, Y and Z) control with the Anilam system. The machine has been completely rebuilt and fitted with DC drives on all three axes, with the drives being controlled by the Anilam MK Vertical Lathe. Also, the original 1.1kW grinding wheel spindle drive motor has been replaced by a 3.7kW motor which drives the spindle through a poly vee belt. As a result of the new drives and larger motor and in combination with the fine degree of positional and rotational control provided by the CNC Vertical Lathe the machine is now being used also for creep feed grinding. The Anilam retrofitting, which included fitting new ballscrews and drives, was carried out by Machine tool control of Pontypool, South Wales Anilam's representative in Wales and a specialist in CNC retrofitting with over 20 years experience in the sales and support of the Anilam product range. 'To buy a new CNC machine with a comparable CNC would have cost three times as much, and the machine would have been too big for the light precision work we now do on it,' reckons Dave Calder. 'Due to its success there are now plans to have a second grinding machine rebuilt for control by a two axis Anilam MK 3200 unit.