Micron and submicron manufacturing requirements are continuing to grow in demand and application, offering unique challenges and immense opportunities to a wide group of manufacturers. Makino understands that the design and construction of machine tools, work and toolholders, cutting tools and electrodes need to evolve as greater demands are placed on them when machining these miniature parts.
The focus on micromachining has captured the imagination of nearly every industry segment, from the medical appliance industry to the automotive world, and the potential in new and exciting products is emerging daily. The application of submicron manufacturing in high precision milling and EDM by Makino represents a "business reality" effort to broaden this understanding and capability to even more manufacturers, and is the centerpiece of the company's micromachining equipment and processes that meet the demand for micro-dimensions and ultra-high precision
Many of the challenges revolve around economically controlling the micromanufacturing process, and the actual systems being developed to address expanding capacity and productivity. Micromilling and EDMing of unique, micromachining applications by Makino illustrate advancements in thermal considerations, low vibration tooling, hybrid tool length measurement, high-precision tooling, and other practical solutions to a host of challenges.
New Innovations and Capabilities
New machine innovations by Makino include the Hyper2J vertical machining center, the Edge2S machine with fine-hole attachment, the V22 vertical machining center, the UP32i ultra-precision wire EDM and the revolutionary UPJ-2 horizontal wire EDM system. Designed for ultra-high precision, these new machines require more thought in their design and deployment than conventional technologies. What was impossible just a few years or even months ago is becoming possible.
For example, Makino machines are now capable of a tool change and the machining of a cutting tool with a step variation of approximately 0.2 µm, and to program a part effectively using 0.1µm command increments. It is also possible to automatically wire thread a 20-µm (0.00078 in.) diameter wire through a 70-µm start hole, machine radii in the 17-µm range, and produce an accurate hole that is 100 times the diameter of the carbide electrode.
New Market Demands
Lighter parts with higher functionality have set new demands on OEMs to reevaluate the design and concepts of various machining systems and technologies. The capability to produce parts with such high accuracy and surface quality is accomplished by Makino through a combination of a precision machine tool construction, management of thermal conditions within the machining system, and high-resolution feedback systems.
As one single degree of temperature change can affect precision when machining at the submicron level, Makino Thermal Guard™ technology encloses the entire machine in order to create a controlled working environment. A robust machine construction and sophisticated toolholding system also provide superior dampening characteristics desired for micromachining.
