SPE Holding Firm with LANG Technik

Nottinghamshire based Swiftool Precision Engineering Ltd (SPE) is an award winning, family owned business that produces safety critical parts for a global customer base. Having manufactured and supplied high-integrity, precision machined components, kits and machined assemblies for over 40 years, the company has gained in-depth experience in serving demanding sectors, including the nuclear, defence, and petrochemical industries. More recently, SPE began supplying the global aerospace market.

To ensure that it remains at the forefront of manufacturing technology developments SPE regularly invests in the latest, cutting-edge machine tools. In addition to other advanced production plant, the company employs a variety of highly-efficient multi pallet 5-axis machining centres, multi axis mill/turn centres and high-speed twin pallet horizontal machining centres.

In accordance with the business’s quest for ever higher standards of efficiency and quality, and to enable its advanced machine-tools to achieve their full productive potential, SPE recently invested in a range of innovative workholding devices from Lang Technik UK. Amongst other workholding, SPE ordered LANG Technik’s advanced stamping technology, Makro Grip Vices and the company’s Quick-Point Workholding system.

Project Applications Engineer at Swiftool Precision Engineering, Alex Nelson explained the purchase and use of the company’s efficient new workholding systems. “Amongst other reasons, our continuing growth is driven by strategic investments and by our policy of constantly seeking ever more efficient ways of working. Having invested in expensive, high-yield machine tools we constantly explore ways of maximising their full productive potential.

“As our machine tools are usually engaged in high-value, relatively short machining runs, we recently investigated the availability of efficient workholding systems that would help to speed-up our non-productive change-over times and that would increase our productivity levels. Having considered other systems, the ideal answer to our search was found in LANG Technik’s advanced Pre-stamping technology, Makro Grip Vices and the LANG’s Quick-Point system.

“By the use of LANG Technik workholding systems on our machine tools we have slashed our job change-over times and achieved the production increases we were looking for. It helps that now, much of the work associated with setting-up the next job due on our machine tools can be carried-out whilst a current job is being machined.

“For instance, within the cycle time of a currently running job, we use our new LANG Technik stamping unit to make very accurate, minute indentations into our next to be machined workpiece blank before putting it into one of our LANG Makro-grip vices. As the features on the vice’s jaw precisely engage with the workpiece’s pre-stamped indentations, we can achieve excellent holding power whilst only needing to apply minimal clamping forces. The quick loading/unloading nature of the LANG Technik system means much quicker job change over times.

“The need for reduced holding pressure ensures that we are able to hold, from the softest to the hardest of materials, under all machining conditions without fear of component deformation or other damage. Also, as the LANG Technik stamping unit makes its indentations into just the last 3 mm of workpieces, we are now also making savings on material.”

The multiple advantages gained from the use of the innovative LANG Technik Pre-stamping technology and Makro Grip Vices has ensured that it has become the benchmark clamping method for ultra-secure 5-axis machining.

The toothed jaws of conventional vices must perform two distinct roles, as well as indenting workpiece’s material, they must also securely hold the workpiece under machining loads. Commonly used vices are only able to exert a maximum pressure of approximately 4 – 6 tons, as a result, the effective penetration of their jaws into workpiece material can be problematic, especially when clamping harder metals. Also, to ensure that the workpiece is penetrated, a vice’s teeth must remain sharp to stay effective. As teeth are exposed to high levels of torque and wear, when in use their clamping ability inevitably declines. Therefore, when using conventional vices during the machining of soft, distortion prone materials, jaws’ teeth also tend to lose their holding power and work free from workpieces when under machining forces.

The use of LANG’s advanced stamping technology overcomes these issues by applying up to 20 tons of pressure during the pre-stamping of workpieces. This guarantees the creation of precise indentations, even when applied to the hardest of materials .Following pre-stamping, as the teeth of Makro Grip Vices engage precisely with the pre-stamped indents, only low clamping pressure is required to hold a workpiece securely. In addition to holding the workpiece in the vice under the most severe machining conditions, the truncated pyramidal shapes of the pre-stamped indents prevent the teeth from impacting deeper into the workpiece by providing a final penetration limit.

Despite the application of relatively low clamping pressure, the holding forces exerted on workpieces held in Makro Grip vices actually become greater, the harder and more resistant the material being machined is. Furthermore, as workpieces are prepared before being loaded into the machine tool, machine downtime is significantly reduced.

In addition to enjoying the efficiency gains delivered by LANG Technik’s advanced stamping technology and Makro Grip Vices, SPE is also benefiting from the use of LANG Technik’s Quick-Point system. The adaptable Quick-Point system acts as a robust, precise interface plate between the machine tool’s table and workholding devices. Designed to reduce setup times and to allow work to be quickly and accurately transferred from one machine to another with first-class levels of location repeatability, Quick-Point is available in a wide range of variants to suit all machine tools and applications. When located on a Quick-Point system plate, the high-precision exchange of clamping devices, fixtures and workpieces between machines using the system can be carried-out within seconds with repeatability within 0.005mm.

Alex Nelson concluded. “In addition to LANG Technik’s workholding products proving ideal for our use, we have received excellent levels of technical help from the staff of LANG Technik UK. We are confident that the additional daily machining time created by the use of our new highly efficient workholding systems will result in a rapid return on our investment and we will soon be returning to the company for additional products”