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Sodi-Tech EDM produces clock parts
A Sodick AQ327L wire EDM supplied to Fromanteel in the Isle of Man is being used to make parts for projects that replicate some of the world's earliest and most famous timepieces.
The now retired chairman of Strix, Dr John C Taylor, has re-entered the public domain after developing Chronophage, a unique timepiece on public display outside the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
The Corpus Clock was commissioned and designed to honour John Harrison, the pioneer of longitude and inventor of the esoteric clock mechanism known as a grasshopper escapement.
The grasshopper escapement features a 1.5m diameter, 24-carat gold-plated clock face on top of which sits an insect - part grasshopper, part locust.
Dr Taylor invested five years in the Corpus Clock project, and almost 100 people, including engineers, sculptors, scientists, jewellers and calligraphers were involved.
The clockwork incorporates six inventions, and a host of manufacturing technologies were employed.
The rippled gold-plated dial was made by exploding a thin sheet of stainless steel on to a mould underwater at a military research institute in the Netherlands.
A five-axis machining centre was used to perform 3D engraving on a 330mm stainless-steel sphere.
EDM was used to produce some of the shapes required on the anticlastic surface of the main shield, where the radius of curvature in the Y-axis is at 90deg to the radius of curvature in the X-axis.
Most of the EDM work for the Corpus Clock was subcontracted to spark and wire erosion specialists.
But two years ago, Dr Taylor's interest in chronology led him to establish Fromanteel and fill the company's toolroom with high-performance machine tools, including a Sodick AQ327L wire EDM with LQ34 control supplied by Sodi-Tech EDM for the manufacture of small gears and other clock components.
The machine features integrated 8-axis machining capability along with a Sodick WS4-P rotating sixth axis, enabling full 'turn and burn' capability under full servo conditions.
The machine features travels in the three primary axes of 380mm x 280mm x 250mm and can accommodate workpieces up to 580mm x 430mm x 250mm weighing up to 450kg.
It uses Sodick's LQ control technology, which allows users to import parasolid (solid model) files directly into the control.
This feature maximises cutting efficiency while reducing workflow and programming errors.
Other key features include linear drives for zero backlash, single pass skim technology, automatic wire threading (0.15-0.3mm diameter), glass scale feedback and rise/fall work tank technology.
The machine was selected by Fromanteel for its specification-cost ratio.
Dr Taylor also has previous experience of Sodick.
It was at Strix that Taylor and his team learnt how to use EDM technology to develop moulds, prototypes and pre-production samples; the EDM machines used were Sodick.
Taylor's new company is dedicated to the Fromanteel range.
He is pushing the use of EDM technology beyond its normal boundaries, but the hardware and software capabilities of the company's Sodick EDM is succeeding in tackling these challenges.
'Traditionally, clock gears were finished by hand, but we obviously didn't want to do that,' he said.
'With our third EDM cut we wanted to achieve a near-perfect finish.
'The Sodick machine features the Super Pika W fine-finishing circuit to allow surface finishes to be created in the order of 0.1Ra.
'Some of the multi-axis EDM work we've performed has meant we've been referred to Sodick's technical centre, which has always been prompt and helpful in its responses to our enquiries,' he added.
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/snk/snk180.html
The now retired chairman of Strix, Dr John C Taylor, has re-entered the public domain after developing Chronophage, a unique timepiece on public display outside the library of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge.
The Corpus Clock was commissioned and designed to honour John Harrison, the pioneer of longitude and inventor of the esoteric clock mechanism known as a grasshopper escapement.
The grasshopper escapement features a 1.5m diameter, 24-carat gold-plated clock face on top of which sits an insect - part grasshopper, part locust.
Dr Taylor invested five years in the Corpus Clock project, and almost 100 people, including engineers, sculptors, scientists, jewellers and calligraphers were involved.
The clockwork incorporates six inventions, and a host of manufacturing technologies were employed.
The rippled gold-plated dial was made by exploding a thin sheet of stainless steel on to a mould underwater at a military research institute in the Netherlands.
A five-axis machining centre was used to perform 3D engraving on a 330mm stainless-steel sphere.
EDM was used to produce some of the shapes required on the anticlastic surface of the main shield, where the radius of curvature in the Y-axis is at 90deg to the radius of curvature in the X-axis.
Most of the EDM work for the Corpus Clock was subcontracted to spark and wire erosion specialists.
But two years ago, Dr Taylor's interest in chronology led him to establish Fromanteel and fill the company's toolroom with high-performance machine tools, including a Sodick AQ327L wire EDM with LQ34 control supplied by Sodi-Tech EDM for the manufacture of small gears and other clock components.
The machine features integrated 8-axis machining capability along with a Sodick WS4-P rotating sixth axis, enabling full 'turn and burn' capability under full servo conditions.
The machine features travels in the three primary axes of 380mm x 280mm x 250mm and can accommodate workpieces up to 580mm x 430mm x 250mm weighing up to 450kg.
It uses Sodick's LQ control technology, which allows users to import parasolid (solid model) files directly into the control.
This feature maximises cutting efficiency while reducing workflow and programming errors.
Other key features include linear drives for zero backlash, single pass skim technology, automatic wire threading (0.15-0.3mm diameter), glass scale feedback and rise/fall work tank technology.
The machine was selected by Fromanteel for its specification-cost ratio.
Dr Taylor also has previous experience of Sodick.
It was at Strix that Taylor and his team learnt how to use EDM technology to develop moulds, prototypes and pre-production samples; the EDM machines used were Sodick.
Taylor's new company is dedicated to the Fromanteel range.
He is pushing the use of EDM technology beyond its normal boundaries, but the hardware and software capabilities of the company's Sodick EDM is succeeding in tackling these challenges.
'Traditionally, clock gears were finished by hand, but we obviously didn't want to do that,' he said.
'With our third EDM cut we wanted to achieve a near-perfect finish.
'The Sodick machine features the Super Pika W fine-finishing circuit to allow surface finishes to be created in the order of 0.1Ra.
'Some of the multi-axis EDM work we've performed has meant we've been referred to Sodick's technical centre, which has always been prompt and helpful in its responses to our enquiries,' he added.
http://www.manufacturingtalk.com/news/snk/snk180.html
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