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Left - Pallets are quickly and easily loaded and unloaded. Everything else is fully automated. Right - Once loaded the pallet system and gantry loader get to work transferring parts to the main spindle for machining and back to the pallet pool once the operation is complete.
We are a production-based company. We make the same parts repeatedly, so repeatability, and fewer setups is a huge savings. After the Kitamura we began buying bar fed advanced turning centers like the Okuma LB3000 EXII and Ganesh Cyclone 32CS. We load raw material and out comes a finished part in a single setup, and mostly unattended. All the new machines we invest in must be 4 or 5 axis and save on setups and labor costs. The Leadwell LTC-25iASMY lathe and Toptek gantry loader saves us 4 operations.”
SC’s pumps are different sizes, made from different materials, and all have different pressure ratings depending on their usage. SC has hundreds of part numbers that require thousands of pieces to be made. The 65,000sq.ft. Brea, Ca. production center is filled with machining centers of different brands and capabilities, but their newest addition is something you don’t see every day. “Automation is the first thing we think of when buying a new machine,” tells Jun. “If it doesn’t reduce setups or require less human interaction, we are not going to buy it. I have a pair of cast aluminum parts that we were running two shifts on a traditional lathe, netting around 50 parts a day. We couldn’t keep up with the demand and began looking for an automated solution. We had a space limit between machines and didn’t want a robot in the aisles feeding parts. I explained to Karl Izumi of So Cal Machine Tools we needed something more automatic like the Kitamura, but in a lathe. He suggested the Leadwell LTC-25iASMY and a Toptek gantry loader.”
The Leadwell LTC-25iASMY is a CNC box way turning
center with milling & Y-axis. Features include: BMT65 Live Tooling Turret w/ Y-axis travels of 4”, 12” Chuck w/ 4.0” bar capacity, main spindle tool setting, Fanuc 0iTF Control w/ 10.4” color LCD display, through the spindle cooling, 24 position index - 12 tool station bi-directional servo driven turret, 40HP 3,500 RPM main spindle and a 20HP 4,000 RPM sub spindle, parts catcher and conveyer system. Attached to the advanced turning center is the Toptek gantry loader GR-10 pallet station. “The Leadwell lathe is great, but the gantry pallet system makes this setup amazing,” details Jun. “The key is no downtime, saving us setup times and on labor cost.” The automation is simple and effective. There is no robot in the middle of shop floor hanging out. It is all behind and above the machining center. The pallet system is loaded and unloaded by hand, but the demands of the loader are minimal. They only need to place the material in the correct position on the jig. It is super simple, and the parts self-align enough for the gantry loader to reach down and pick them up. The part that needs machining is selected and travels above the machine before being lowered down into the main chuck. At the same time the gantry loader is removing a finished part and bringing it back to the pallet pool. It has a two- position head unit to pick up and put down the parts. Prior to having this automated machining center SC Hydraulics were loading by hand with a person standing at the machine for two shifts. The two parts they bought it to manufacture are 7” diameter aluminum castings. “Since we bought the
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CNC WESTJune/July 2022