Chiron twin pallet technology adds a new dimension to volume manufacturing

Nikken NICe Centre

The ETG supplied DZ15 installed in the Nikken NICe Centre in Rotherham

The Chiron DZ15W twin pallet high speed VMC with Fanuc 18i-MB5 control is a fast, powerful, twin-spindle precision milling centre for profitable high volume production environments.

CHIRON 15 series machining centres are acclaimed as among the best machine tools worldwide of their class in terms of speed, compact construction, stability and reliability. They have enormous ability for high milling capacity and this machine is equipped with the lightning fast basket tool changer.

With this technology the tools are clustered around the spindle as opposed to being stored in a conventional carousel tool changer.  This achieves exceptional 2.1 second chip-to-chip times, with the basket concept also offering high positioning accuracy by eliminating the need for the travelling column to change its X and Y positions during tool changing.

On the opportunities for operating a DZ15W in the wider manufacturing sector, Stewart Cousins, UK sales director for ETG comments; “this machine has the potential to be a real game changer for a progressive component manufacturer or sub-contractor.

“Chiron machines are most frequently found in high volume machining environments particularly in the automotive sector.

“Now in developing these highly versatile Baseline machines (which are still manufactured in the Chiron plant in Germany), their engineers have been able to bring renowned Chiron reliability and capability within the grasp of the smaller manufacturer.  When investing in a DZ15W, this could accelerate a smaller specialist shop into new areas of volume machining.

An example of a Baseline DZ15 in action is at the Nikken NICe Centre on the  Advanced Manufacturing Park in Catcliffe, Rotherham where three ETG supplied machining centres are in use demonstrate to metal cutting specialists how Nikken can contribute significantly to further improving a manufacturing environment.

The NICe Centre is designed in such a way to replicate a range of metal cutting conditions from fully simultaneous 5 axis environments to typical smaller manufacturing situations looking to improve the productivity and capability of a single spindle VMC.

“We are looking to engage with the whole spectrum of manufacturing, highlighting where Nikken equipment can improve performance and demonstrate our technologies on the formats of machine tool they operate,” explains a Nikken spokesman.

The Chiron DZ featured is a high speed, twin HSK63A spindle VMC with twin pallet loading and equipped with a Nikken multi-spindle rotary table enabling two identical components (such as turbine blades) to be machined side by side; in effect doubling machining capacity.

In addition to the rotary table, Nikken’s NC Tooling solutions feature along with a link to tool data on the numerical control