PRECISION ENGINEERING
The shop floor at Van Geenen .
Above and below left : Surface finishing operations at Van Geenen .
The scale of the 81 series will also future-proof production at Van Geenen
compared to existing processes . For example , producing a 4m long x 2m wide x 20mm thick sheet for a customer in the food processing industry , which required a 0.8Ra surface finish , used to take between 4-5 hours to complete . This is now achieved in one hour on the 81 series machine .
“ With the level of investment in the Timesavers 81 series , our hourly rate has increased but this is justified as our throughput is much greater and lead times are much shorter . That level of efficiency is vital when putting forward proposals to customers . We are also aware that none of our competitors in Europe have this capability ,” said Bart van Geenen .
Positive customer response
Also encouraging for van Geenen has been the enthusiasm from customers on the use of this wide belt grinding technology with the Timesavers 81 series . The efficiency of the system allows it to replace milling as an operation , reducing the number of processes and improving efficiency . Milling requires at least two set-ups for roughing and finishing , whereas ( with the 81 series ) just one operation takes the part to the finished state . This is particularly important on stainless steel parts where clamping of the material for milling can induce stress in the part . Using the vacuum table of the 81 series eliminates this completely , while achieving improved results in terms of flatness and surface finish , confirmed Timesavers .
“ The 81 series is a genuine alternative to
conventional processes and it is my role to convince customers that the process is viable and meets their requirements . Thankfully , customers are open to innovation and are willing to listen and try new processes ,” explained Bart van Geenen . “ I recently quoted a customer for some polished titanium plate ; within five minutes of delivering the quote , I received the order !”
A distinguishing feature of the new machine , for Van Geenen , is that it can also grind non-magnetic materials because it is equipped with a vacuum system that ‘ sucks ’ the product onto the table .
“ It is a wet grinding process which ensures that highly flammable materials , such as titanium , can be processed . Other materials include stainless steel , Aluminium , Molybdenum etc .,” added Van Geenen .
Partnership and collaboration
The development of the Timesavers 81 series came about after conversations with suppliers of sheet material , particularly Titanium and other exotic materials such as Zirconium and Molybdenum . These suppliers were facing challenges accurately and efficiently processing these materials .
“ The result is a wide-belt reciprocating table abrasive machine that eliminates problems when milling or grinding using stones or abrasive wheel technology . In collaboration with abrasive belt manufacturers
Hermes and 3M , the 81 series can process materials much more efficiently . In some cases , such as grinding Molybdenum , a conventional cycle time of ten hours was cut to 25 minutes ,” explained Timesavers .
A typical Timesavers 81 series cycle consists of a fast rough grinding cycle followed by up to three spark-out passes , with the sheet , which is positioned on the powerful vacuum table , then rotated and the cycle is repeated on the opposite face . The result is a thickness accuracy across the entire sheet of 0.25μm , with the major benefit of the process creating a ‘ short-scratch ’ finish .
Timesavers and Van Geenen are also collaborating on this new investment . Timesavers is introducing potential customers , who may not be ready to justify the purchase of an 81 series just yet , to Van Geenen and the machine is made available to Timesavers as a real-world example for customers to see the potential of this grinding technology .
“ This investment is backed by our experience of the service provided by Timesavers over many years to our company and both our companies will continue to grow alongside each other as a result of that relationship ,” concluded Bart van Geenen . n
EDITOR ’ S NOTE Timesavers has produced a video with more insight into the 81 Series machine at van Geenen on the link below .
VIDEO
ISMR June 2021 | sheetmetalplus . com | 29