MACHINING & MACHINERY THE FINAL PROCESS FRONTIER
ZEEKO
Automated Precision Polishing on your CNC machine – the Zeeko Zephyr Programme
Zeeko may not be the most famous name in manufacturing engineering – but in the optics industry it is a byword for excellence in precision polishing . A 7 axis machine from the UK engineering company Zeeko Ltd ., that is based in the East Midlands , is the machine of choice in the optics industry for polishing the most challenging of complex surfaces .
Zeeko has been developing its processes and control software for polishing ultraprecision freeform surfaces for satellite mirrors for almost 20 years . High end applications where tolerances are measured in nanometers and surfaces are prepared to sub-micron precision before polishing . As all engineers know , polishing is difficult and automated polishing is particularly difficult . So the news that Zeeko has developed a high removal rate polishing process , which is effective on regular engineering materials , and removes microns of material at unprecedented speed , has caught the attention of production engineers everywhere .
This new process is more akin to grinding than to traditional polishing techniques , but still achieves a highly reflective polished surface . It can impressively be demonstrated on materials like mould and tool steels , tungsten carbide , titanium , Inconel , molybdenum , aluminium and other often difficult materials .
That Zeeko has also released a version of its new polishing software and announced that by writing a simple post processor it can be integrated to any regular 3 axis , 4 axis and 5 axis CNC machine as an automated process is even more exciting . For automated processes this is the final frontier !
Just a few months after its launch , it is already being adopted by the mobile phone industry for moulds , the aerospace industry for turbine blades , mould makers , hip joint makers and by the additive manufacturing / 3-D printing industry which is testimony to its versatility .
Zeeko Ltd , 4 Vulcan Court , Vulcan Way , Coalville , Leicestershire , LE67 3FW , UK
For further information please contact info @ zeeko . co . uk or call to + 44 1530 815 832
82 PECM Issue 47