Autosport International Show
Once again this years Autosport International Show at the Birmingham NEC delivered a fantastic display of Engineering for the Formula 1 and Motorsport Industry.
For me it’s always a great opportunity to talk to the Machine Tool Companies to find out about the ever expanding product ranges on offer and the new developments scheduled for the year ahead.
This year I saw there were CNC Machine Tools on display from Mazak XYZ and HAAS as well as Inspection Equipment by Faro and Renishaw.
Mazak had brought its impressive Integrex i-400s 5 Axis machine tool that had drawn quite a crowd. With a bed size of 1,500mm and spindle speeds up to 4000 RPM the live cutting demonstration really showed it’s potential.
XYZ Machine Tools had in addition to it’s SMX 3500 Bed Mill and SLX 355 Lathe a 5,000 RPM Compact Turn Turning Centre and a 5 – 8000 RPM XYZ 710 Vertical Machining Centre. The Bed Mill and the Lathe were running the latest ProtoTrack controls while the Turning Center and the VMC had the latest Siemens 828D Conversational Control.
I really enjoyed the Haas display which was a staggering 6 machine tools (not sure who was feeding the meter that day) the ST30 Turning Centre ideal for refinishing the rims of alloy wheels as well as the VF-2SS Vertical Machining Centre running their own G Code Control Systems
I didn’t get near the Hurco stand but I heard someone saying they were displaying a 5 Axis machining centre with an 18,000 RPM spindle
Faro had their new Laser Scanner Focus 3D – A very impressive piece of kit which is easier to show you than describe so watch the video below.
Renishaw spent some time talking to us about their very Impressive PH20 5 Axis Touch Trigger CMM system which they can actually retrofit to your current CMM if you have one.
The PH20s unique head allows measurement points to be taken by moving the head rather than the CMM structure. This means that points can be taken faster and with a greater degree of accuracy. As it’s 5 axis there’s no need to index the head and the company believe that a 3 fold improvement over conventional systems can be achieved.
Some of the images that summed up the show for me by clicking here
Videos from the show here on our YouTube channel
Comments welcome on your experience of the show below – Was it good for you?
