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CNC machining job shops are essentially multi-stage process operations where there is potential for improvement at each stage. Most low-to-mid volume run production machine shops struggle in achieving their share of the 5-10% maximum profit margins typically realized on most jobs. If a machine is down for any significant amount of time, you've cut into your production output, increased the cycle time, and you're losing money. Therefore, if a machine is down, you need to move fast to get your machine back up and running.
With the goal of breathing new life into old CNC mills, or turning your mill into a CNC as a cost-effective alternative, SERVO Products Company (Eastlake, OH), a progressive designer and manufacturer of a broad line of manual knee-type milling machine tools and accessories since 1964, recently introduced their Orion CNC Retrofit package for knee mills and lathes. The CNC Retrofit kits; 1000 M (Milling) and 1000 T (Turning), provide quality upgrades while saving the customer money over purchasing a new machining center.
The pre-configured retrofit package is virtually a “plug-and-play” solution that reduces vital machine downtime–for almost any make or model of knee mill. It features a PLC control panel, VFD spindle speed control, true servo motors, ball screws, auto lube pump and runs on single-phase power. End-users can add an optional, LED Work Light, for safety, wireless MPG pendant, power drawbar lockout solenoid and dual channel E-Stop for a complete milling machine package.
ORION RETROFIT ORIGIN / INNOVATION:
An ISO 9001: 2015 Certified company, Servo is also family owned and manufacturers in the USA, with a focus on knee mill power feeds and precision drill presses for the medical, aerospace, jewelry industries (amongst others). With an eye on innovation, Servo Engineer, Garry Yaworski, came up with the CNC retrofit kit design as a response to the fact that there were a lot of existing Anilam, Acu-Rite, and other controls in the field that featured obsolete analog systems and failing controls. This also applies to machining centers with failing controls. If an end-user has one of these systems, where support may be nonexistent, the Orion kit is a fast and easy upgrade that can have you up-and-running in hours–not days.
According to Yaworski, “The ball screws and brackets are already in place on these systems, so you’d just need a new control and motors. The idea was to supply an ‘octopus’ style control box, with all of the cables and attachment pieces, that the user could install on an existing knee mill in the shop. Preconfigured, you’d simply bolt it to the existing machine and connect all the motors. This system can also be used to update a CNC machining center.”
Servo’s Orion quickly turns a manual knee mill into to a full-blown 3-or-4-axis CNC, three-axis kit for milling machines, is easily adaptable to multiple manufacturers. Packaged as a it is also for a fourth axis. Importantly, the third axis can drive the knee so you have a full 16” of travel up/down, or SERVO recently acquired Elrod Manufacturing (Flagstaff, AZ) to offer the ball screw driven quill kits.
Notably, the retrofit system is simple as installing power feeds, with servo motors built in, thereforea very easy installation-typically within a day which reduces costs and downtime. The 400W true servo motors provide up to 300 in/lbs of torque and a maximum rapid travel speed of 105 IPM. Servo also offers the Elrod belt-and-pulley style systems. Both systems operate on 208-240V single-phase power, which is ideal for small-to-mid-sizes job/home shops that don't have three-phase power.
The turnkey retrofit solution features an integrated frequency drive that controls the spindle speed. It also includes an I/O board, MPG pendant, ball screws, auto lube pump, and spindle and feed rate overrides. It is a complete turnkey system, not an à la carte system, like many retrofit systems on the market–where the spindle control alone could add significant costs.
The prewired system is delivered ready to install, and comes with a detailed manual and unparalleled in-house tech support. Once installed, end-users can expect many years of service and is priced significantly below competitors retrofit packages.
ORION RETROFIT SPECS / FEATURES 3-AXIS RETROFIT PACKAGES INCLUDE:
400W Servo Motors (for power feed type installation, or 1.2Kw for conventional installation) • 4th Axis Ready Conversational Programming • DRO Mode • Inch/Metric • All Wiring (including Limit/Home Switches)
• Precision Ball Screws • Pendant MPG Wheel • Up To 5HP VFD (Full Spindle Control) • 500W Braking Resistor • Mounting Hardware • Auto Lube Pump
115/230/460 Volt Systems • Does Not Require a PC/Windows • Full 4 Axis Simultaneous Control • Lockable Cabinet Door With Safety Interlock • USB Interface • True Servo Motors • 16 Relays For Controlling Peripheral Devices Through M-Functions • Optional Power Drawbar Safety Lockout Solenoid • Optional Dual Channel E-Stop • Full Documentation
CUSTOM DESIGNED PLC CONTROL PANEL FEATURES INCLUDE:
Conversational programming • DRO mode • Accepts industry standard G-Code programming and macro instruction programming • 32 Inputs/24 Outputs • 32Mb user storage (program capacity) • 640x480, 8.2 inch full color LCD Display • Supports Inch and Metric programming • Feed rate and spindle speed overrides • E-Stop • Auxiliary control buttons • Wired MPG (Jog Wheel) • Optional wired MPG pendant
ORION RETROFIT KIT / CONCLUSION:
Ultimately, for today’s machining job shop sector, being better and faster keeps costs lower while raising the bar on potential profits. The ability to avoid downtime by quickly adopting new machine tool technologies like Servo’s Orion Retrofit Kit, becomes paramount to the overall success equation.
According to Servo President, Greg Heyen, “Orion has been on the market for approximately three years and more shops are taking advantage of its quick retrofit/upgrade capabilities, advanced technology milling package, and great price point–typically 5-10K lower than the competition. In fact, one of our clients recently switched over from another manufacturer and is now installing about twenty Orion retrofit kits per year.”
Heyen also noted that Servo can custom tailor their CNC packages to fit specific machine requirements, whether it’s a new installation or a retrofit replacement for an old unreliable control. Solutions for most any milling, turning, or grinding applications are also supported by Servo’s High Quality Tools.
Related Glossary Terms
- G-code programming
G-code programming
Programs written to operate NC machines with control systems that comply with the ANSI/EIA RS-274-D-1980 Standard. A program consists of a series of data blocks, each of which is treated as a unit by the controller and contains enough information for a complete command to be carried out by the machine.
- centers
centers
Cone-shaped pins that support a workpiece by one or two ends during machining. The centers fit into holes drilled in the workpiece ends. Centers that turn with the workpiece are called “live” centers; those that do not are called “dead” centers.
- computer numerical control ( CNC)
computer numerical control ( CNC)
Microprocessor-based controller dedicated to a machine tool that permits the creation or modification of parts. Programmed numerical control activates the machine’s servos and spindle drives and controls the various machining operations. See DNC, direct numerical control; NC, numerical control.
- conversational programming
conversational programming
Method for using plain English to produce G-code file without knowing G-code in order to program CNC machines.
- feed
feed
Rate of change of position of the tool as a whole, relative to the workpiece while cutting.
- gang cutting ( milling)
gang cutting ( milling)
Machining with several cutters mounted on a single arbor, generally for simultaneous cutting.
- grinding
grinding
Machining operation in which material is removed from the workpiece by a powered abrasive wheel, stone, belt, paste, sheet, compound, slurry, etc. Takes various forms: surface grinding (creates flat and/or squared surfaces); cylindrical grinding (for external cylindrical and tapered shapes, fillets, undercuts, etc.); centerless grinding; chamfering; thread and form grinding; tool and cutter grinding; offhand grinding; lapping and polishing (grinding with extremely fine grits to create ultrasmooth surfaces); honing; and disc grinding.
- inches per minute ( ipm)
inches per minute ( ipm)
Value that refers to how far the workpiece or cutter advances linearly in 1 minute, defined as: ipm = ipt 5 number of effective teeth 5 rpm. Also known as the table feed or machine feed.
- machining center
machining center
CNC machine tool capable of drilling, reaming, tapping, milling and boring. Normally comes with an automatic toolchanger. See automatic toolchanger.
- milling
milling
Machining operation in which metal or other material is removed by applying power to a rotating cutter. In vertical milling, the cutting tool is mounted vertically on the spindle. In horizontal milling, the cutting tool is mounted horizontally, either directly on the spindle or on an arbor. Horizontal milling is further broken down into conventional milling, where the cutter rotates opposite the direction of feed, or “up” into the workpiece; and climb milling, where the cutter rotates in the direction of feed, or “down” into the workpiece. Milling operations include plane or surface milling, endmilling, facemilling, angle milling, form milling and profiling.
- milling machine ( mill)
milling machine ( mill)
Runs endmills and arbor-mounted milling cutters. Features include a head with a spindle that drives the cutters; a column, knee and table that provide motion in the three Cartesian axes; and a base that supports the components and houses the cutting-fluid pump and reservoir. The work is mounted on the table and fed into the rotating cutter or endmill to accomplish the milling steps; vertical milling machines also feed endmills into the work by means of a spindle-mounted quill. Models range from small manual machines to big bed-type and duplex mills. All take one of three basic forms: vertical, horizontal or convertible horizontal/vertical. Vertical machines may be knee-type (the table is mounted on a knee that can be elevated) or bed-type (the table is securely supported and only moves horizontally). In general, horizontal machines are bigger and more powerful, while vertical machines are lighter but more versatile and easier to set up and operate.
- milling machine ( mill)2
milling machine ( mill)
Runs endmills and arbor-mounted milling cutters. Features include a head with a spindle that drives the cutters; a column, knee and table that provide motion in the three Cartesian axes; and a base that supports the components and houses the cutting-fluid pump and reservoir. The work is mounted on the table and fed into the rotating cutter or endmill to accomplish the milling steps; vertical milling machines also feed endmills into the work by means of a spindle-mounted quill. Models range from small manual machines to big bed-type and duplex mills. All take one of three basic forms: vertical, horizontal or convertible horizontal/vertical. Vertical machines may be knee-type (the table is mounted on a knee that can be elevated) or bed-type (the table is securely supported and only moves horizontally). In general, horizontal machines are bigger and more powerful, while vertical machines are lighter but more versatile and easier to set up and operate.
- turning
turning
Workpiece is held in a chuck, mounted on a face plate or secured between centers and rotated while a cutting tool, normally a single-point tool, is fed into it along its periphery or across its end or face. Takes the form of straight turning (cutting along the periphery of the workpiece); taper turning (creating a taper); step turning (turning different-size diameters on the same work); chamfering (beveling an edge or shoulder); facing (cutting on an end); turning threads (usually external but can be internal); roughing (high-volume metal removal); and finishing (final light cuts). Performed on lathes, turning centers, chucking machines, automatic screw machines and similar machines.
