With a total tool capacity for 80 tools of which 20 can be driven by 0.75kW motors, the latest third generation of CNC sliding headstock turn/mill centres can simultaneously engage three tools.

With a total tool capacity for 80 tools of which 20 can be driven by 0.75kW motors, the latest third generation of Citizen M16-V CNC sliding headstock turn/mill centres with subspindle, now available through NC Engineering of Watford, UK, can independently engage three tools with a component at the same time. This capability to simultaneously machine with three tools comes from the 10 station, all-driven turret, a nine station gang tool slide and a separate triple tool fixed unit. These tooling stations enable floor to floor times to be dramatically reduced and accommodate users that want to carry part set or common tooling on the machine to speed changeover and increase machine utilisation.

This latest development from the top of the Citizen range M-Series CNC sliding head machine stable has the distinct advantage of being able to initiate a Y-axis crossfeed to the all-driven 10 station tool turret, now able to carry up to eight tools per position through new tool holder developments by Citizen for both front and back machining.

And with the separate Y-axis feed to the nine tool station gang tool slide, this is able to present four driven tools and five turning tools for front machining.

This tooling arrangement of the two Y-axis driven slides provides maximum flexibility for high orders of milling and off-centre drilling and tapping performance.

In addition, the triple tool unit, with the option to provide three stationary or one stationary and two driven tools provides further opportunities to perform back machining operations.

Central to optimising the benefits of the new control system is the considerably faster data processing and software that accelerates the use of the control's macro programs enabling simultaneous control of up to eight axes.

This capability also enables idle times to be cut by up to a quarter.

Here, the rigid cast iron slant bed structure of the M-16 machine frame enables tooling performance to be optimised and high orders of accuracy and surface finish to be achieved at the main 2.2kW, 10,000 rev/min spindle and the 0.75kW, 10,000 rev/min subspindle.

A major advantage of the M16-V with its Y-axis feed and ability to carry multiple tools at each tool position of the turret is that idle time can be further reduced because the adjacent tool can be engaged without the turret having to be indexed.

The Y-axis also enables tool centre height to be quickly adjusted and set using compensation at the control and this feature also creates additional flexibility when using milling cycles.

Among the application capabilities available on the machine are rigid tapping on main, subspindle and rotary tool positions, constant surface speed and continuous threading cycles for both main and subspindles, polygonal special machining, thread whirling and gear cutting.

Functions such as thread lengthening at high speed, synchronous threading by fast tap retraction and a fast program check routine that will provide cycle time calculations without any need for mechanical movement, further help establish benefits of advanced M-Series Citizen technology.

A programmable gripper-based off-load device is available that minimises unloading times and protects delicate components from damage and a long part adapter is available to accept parts longer than the maximum 200mm stroke enabling parts up to 400mm to be effectively machined.

Also the well-proven Cool Blaster high pressure 2,000 lb/in2 coolant system that improves tool life, surface finish and metal removal rates can be specified as an NC Engineering fitted option.