Helical component manufacturer chooses Zenith

UK-based PTG Holroyd Precision is to supply one of its ultra-precise Zenith 400 helical profile grinding machines to a Chinese manufacturer of helical components. Developed to precision-grind components weighing up to 700 kg and measuring up to 420 mm in diameter, 2.2 m in length and with a maximum 100 mm profile depth, the Zenith 400 combines high stock removal rates with aggressive semi-finishing. It offers production rates and accuracies tailored to the most demanding of manufacturing strategies.

Scheduled for installation at the Chinese company’s Chongqing-based production facility this summer, the Zenith 400 is equipped with PTG Holroyd’s proprietary dual grinding wheel system. This capability will enable operators to use either a 500 mm vitrified, dressable aluminium oxide grinding wheel for exceptional versatility in production strategies and product development, or diamond-hard plated CBN roughing and finishing wheels for cost-effective volume production.

“With the advantage of two grinding wheels, our customer will be able to complete both rough-grinding and finish-grinding in one seamless operation,” says PTG Holroyd Precision’s sales director Mark Curran. “By using CBN grinding wheels for both grinding processes, they will benefit from significantly reduced cycle times and improved heat dissipation. Thanks to the greater resistance of CBN, the customer will also enjoy extended wheel life, with no need for dressing, even at high stock removal rates.”

He adds: “In addition to the Zenith 400’s well-proven capabilities, its dual grinding wheel capability was clearly a major attraction to the customer in view of the efficiencies this will bring to their production processes.”

More information www.holroyd.com

Mirka launches high-performance grinding wheels

Mirka is expanding its product portfolio with the launch of the Mirka Cafro Ultra-Flute grinding wheel range for the precision grinding of solid-tungsten carbide tools. The new product line offers users a selection of durable and precise grinding wheels, engineered to withstand the demands of large-scale production runs.

Cafro Ultra-Flute is engineered as a single-piece construction and features an abrasive rim that has a porous structure that optimises the power transfer from the grinding machine to the material. This design ensures high stock removal rates in less time, which leads to an increase in the overall efficiency of the process, reports Mirka.

The product has been developed with durability at the forefront of the design process, highlighted by its edge retention that aids in the delivery of fast, efficient and consistent performance. Cafro Ultra-Flute grinding wheels also help increase productivity as there is less downtime due to the dressing intervals being longer.

The range also provides the user with a quiet operation, no vibrations when in use and stable power absorption for reduced energy consumption during the time it is working. Additionally, when paired with automatic tool loaders, it performs at an optimal level and leaves a consistently fine surface finish.

Kevin Jackson, business development manager – superabrasives and automation at Mirka UK, says: “With the launch of our Cafro Ultra-Flute, we’re providing tool manufacturers with a cutting-edge solution that enhances productivity and reduces costs. This new grinding wheel range also highlights our commitment to providing high-quality, performance-driven grinding solutions that will be an asset to the customer from the first use to the last.”

More information www.mirka.com

Grinding Hub back in 2026 for the third time

Everything relating to grinding technology for experts from all over the world – that is what GrindingHub will offer in Stuttgart from 5 to 8 May 2026. After two successful editions, the organiser VDW (German Machine Tool Builders’ Association) will continue the trade fair’s success story in co-operation with Messe Stuttgart and the Grinding Conference.

Dr Markus Heering, managing director of the VDW, says: “GrindingHub has become established as the central hub for the grinding technology industry. The energy and commitment of every participant in the previous editions of the trade fair were overwhelming.”

Marie-Sophie Maier, managing director of Adelbert Haas GmbH, has been an exhibitor from the very beginning: “This trade fair is the ideal platform for our company: internationally oriented, technologically leading and tailored precisely to our industry. At GrindingHub we meet the right trendsetters with whom we can jointly shape the future of grinding technology.”

Markus Kiffe, managing director of Kiffe Engineering GmbH and a visitor to GrindingHub 2024, shares this enthusiasm: “We’ll definitely come back again because you always see interesting things here and obtain exciting ideas, establish numerous contacts and hold a large number of discussions.”

In 2026 GrindingHub will again feature a wide range of grinding machines, abrasives, software tools, process peripherals, and measuring and test systems. Companies wanting to exhibit their innovations and products at the leading trade fair for grinding technology can now register online.

Heering concludes: “It’s always inspiring to see how the industry – despite and even because of the economically challenging times – comes together and plays a mutually supporting role. We’re convinced that GrindingHub 2026 will again be a great success.”

More information www.grindinghub.de/en

Absolent units set to boost dust extraction

A UK filtration expert has launched new dust and fume extraction technology from sister company Absolent. Filtermist, which specialises in ensuring workshop air is clean and safe to breathe, is now offering the AD range of dust extraction units, which maximises the advantages of Absolent’s ‘True Downflow’ technology.

“Several pain points were identified and addressed during the three-year development project,” explains Robert Wiktorén, Absolent Air Care Group’s chief product officer. “As an existing manufacturer of dust collectors under our Absolent, Dustcheck and Diversitech brands, we knew there was a need in the market for a new way of thinking about dust and fume extraction. Traditionally, dust collectors have been sized using generic data to select suitable filter type, filter area and air speeds between filter elements. The resultant footprints have been comparatively large.”

He continues: “When filters need changing, even the best current designs require the filter-retaining mechanism and moving parts to be in the ’dirty side’ of the unit, exposed to contamination. This is not a great environment for moving parts and requires a tool to reach the filter elements furthest away. Our True Downflow technology combines the verticality of the filter elements with a top to bottom air flow. This combination optimises the effect of gravity and ensures that dust coming out of the filter elements during pulse-jet cleaning is forced down to the disposal solution in the hopper.”

The roll-out of the first AD phase includes three models: the 0.5 (which holds two deep pleat cartridges); the 1.0 (four filters); and the 1.5 (six deep pleat filter elements).

More information www.filtermist.co.uk

PRODUCTION TIMES CUT 50% WITH HECKERT FIVE-AXIS MACHINE

“Only the best is good enough for our customers,” states Karl Kordik, responsible for
contract manufacturing at Neuson Hydrotec GmbH in Linz, Austria. With the new Starrag
HEC 800 X5 MT machining centre, his machining team can even produce complex housing
with numerous holes at different angles with maximum precision – in a single clamping
position and in half the time.
 
Neuson Hydrotec GmbH is a company where mechanical engineering, mechatronics and
hydraulics are intertwined in many ways. With around 50 employees, contract
manufacturing is the largest business unit.
Walter Füreder, one of two managing directors responsible for this division, describes it as
essential for the company: “We generate around half of our turnover with our contract
work. Some 20% of this involves doing the groundwork for other business units, while we
achieve the rest with leading companies in the plastics recycling, railway and mechanical
engineering sectors.”
 
Karl Kordik, sales manager for contract manufacturing, has known his customers and their
needs for many years. Components for injection moulding machines are also part of the
recurring contract work, such as shredder shafts and bearing blocks, all supplied to machine
tool manufacturers.
“We supply the largest proportion of our work, around 40%, to the plastics recycling sector,”
he says.
 
The services range from procuring raw material to CNC milling, grinding, lapping, honing,
welding and superfinishing to pre-assembly.
Kordik says: “Our customers appreciate that we supply them with a complete component,
including a 3D measurement report.”
 
The central topic in contract manufacturing is machining, with various CNC turning and
grinding machines – and several machining centres with pallet pools – available for this
activity. Among the highlights is the HEC 800 5X MT five-axis machining centre purchased in
2024.
Neuson Hydrotec’s investment was triggered by a complex component for a plastics
recycling machine that requires turning and milling, and numerous holes which need drilling
at different angles. In this particular recycling plant, used plastics are heated to around
400°C after shredding. A spindle presses the liquefied mass through a plate with tens of

thousands of holes about 0.2 mm in diameter, which retains contaminants that are removed
using a rotating scraper disc. The cleaned plastic flows to a cooling station and is cut into
pellets. Neuson Hydrotec manufactures the housing for this laser filter. It contains intricate
contours and numerous channels through which the contaminated and cleaned plastic first
flows.
“One hole runs through the entire component, and other channels meet at a certain angle,”
explains Kordik.
 
High precision is required for fluidic reasons where the channels must not be offset when
they meet.
“We manage this because we achieve a positioning accuracy per hole of less than 0.03 mm,”
he adds. “Although that doesn’t sound particularly difficult, the value corresponds to only a
few microns per axis if the holes are drilled at 45°.”
 
Until recently, the contract manufacturer was producing this housing on a vertical turning
and boring mill and a three-axis milling machine, in seven clamping positions. When the
customer ordered significantly larger quantities, Neuson Hydrotec decided to modernise
production to reduce manufacturing times. The solution pursued was complete machining
on a five-axis machining centre with a turning function.
 
There were several reasons why the decision was made in favour of the HEC 800 5X MT.
According to Kordik, one crucial factor was that the HEC 800 allows the component to
be clamped vertically.
“These components can only be clamped on a horizontal turning and milling centre with
great difficulty. Fast, automated workpiece replacement is even more difficult. The HEC 800
has a standard dual pallet changer, enabling set-up parallel to the primary processing time.”
 
On the HEC 800 5X, the fifth axis is located in the workpiece, not the tool, which saves the
company having to re-clamp. Ultimately, however, the decisive factor was the possibility of
obtaining a bed extension along the Z axis and an extended Yaxis.
Kordik describes the background: “We want to clamp components with a length of 1.1 m
and drill through. The standard Z-axis path of 1.3 m is insufficient for this task.”
Starrag supplied the HEC 800 5X MT with travel paths of 2050 mm along the Z axis and 1300
mm along the Y axis.
“No other machine manufacturer had offered such extensions. We would have had to
switch to much larger machines, which would have been more expensive and associated
with reduced dynamics.”
 
Instead, Neuson Hydrotec preferred to invest in functional additional equipment, such as a
cooling lubricant temperature control system.

“Our roughing operations generate much heat, which would otherwise be transferred into
the cooling lubricant and onto the component,” says Kordik. “But this would run the risk
that exact fit sizes would no longer be correct after cooling.”
 
The control software for interpolation turning was also on our ’to-buy list’. This is because
the laser filter housing requires a 350 mm hole offset from the centre by 8 mm.
“Thanks to the precisely controlled interpolation of the X and Y axes, we can create this
without any problems,” confirms Kordik.
Alternatively, his production colleagues would have to take the additional step of clamping
the component to be centred on the hole.
Arno Berger from Starrag says this can be done without problems: “We have tested this.
Despite the imbalance, we align with all required tolerances on the quickly rotating table.”
 
However, producing the eccentric hole using interpolation turning saves more time. Success
can be seen after just a few weeks. In the case of the filter housing described, reducing the
number of clamping positions from seven to one was possible.
“The time saving is 48%,” says Kordik, who had campaigned for this investment. “Essentially,
the reduced non-productive time has an impact. Moreover, as the component is now on the
machine for longer, the operator has more time for other tasks.”
The Heckert milling and turning centres also pay off when machining other components.
He concludes: “Now that the vertical turning and boring mill is no longer available, we
simply use the HEC 800 5X MT to produce turned parts. Even here, we are around 20%
faster due to multi-cutting tools, shorter tool change times and faster rapid traverse.”
More information www.starrag.com