5 Axis Rotary Table

This month Protomatic is highlighting the new CNC 5 Axis Collet Rotary Table that has been recently added to Protomatic’s equipment line-up. This equipment was procurred in an effort to reduce the cost of manufacturing parts by increasing the automation that occurs when transitioning from a 3, 4 Axis operation to full 5 Axis capablity. This “add on” table gives Protomatic the ability to machine more complex parts or simply produce a moderately difficult part with more accuracy. The reason for the accuracy improvement is due to the reduction of the number of operations. When manufacturing, each operation involves a part being clamped and reclamped. This simple act of clamping changes the location of the part on the order of 0.001” to 0.002”. This is not significant for many part applications. However, for complex multiple operation parts, as well as parts that have a multiple plane datum structure where XYZ positional location and AB Axis (Pitch, Roll) is critical, this may be very significant.

5 Axis Collet Rotary Table (T5C-4B)

To compliment the products that need precise control in multiple dimensional planes, Protomatic has added a volume CNC production collet rotary table. T5C-4B is a 520 pound “add on” CNC brushless controlled rotary table that is placed on the table of a midsize CNC Vertical Machining Center. This table has an accuracy of +-60 arc seconds (0.0167 degrees) and a repeatablity of 10 arc seconds (0.0027 degrees).

This is utilized by Protomatic’s VF-2, VF-3 or VF-4SS which is a 20x20x50 inch Vertical Machining Center (VMC). This combination produces very high accuracy parts due to the precise control during the machining operation. This added control creates more consistent parts due to part fixture locating error that occurs when parts are normally transferred from one operation to the next. This typically produces a 10% decrease in time to manufacture the part and a two fold increase in the typical repeatability of the part to part dimensional variation. This means less expensive parts that are more consistent.