Trade fair highlight at EMO 2023 – tube honing with the Deephone 3000 from Gehring
With the deephone series, Gehring Technologies GmbH + Co. KG has horizontal honing machines for a wide variety of large components in its product range. At EMO, the Ostfildern-based company will be showcasing new developments and features in this segment. The demanding and complex machining processes can thus be carried out even more cost-effectively.
“At this year’s EMO, we want to show interested parties at our booth that we can offer a complete package for honing large workpieces from a single source with our machines, tools and process know-how,” emphasizes Marcell Wardin, Director Sales & Marketing at Gehring. “This package includes a wide range of precision tubular components. These include, for example, cylinder liners for the hydraulics industry, aircraft landing legs, ingot molds and even radio masts.” Gehring has further developed the deephone machine series for precisely such applications. Stroke lengths range from 2,000 to 10,000 mm, internal machining up to 1,200 mm and external machining up to 300 mm are possible. “An important feature of these machines is their flexibility,” Wardin adds. A three-stage gearbox in fact makes it possible for a wide variety of workpieces to be machined on one system. Depending on the workpiece size or stock removal rate, the power requirement changes. The three-stage gearbox ensures the appropriate adjustment. Where such a component is missing, different workpieces may have to be distributed among several machines or demanding workpieces may have to be reclamped. The complete package from a single source can reduce investment costs. Some more details: Thanks to double infeed (push/pull), pre- and finish machining is possible with only one tool. Gehring also equips the machines with a control system for conical honing. Workpieces such as molds can thus be machined more precisely. Optionally, a counter-rotation drive can be installed, thus further increasing the cutting performance and improving the bore geometry.
A special highlight is already known from conventional honing machines: the compressed air measurement. In tube honing, this feature is rather uncommon due to the lower quantities involved. Air measurement allows the diameter to be checked during the process, provided that a suitable tool is used. Without the possibility of air measurement, the machine operator must interrupt machining and move the tool out of the deep hole. He may still have to clean the bore before the measurement. An enormous investment of time. With air measurement, the machine operator has a clear advantage.
Gehring also offers highlights in the field of tools. In principle, all tools can be adapted to the deephone machines. A machining store with a large tool inventory has all the options here. Nevertheless, the Ostfildern-based company has added a new DH tool series to its range. The special feature: These tools have internal cooling, which has long been standard for other cutting tools. The coolant reaches the machining point with pinpoint accuracy, which benefits tool performance and quality. However, the internal cooling not only supports chip formation, it also flushes the chip-oil mixture out of the machining area so that chips can no longer jam on the honing stones. “We anticipate that our new internally cooled tools will reduce machining time by 20-30% and reduce the amount of coolant required,” Wardin said.
The tools are designed for both ceramic and diamond cutting strips, consequently a wide range of adaptations to the application are possible. In the tool bodies, a linear infeed ensures the exact bore dimension. This design is particularly low in vibration. Fewer vibrations not only result in a lower noise level, but above all in higher process reliability, thus higher quality with improved stock removal performance at the same time. The bottom line is that processing time is once again reduced. The user also saves time thanks to the bayonet connection, which makes it possible to change tools in no time.
A deephone machine and the DH tooling system specially developed for this purpose await visitors at the Gehring booth. Marcell Wardin: “We are very well prepared. Our experts at the booth will be happy to explain the performance of our complete package for the specific honing applications.”
Gehring at the EMO 2023 in Hanover: Hall 11, Stand E13
