Lonsdale SA based Santek Pty Ltd has invested in a Mazak Variaxis C-600 featuring a high rigidity structure and MAZATROL SmoothAi for high-accuracy machining.
Established in 2003, Santek specialises in the manufacture and design of components for the mining, automotive, food processing, building and defence industries.
Santek is passionate about CNC machining, producing quality that exceeds expectations, and strives to provide high quality components using the latest state of the art CNC machines such as their new Mazak Variaxis C-600.
The Mazak Variaxis C-600, a high-accuracy simultaneous 5-axis vertical machining centre is suitable for a wide range of industry sectors, including the aerospace and automotive markets.
The Mazak Variaxis C-600 is characterised by its highly agile performance, with no compromise on rigidity. The compact machine, capable of machining workpieces up to Ø730 mm x H450 mm and 500 kg in weight, has been designed with a large machining envelope and a high-rigidity structure featuring a Ø600 mm fully supported trunnion table with roller gear cam on the B- and C-axes. Exceptional high-speed performance is delivered with 42 m/min rapid traverse rates in the X-,Y- and Z-axes, and a chip-to-chip time of just 4.5 seconds to reduce non-cutting time for faster cycle times.
The machine’s high-rigidity spindle can perform heavy-duty cutting of steel, as well as the high-speed machining of other non-ferrous materials such as aluminium, as it can be configured with four different spindle options. Santek specified their Mazak Variaxis C-600 with a 12,000 rpm standard spindle.
The Mazak Variaxis C-600 can also be configured with four different tool magazine options, complete with double arm automatic tool changer which can drastically reduce chip-to-chip times. Santek specified their machine with the 60 tool magazine.
The Mazak Variaxis C-600 is equipped with SmoothAi, Mazak’s new artificial intelligence CNC control, which has in-built learning capability to continually improve machine performance. Smooth Machining Configuration Plus allows operators to easily adjust features including cycle time, finished surface and machined shape on the CNC display according to material requirements. This is especially effective for complex workpieces with contours defined in small program increments. Specific settings can be saved and stored to allow them to be easily used for future cycles.
The Mazak Variaxis C-600 also employs Mazak’s SmoothAi Spindle function, featuring AI adaptive control that suppresses milling spindle chatter by intelligently adjusting cutting technology based on feedback from sensors built into the machine.
Further machining accuracy is guaranteed by the Ai Thermal Shield function, which uses algorithms to automatically determine the volume of compensation needed according to changes in temperature.