Multispindle Automatic Lathe With Full System Concept

Photo Credit: Tajmac

Tajmac’s Penta TMZ 518 is a five-spindle automatic lathe with an island concept that complements Tajmac-USA’s line of full CNC six- and eight-spindle machines. The island concept offers the machine as a package which includes the machine, oil treatment system, chiller, chip conveyor and bar feeder. The design creates a single-source supplier contact for all those components.

The included bar loader is a custom-designed loader developed by Cucchi BLT, another member of the Tajmac Group. The enclosed loader has the capacity to run five 12-foot-long bars, up to 18 mm in diameter. Underneath the bar loader, the machine houses a variety of accessories.

The high-pressure system is nested underneath the loader to provide plenty of pressure to clear away chips. The integrated chiller unit is used to cool both the oil in the machine and the conveniently placed electrical cabinet underneath the work area. Moving down the machine, the built-in side conveyor and magnetic separator system help to remove both big and small chips.

This CNC multi-spindle is suited for machining medium to complex parts and is capable of achieving fast cycle times due to its ability to rotate the drum from station to station more swiftly than a six-spindle. The drum indexing time is 0.4 seconds on the Penta. The design was developed with to keep the Penta model at a price point that competes with the cost of five Swiss machines, while requiring a fraction of the space. The Penta has the ability to offer these benefits while maintaining the fast cycle times that the multi-spindle platform provides.

For cost-effectiveness, the Penta uses standard, off-the-shelf drives and a FANUC control capable of handling up to 31 axes. This control is well suited for the five-spindle configuration, which only requires 25 axes. The use of this proven Fanuc control makes the machine and its components more familiar to the U.S. customer base, providing an even easier-to-understand platform for both operators and maintenance personnel.