Details

June 2019

Hjerno optimises the use of five-axial simultaneous milling

Over the past few years, we have built up more and more experience in five-axial simultaneous milling – which is the process where you are milling simultaneously in all five axes.

The vast majority of all five-axial CNC milling in Denmark is done through more conventional indexing - where the cutting tool operates at a fixed angle. However, thanks to a continued effort by Hjerno’s milling specialists and ongoing optimisation of our CAD/CAM system we have managed to significantly increase the precision of our simultaneous milling.

"Simultaneous milling is a very difficult discipline that can significantly optimise the machining process and we have now come a long way in this field. In the end, it is all about getting the machines to do as much of the work for us as possible, and simultaneous milling can help with that," says Kristian Jessen Hansen, Tool Shop Manager.

Visit from China
In order to ensure that Hjerno’s CAD/CAM system is optimised for the simultaneous milling processes, Hjerno has again been visited by Sam Liu, who is a development engineer from our Chinese CAD/CAM supplier.

"We want to make the geometries more complex, but still without making them more complex to handle. Simultaneous milling typically requires very advanced programming, and we would like to optimise that as much as possible so that we can facilitate the programming and cut down on lead times," Kristian Jessen Hansen explains.

Customised for Hjerno’s needs
This is the sixth time that Sam Liu is in Denmark to optimise the CAD/CAM system that is customised for Hjerno’s production and needs. In total, he has now spent three months in Odense exclusively on refining the software.

"Sam has been a part of developing the programme, so we get to all the nooks and crannies of the software, which is otherwise a rarity. We are being taught all the features from the source itself, which gives a completely different understanding of the programme and its possibilities," Aage Agergaard says.

"Sam also gets something in return and according to our agreement he can use the joint development work to expand their CAM software, which of course is quite all right," he concludes.

Pictured to the right is development engineer Sam Liu.