In your travels around McCormick Place for IMTS 2012 (September 10 – 15) be sure to visit the Gosiger, Inc. and Okuma booths. In either location you’ll find Gosiger applications experts ready to talk about all of your manufacturing needs including 5-axis machining.
Also referred to as universal machining, 5-axis machining offers significant ways to increase productivity even if you don’t perform 5-axis simultaneous machining. The fact is that 60% of parts are only machined on 5 sides, so by using a 5-axis machining center you can completely machine a part in one cycle, often without any special fixtures, and with no costly operator intervention. On the other hand, a CNC machine tool without 5-axis capability typically requires multiple special fixtures and considerable operator time to move the part from one machine to another and set up the parts in between machining cycles.