Thielenhaus Microfinish has introduced an extremely economical and compact machine solution for the large-scale production of flat precision pieces at the EMO 2019 in Hanover: In close collaboration with the Japanese mechanical engineers Nissei, the ultra-precision machine tool producers offer a double-disc surface grinding machine for the European market characterised by four advantages: Precision, cost-effectiveness, ease of use and compactness. The V-5M is CE compatible and designed in accordance with the Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC. It is equipped with a Siemens 840D sl control with MindSphere connection.

During production, any expensive extra that wasn’t necessary for achieving the stipulated goal was foregone. Instead, it was precision that was of paramount importance: Great importance was therefore attached to a high degree of rigidity provided by a closed box frames instead of a C-frame, forged instead of turned tool spindles, 360° spindle tilting mechanisms and a double-walled frame design for temperature insensitivity. Indeed, the all-important dressing process requires such rigidity in order to create the appropriate tool geometries.

Other highlights include the spindle sleeve feed system in conjunction with a worm gear, the associated patented pneumatic compensation for thread play and high-precision ABEC-7 class bearings. Furthermore, effective options are also included such as an automatic tool-wear compensation system for the lower grinding disc provided by in-process measurement and a post process measurement with MARPOSS working in a closed loop.

This leads to exceptional machining results: With steel piston rings with a diameter of 68 mm, parallelism below 6 µm, and surface results of Ra 4.0 µm can be achieved with a cycle time of 1.3 seconds. In another application using aluminium, the machine achieves a removal of up to 0.5 mm per pass in 1.0 seconds with a parallelism of 10 µm.