True greatness is T-shaped

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industrial

True greatness is T-shaped

A key factor in the decision was the strong partner relationship, which has been contractually approved from Metalex’s side.

Advanced technology machining company Metalex Manufacturing Inc. expands its Center for Advanced Large Manufacturing with Droop+Rein T portal-type machining centres from Starrag.

The long-term partnership between US manufacturer Metalex Manufacturing Inc. and the Starrag Group has revealed a lot in common: Both are specialists in extremely large components made from aluminium, stainless steel and titanium for very challenging applications. Now the Ohio-based job shop plans to grow even more, adding a fourth Starrag machine to the mix. So what are Metalex's plans for its new Droop+Rein T six-axis portal-type machining centre?

“Good things achieved and excellent things cannot be acquired without great effort and work.” This advice from the poet Hans Jakob Christoffel von Grimmelshausen around 350 years ago couldn’t be a better fit for Metalex Manufacturing Inc. from Cincinnati, Ohio, and the Bielefeld plant of the Starrag Group. This phase of their partnership may have been put on pause for many reasons, the pandemic being one of them, but now the Droop+Rein T 60 80 DT TT60 HR100 C portal-type machining centre is coming into operation at the Center for Advanced Large Manufacturing, a bespoke extension of their main plant in the form of an enormous building.

It’s the biggest portal-type machining centre in the Droop+Rein T product line to date: thanks to their optimal rigid construction and hydrostatic operating concept, these machines are perfectly suited to high-precision machining of extremely large workpieces with complex geometry in settings that require adherence to extremely tight tolerances. Heiko Quack, Starrag’s Bielefeld-based sales director for large projects, states that these machines “produce very flexible, efficient and precise workpieces using various materials on five axes.”

The machining centre has a Z-axis slide feed milling unit with integrated C-axis and a wide range of milling heads. It includes two rotary tables and turning tool holders from the Dörries product range, which have been used in a Starrag machine for years and have proven to Metalex that they are reliable, productive components.

This is XXL at its finest, as a glance at the unusual dimensions of the work area shows (X: 19,000 mm, Y: 9,000 mm, Z: 3.000 mm). Here, even very large workpieces can be machined on a single setting thanks to the huge amount of space available. Extremely flexible five-axis machining is made possible by the two continuous universal fork type milling heads. They are perfect for heavy machining with up to 2,400 Nm of milling torque. But it can also be used with motorised milling spindles at high speeds, which can be changed out automatically with milling spindle replacement. For even more flexible, universal work, Metalex ordered a 5,500 mm continuous mobile crossbar as its 6th axis (W).