Meet the newest addition to the Fab Masters Company fleet of CNC Routers, expanding our large part CNC machining capabilities. The custom made Heian ZRO42P has finally arrived from Italy and is fully functioning. It was ordered last fall for January delivery but arrived in May. Never the less it is a fantastic piece of machinery.
The Heian is the third CNC Router to be added to our fabrication line-up, we also have 21 CNC Machining Centers. The demand for larger and longer aluminum parts prompted this decision. Our two largest CNC machining centers and Bridgemill were so backlogged with orders we needed to ease that strain, or turn away business. Are you kidding? The solution came in the purchase of an Onsrud CNC Router with a 27-foot long table, and then another Multiax CNC Router with twin heads was added shortly after. These with the Heian, dropped our backlog by 33% to 40%.
The advantages of a router over a machining center are speed of operation and larger travels. The Routers are capable of an 18,000 RPM spindle speed, whereas a machining center is 8,000 RPM. This is very advantageous for long lightweight aluminum parts that have a lot of holes. Parts that need deeper milling, ¼ inch or more, require a traditional machining center.
The Heian an impressive machine with 20 horsepower, covers 308 square feet of floor space, has two independently moving 5’x10’ tables with rotaries, and is very quiet and smooth running for its demeanor. Our tooling department added a 10”rotary fixture to each table, which enables a part to be rotated 360 degrees for machining in one set-up, with decreased handling. The independent tables allow one part to be machined, while another is being set-up or set in tandem a 20’ long, 5’ wide part could be machined.
After two delivery postponements and arriving four months late, the wait was worth it. We couldn’t be happier with the new Heian, it surely will add to our capabilities and boost productivity.