Five-Axis Machines Offer Attractive Processing Choices - Society of ...

Five-Axis Machining 

Mitsui Seiki’s Vertex 550-5XB is designed to machine 

aerospace or power generation turbine blades from 

forgings, castings, bar stock, or solid billets. 

Five-Axis Machines Offer 

Attractive Processing Choices 

Technology chases complex parts 

machining in a variety of industries 

Jim Lorincz 

Senior Editor 

The growing popularity of five-axis machining 

shouldn’t be a surprise. Manufacturers are becoming 

increasingly aware of the advantages of 

3+2 positional or simultaneous five-axis machining 

of complex small and large parts. They have 

a wider selection of advanced machine platforms 

to choose from evidenced by the offerings of machine tool 

builders and distributors at IMTS. Five-axis machining 

capability goes right to the heart of how parts as diverse as 

aerospace parts and a host of medical, and energy oil/gas 

parts can be efficiently processed with the highest accuracy 

and superior surface finishes. Parts designers can incorporate 

more features and functionality into parts working in 

October 2012 | ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com 77


materials ranging from titanium, Inconel, stainless steel to 

superalloys, as well as hardened steel and aluminum. 

Five-axis machining in both vertical and horizontal machines 

continues to add a dimension to process engineering 

that complements mill/turn and multitasking technology. In 

addition to better geometric accuracy and complete to near 

complete processing in minimum setups, five-axis machining 

offers simplified workholding compared with traditional 

four-axis horizontal machining centers, and is capable of more 

aggressive roughing cuts. In addition, five-axis machines lend 

themselves to being readily handled in robotic, multiple pallet, 

and cellular configurations. Here’s a selection of recent fiveaxis 

machining developments: 

Mitsui Seiki USA Inc. (Franklin Lakes, NJ) has developed 

the Vertex 550-5XB five-axis CNC vertical machining center 

specially designed for the production of aerospace and power 

generation turbine blades from forgings, castings, bar stock, 

or solid billets of titanium, and stainless steel. Introduced at 

IMTS 2012, the machine meets design criteria suggested 

by manufacturers that include the ability to rough and finish 

parts in competitive cycle times with improved part accuracy 

and surface finish. According to Tom Dolan, Mitsui Seiki vice 

president, that adds up to “a total machining center package 

that had to be smaller, faster, more accurate than what they 

had been using—all at an affordable price.” 

“We’re seeing companies that have never 

been five-axis customers taking 

advantage of being able to buy off-the-shelf 

equipment for these large workpieces.” 

Specification highlights of the Vertex 550-5XB include 

an X-Y-Z working envelope of 550 × 600 × 500 mm, rapid 

traverse rates in all linear axes of 48 m/min in a 65 ft² (6-m²) 

footprint. A and B axes are in a rotating/tilting table; A axis 

78 ManufacturingEngineeringMedia.com | October 2012


tilts from +45 to −90° angles and the B axis features infinite 

positioning points. According to Dolan, a new non-traditional 

approach to engineering the rotary axes enhances manual 

and automatic load/unload operations, such as the integration 

of a robot and cellular manufacturing capability. The Vertex 

spindle is designed for cutting hard titanium and stainless 

steel under control of the latest Fanuc CNC. The Vertex 

550-5XB features a cast bed and a “box in a box” design for 

rigidity and stiffness that typically isn’t available in a machine 

of this size. All guideway mounting surfaces are hand-scraped 

after machining and grinding in Mitsui Seiki’s temperaturecontrolled 

factory. 

Five-Axis Can Take Heavy Cuts 

Kyle Klaver, five-axis product specialist at Okuma America 

(Charlotte, NC), says that as engineers put more features 

and functionality into larger parts, it’s increasingly difficult to 

machine these components using standard three-axis or even 

four-axis horizontal machining centers. “Mill/turns with a B axis 

like our Multus or MacTurns are great alternatives, but sometimes 

there is a greater need for milling and that’s where the 

five-axis machining center still has its strengths. It takes heavier 

cuts,” says Klaver. At IMTS, the MU-10000H, the largest of 

the Okuma MU range of five-axis high-speed HMCs, made its 

world debut. The machine features a 1-m square pallet that 

can handle a 1.5-m diameter by 44" (1.1-m) high workpiece, 

weighing 5500 lb (2495 kg). 

“The MU-10000H is a new design of a horizontal 

machine for applications like large aerospace, energy, and 

heavy equipment applications,” says Klaver. “We’re seeing 

companies that have never been five-axis customers taking 

advantage of being able to buy off-the-shelf equipment for 

these large workpieces, as well as other applications. The 

initial offering is intended for titanium, Inconel, 15-5 stainless, 

and high-temperature heat-resistant alloys, and it can 

cut aluminum as well.” Two spindles, one with standard 

torque and a high-torque version, are available depending 

on customer requirements, and the machine is equipped 

with a two-pallet changer. 

”Aircraft parts have very elongated aspect 

ratios like a rib and require a huge amount 

of X axis relative to Y and Z axes.” 

Also introduced to the US at IMTS, Okuma's VTM-1200YB 

vertical turning CNC lathe has simultaneous five-axis machining 

capability. “It’s a 1.2-m chuck machine VTL with a 

B-axis head with a Y axis that is able to process parts on this 

machine in two operations,” Klaver explains. “Typical parts 

include large cylindrical housings that require a lot of milling 

and a lot of angled holes and features. It changes the way you 

process parts. You’re no longer thinking that you have to run 

parts on a large lathe and then take it over to the mill and set 

it up two times. Now you can do a turning operation, flip the 

part over and then finish it.” 

Structural Parts Get New Fixturing Process 

DMG / Mori Seiki (Hoffman Estates, IL) has devised what 

it calls “pinch fixturing” to virtually eliminate deflection in 

five-axis milling of asymmetric structural parts on a mill/turn 

machine. “Basically, we’re doing five-axis machining with a 

nine-axis machine and drawing some dramatic benefits doing 

it,” explains Greg Hyatt, chief technology officer. “It’s an all 


milling application, and no turning is involved. 

By using the mill/turn and putting 

robotic clamping units on the lower 

turrets, we run the lower turret up and 

clamp on the workpiece, where we want 

to, when we want to. As we move from 

pocket to pocket in typical structural 

parts, we’re completely unconstrained 

by any traditional fixture.” 

At IMTS, DMG / Mori Seiki demonstrated 

the pinch-fixturing technique on 

an NT 4300 machining a large workpiece 

that resembled a wing rib from 

a Boeing 737. “Because we’re putting 

this solution on a mill/turn machine, we 

can handle a structural part 6-m long on 

an NT 6600, for example,” says Hyatt. 

“That’s part of the beauty of this system. 

Aircraft parts have very elongated aspect 

ratios like a rib and require a huge 

amount of X axis relative to Y and Z axes. 

The mill turning envelope is well suited 

to typical aircraft structural parts like rib 

spars, stringers, segments, flap tracks, 

and landing gear components.” 

Hyatt credits the technique with overcoming 

the tendency of fixtured forgings 

that have residual stress to spring back 

after cutting and being unclamped, 

requiring multiple machining cuts to get 

an accurate part. “Using this method 

and having no fixture and avoiding the 

problem of overconstraining the part, 

we use the lower turret to support the 

part while we’re cutting the pocket. We 

can immediately release it and let the 

part spring, reclamp the part, semifinish 

or finish a pocket on the opposite side, 

release it, reclamp. We can consolidate 

multiple operations into a single operation, 

working all the way around the part 

and allowing us to relieve all of that 

residual stress without all the operator 

intervention of multiple refixturing and 

indicator checks,” Hyatt explains. 



Photo courtesy Mazak 

Don’t Want to Go 

Back After Five-Axis 

AT IMTS, Methods 

Machine Tools Inc. 

(Sudbury, MA) introduced 

its new Matsuura 

MAM72-100H five-axis 

horizontal machining 

center with a large 

capacity work envelope 

offering the ability to cut 

challenging materials in 

complex aerospace and 

energy industry parts. 

The MAM 100H can 

handle 360 tools on the 

machine, starts with two 

Small footprint VCN Compact is designed for five-axis machining of tough materials such as pallets and is expandable 

to a six-pallet 

stainless steel, Inconel and titanium. 

system or FMS. “We 

are noted for our multi-pallet systems, whether standalone or 

in an FMS environment,” explains Michael Minton, Methods 

Machine national application engineering manager. 

“Once our customers move into five-axis machining, 

they rarely if ever go back, because workholding becomes 

so much simpler and cost effective. Rather than having 

eight parts on a horizontal tombstone, they’re machining 

one part just as fast as they did the eight parts, if not faster, 

with simpler workholding. Our engineers are raving about 

one product called the Raptor fixture with a simple dovetail 

design in a low profile system. It allows you to get to five 

sides of the part with minimal fixturing interference on any 

five-axis platform,” says Minton. 

“The biggest advantage with five-axis machining is geometric 

accuracy, because you can get to five sides of that part 

in one setup,” according to Dave Lucius, Methods vice president-sales. 

These systems really shine when customers are 

being pushed for tighter and tighter tolerances. Applications 

in aerospace, power generation, and for turbine applications 

include blades and blisks, and include blades and impellers 

in land-based diesel engines.” 

Having the ability to process workpieces vertically or 

horizontally on five-axis machines can yield important gains 

in accuracy. “Depending on how you process the part, you 

have the opportunity to put precision bores in vertically and 


do a lot of the milling horizontally, and you can flip around the 

processes to gain accuracy. When you bore vertically, you are 

more accurate than boring horizontally. You have flexibility by 

combining two types of machine geometries into one machining 

platform to further enhance your 

process and part geometric accuracy,” 

Lucius explains. 

Methods Machine Tools offers its 

five-axis Matsuura machines with a 

CAMplete post processor software 

which shows what the machine will do 

based on the program and will optimize 

the toolpath. “To take any mystery out of 

five-axis machining we offer a bimonthly, 

complimentary three day course to 

our customers. When customers come 

to our technology center, we can show 

them how easy five-axis machining 

is rather than spending time to try to 

familiarize themselves with the platform 

itself,” says Lucius. “We have great 

success in making people comfortable 

moving from a traditional vertical or a 

horizontal machining center into fiveaxis 

machining.” 

40-taper spindle, it is designed for five-axis machining of tough 

materials, such as stainless steel, Inconel, and titanium used 

in medical and other applications. The machine’s three linear 

axes reach high-speed rapid traverse rates of 1417 ipm (36 

Compact Five-Axis 

Meets Precision Needs 

Five-axis machining is increasingly 

taken to the extremes in processing 

small parts in small footprint platforms 

for medical device manufacturing, and 

larger machines for aerospace applications, 

according to Marc Jagoda, applications 

manager, Mazak Corp. (Florence, 

KY). At IMTS, Mazak introduced 

its Vertical Center Nexus Compact, 

which is available in three and five-axis 

versions for medical applications and 

its Vertical Center Universal 400 fiveaxis 

machine. 

The VCN Compact features a 25-hp 

(18.6-kW), 12,000-rpm CAT 40 spindle 

and X-Y-Z axis travels of 19.69 × 16.93 

× 20" (500 × 430 × 510 mm). With its 



m/min) and fast feed rates of 315 ipm (8 m/min). Five-axis 

machining is rigid and precise on a rotary/tilt table constructed 

with high-speed roller drive technology, allowing the table to 

rotate and tilt at speeds of 100 rpm and 75 rpm, respectively. 

Mazak also demonstrated its VCU 

400-5X advanced technology for machining 

high-precision small-parts for 

various industries, including medical, 

aerospace, electronics, and automotive. 

Based on a modular design platform, 

the machine is easily configured as a 

three-axis fixed table or five-axis rotary/ 

tilt table model. Both machines share 

the same small footprint and table size 

of 15.7 × 15.7" (399 × 399 mm), allowing 

them to fit into almost any manufacturing 

facility. Each machine’s linear 

X-Y-Z-axis travels measure 19.6 × 15.7 

× 20" (498 × 399 × 508 mm) and attain 

rapid traverse rates of 945 ipm (24 m/ 

min). Both models are equipped with 

10,000-rpm, 15-hp (11-kW), 40-taper 

spindle for machining materials, including 

steel, aluminum, and cast iron. 

at its Hawthorne, CA, plant. The two high-speed PMT gantries 

will be used to produce aluminum wide-body fuselage skins 

for next-generation commercial aircraft. The modular PMT is 

a five-axis gantry machine tool for high-speed multiprocessing 

“Once our customers 

move into five-axis 

machining, they rarely 

if ever go back, 

because workholding 

becomes so 

much simpler and 

more cost effective.” 

High-Speed Gantry For 

Aerospace Materials 

For machining large composite or 

nonferrous aerospace parts, Triumph 

Aerostructures Vought Commercial Division 

has ordered two MAG Precision 

Mill/Trim (PMT) gantry systems for installation 

in 2013 on existing X-axis rails 



of large nonferrous components, such composite structures, 

aluminum skins and fabrications, molds, patterns, and postcure 

cutouts in foam and sandwich structures. In addition to 

machining, the highly configurable PMT is designed to use 

various special heads, such as waterjet, sawing and other 

finishing tools, including a system for precision control of 

countersink depth. 

The machine’s unlimited X axis is accompanied by its 

configurable Y axis of 2–6 m; Z axis of 1, 1.5 or 2 m; feed 

rates up to 60 m/min; five-sided part access; and optional 

precision scale feedback. The compact dual-axis rotary 

spindle head is powered by direct-drive torque motors with 

encoder feedback, providing 220° of A-axis tilt and standard 

550° of C-axis rotation. The PMT’s rail-type configuration 

allows a variety of workholding systems to be adapted, 

including MAG’s Flexitool universal workholding system. The 

Flexitool system consists of modular table sections equipped 

with programmable vertical actuators tipped with swiveling 

vacuum end effectors that adjust to almost any part shape, 

MAG’s five-axis Precision Mill-and-Trim gantry features an 

unlimited X axis for machining large composite or nonferrous 

parts, especially for the aerospace industry. 

so nests of various part shapes can be machined in multiple 

workzones. Five different motorized spindles are available 

beginning with a standard 22,000 rpm/20 kW and ranging 

up to 30,000 rpm/42 kW. ME 

Want More Information 

DMG / Mori Seiki 

Ph: 847-593-5400 

Web Site: www.dmgmoriseikiusa.com 

MAG IAS 

Ph: 859-534-4600 

Web Site: www.mag-ias.com 

Mazak Corp. 

Ph: 859-342-1700 

Web Site: www.mazakusa.com 

Methods Machine Tools Inc. 

Ph: 978-443-5388 

Web Site: www.methodsmachine.com 

Mitsui Seiki USA Inc. 

Ph: 201-337-1300 

Web Site: www.mitsuiseiki.com 

Okuma America Corp. 

Ph: 704-588-7000 

Web Site: www.okuma.com

Five-Axis Machines Offer Attractive Processing Choices - Society of ...

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