Small and fine

Small and fine, this is the motto used in precision manufacturing at the East German company miTec. Moulds and tools for the manufacture of precision parts and precision components with microstructures are checked for tolerance compliance using m&h hardware and software while still clamped on the machine. This saves 50% of manual work.

Particularly fine parts for the optical industry, medical engineering, fluid and sensor technology come from moulds and tools manufactured at miTec Mikrotechnologie GmbH in Limbach-Oberfrohna in the Vogtland. The young company, only founded in 2008, has already established an excellent reputation manufacturing precision parts for the business sectors listed above.

Established on a greenfield site, the company is entirely geared to high-precision manufacturing of the finest structures. Airlocks inside the production facility enable virtually clean room conditions. Machinery comprising Huron and Makino machines is installed in temperature controlled rooms ensuring constant machining conditions. The Makino machining centre is equipped with both spindle cooling and cooled bed slideways – an important prerequisite for manufacturing precise parts with small geometries and tolerances of +/- 2,5 μm. With fluids, often there are capillary structures with ducts only 50 μm x 50 μm in size. Appropriate electrodes are milled from graphite with dimensions of 30 μm x 30 μm. For hard machining, they mill with HSC technology using milling cutters down to a diameter of only 100 μm.

The Huron VX6 with Siemens 840D control is used for rough machining. The Makino V33 and the 5-axis Makino V22, both with Fanuc controls, are exclusively used for finishing and fine machining. The Huron VX6 is equipped with m&h type 32.00 touch probe type and type 35.70 toolsetter. Both devices communicate with the control by means of infrared data transmission via the same receiver. Tool lengths and actual tool diameters are measured with the toolsetter and subsequently processed as correction values in the control. This enables precise work, taking into consideration the respective clamping situation of the tools. Since large diameter tools are mostly used on the machine, the cost-efficient toolsetter 35.70 with its probing disc is perfect. The 3-axis Makino V33 machining centre is also equipped with an m&h type32.00 touch probe...