A Headline Machine for One-Hit Machining

The machine anchors a broader display of 11 advanced multi-tasking machine tools, with ten DN Solutions' machine tools also being showcased at the event. This substantial line-up for a single-day programme highlights the event's focus on specific manufacturing advancements.

The One-Hit Message

For component manufacturers, the appeal is direct: fewer setups, less work-in-progress, and shorter lead times. The event's stated focus is increasing productivity and improving process efficiencies, and the machine selection reflects this emphasis.

The Heller HF 5500 FLEX machine, with its simultaneous 5-axis capability, is designed to handle complex geometries that would otherwise require multiple fixtures and handling steps. Ten DN Solutions' machine tools complement the display, offering visitors a broader basis for comparison across configurations and applications.

What Visitors Should Expect

The target audience is explicit: component manufacturers in the UK and Ireland who are actively looking at productivity gains and process efficiency improvements.

For shops considering a move away from multi-setup workflows, the event offers a concentrated look at the consolidation end of the machine tool market — anchored by a simultaneous 5-axis mill-turn machine that embodies this concept.

HF 5500 FLEX – a closer look

Equipped with the Siemens SINUMERIK ONE control and 24” multi-touch screen, the HF 5500 FLEX features a powerful HSK-T (mill-turn) spindle (45kW/12,000rpm/400N-m), up to 90m/min rapids on its linear axes, a 630mm x 630mm rotary, tilting table and a 50-tool position ATC.

The machine’s “FLEX” designation refers to the machine’s table loading configuration, which is built without an integrated pallet changer but features fast and flexible table loading access with direct workpiece setup and the ability to integrate with various external pallet systems.

The absence of an integrated pallet changer also means that the HF 5500 FLEX is a more compact machine with a smaller footprint.

Key attributes

The HF 5500 FLEX’s spindle is characterised by its narrow (lean) neck, which, with its horizontal orientation, allows maximum spindle/tool projection and optimal reach inside complex-shaped workpieces.

The machine’s horizontal configuration and a 225-degree tilt on the table allow chips to fall naturally into a central conveyor, ensuring a clear workspace. This 'gravity-assisted' chip removal ensures uninterrupted machining and higher productivity.

To manage heavy machining loads, the HF 5500 FLEX utilises a unique combination of a counter bearing and a YRT high-precision axial-radial roller bearing on the machine’s A- and B-axes, ensuring greater process reliability and higher accuracies when machining higher loads.

Real-time, multi-layered thermal compensation, chilled spindles, and drive and cabinet cooling keep heat out of critical structural zones during heavy-cutting cycles and long machining runs, improving part accuracies.

All linear axes use direct absolute linear encoders rather than relying on motor encoders to maintain high precision, and ball screw thermal expansion issues are detected and rectified in real time.

“The Heller HF 5500 FLEX is a powerful, fast, precise and flexible mill-turn machine that delivers unrivalled simultaneous 5-axis machining performance and exceptional one-hit part processing.

“For highly-regulated industries and sectors that demand the machining of flawless, right-first-time and repeatable high-precision components, even when machining hard and difficult-to-machine materials, the Heller HF 5500 FLEX can be relied upon to deliver.

“The machine is one of eleven advanced machine tools being showcased at our Innovation Day technology event in October and, along with our latest SYNERGi automation systems, will demonstrate the way forward for component manufacturers looking to maintain, or acquire, a competitive edge.”