“Okuma Australia”
| By Ian Hearne.
There is always something interesting happening in our neck of the woods here in Malaga.
CRUISIN AUTOMOTIVE is located at Unit 2/308 Victoria Road. But its not just us who are creating dreams for our clients, we are surrounded by other businesses doing great work in a variety of fields.
One day I was invited across the road to “take a look at something”.
The boys who run Okuma Australia at Unit 5 had something exciting to share. Okuma do a lot of things but primarily they design process-intensive machines which turn materials to a product all in one sitting. Really interesting stuff.
Although I love my workshop I couldn’t get over there quick enough to see what was going on. The boys would be hosting a 5-axis Machining Centre demonstration over two nights, but I was getting a sneak preview. Walking in I was drawn to an enormous machine in the centre of there high ceiling unit.
The GENOS M460V-5AX was a dream machine.
Humming away I could see the machine moving the gear drive around on a spindle. On a rotating table was what would have been originally a slab of metal. But as the machine was halfway through the process the metal was being cut expertly and it looked like a hinge was being made.
This spindle is the real hero. How it maneuvers around to attack the metal is exciting to watch. CRUISIN AUTOMOTIVE gets its parts from the best equipment dealers in the business who probably use machines like this in their manufacturing process.
It was interesting to see where it all begins.
This was the end result. What was a thick square piece of metal has been cut perfectly to make this hinge with threading holes.
When we work away on our cars do we really think of the process certain parts have gone through? I know I just open the box admire the look and can’t wait to install it within my pride and joy. The next time you admire the work of a part maybe a computer like this was involved in the process.
Check out this video I found which shows what I saw in operation.