The Mazak CV5-500 Smooth X machines complex parts in a single setup on five simultaneous axes, up to Ø500 × 320 mm. For prismatic work, the Haas VF-2.
The tool stays vertical. It is the table that moves. It tilts on the B axis and rotates on the C axis, bringing each face of the part under the tool in turn - without the part ever leaving the fixture.
Schematic representation of the kinematics. Machine proportions are illustrative; the angles, travels and indexing accuracy are those of the machine’s data sheet.
On a three-axis centre the tool reaches only the top face. Every other face calls for a new setup: the part is released, turned over and aligned again.
Each new setup adds its own alignment error to dimensions measured from the previous one. Machining in a single setup does not make that error smaller - it removes it as a source.
A table that tilts to exactly 90° brings a side face upright, and no further. The degrees beyond 90° sound minor, but they are exactly what makes slightly undercut faces reachable - faces that would otherwise call for another setup. Our table’s actual travel is in the table alongside.
The same machine works in two modes, and the difference changes both the price and the result. It is worth settling before a quotation is asked for.
The table swivels and rotates to bring a face under the tool, then locks. The cutting itself happens in three axes. Most parts are made this way: holes and faces oriented in different directions, each approached square on. Because the rotary axes stay clamped while cutting, rigidity is at its highest - heavier passes are possible, with less vibration.
All five axes move while the tool cuts. This is needed where the surface has no single “face”: curved blends, continuous transitions, walls whose inclination changes. The real gain is not the shape itself but that the tool can stay short and perpendicular to the wall - a short cutter vibrates less than a long one reaching the same place from three axes.
If the drawing has flat faces pointing in different directions, 3+2 is the right answer and the cheaper one; asking for simultaneous adds nothing. If it has a genuinely curved surface, simultaneous is the only way. The gain shared by both modes stays the same: the part never leaves the fixture, so alignment errors do not accumulate from one setup to the next.
It does not extend the travels and it does not shorten the tool. A deep, narrow cavity still calls for a long cutter, and a long cutter vibrates - there the limit is rigidity, not the number of axes. Access is not unlimited either: head and table can collide, so extreme angles are checked on the model before quoting, not at the first part.
Every machined edge comes out with something on it: a burr pushed over by the tool, or a torn edge. ISO 13715 does not ask for perfect edges; it gives them a sign and a size - how much material may remain outside the contour and how much may be taken away. Without that sign, “deburred” means one thing at the supplier and another at incoming inspection.
| Written as | What it permits | What it means in the shop |
|---|---|---|
| +0.3 | Material outside: a burr of up to 0.3 mm may remain on the edge. | The edge is left as machining leaves it, with the burr kept under the limit. |
| −0.3 | Material removed: the edge must be free of burr, and its break - chamfer or radius - may go up to 0.3 mm. | The edge is worked: a chamfering pass or a tool break, on every piece. |
| +0.3 / −0.1 | A range: either a small burr or a small break is accepted, both bounded. | Used where the edge has no function but still cannot be left to chance. |
| nothing | The edge follows the general note in the corner of the drawing. If there is none, the edge condition is undecided. | Asked before the quotation: otherwise each side assumes something different. |
The two values are examples of notation, not thresholds of ours. The sign carries the meaning: plus is material left outside the contour, minus is material taken out of it.
A tenth of a millimetre on a free edge bothers nobody. The same tenth at the entry of a bearing bore, on a sealing face or in a retaining-ring groove changes the assembly: the part goes in askew, the seal does not seat, the ring never reaches its groove. That is why the drawing shows not only how much, but on which side of the edge.
It forms where the tool leaves the material: at the end of a pass, at the breakout of a hole, at the intersection of two surfaces. Milling leaves the burr on the exit edge; drilling leaves it inside the part, where it is hardest to reach. The order of operations moves the problem: a hole made before the face is milled leaves its burr where a tool can still get at it.
Requiring every edge on the part to be burr-free means one more operation on every piece of the batch - a tool pass, a brush, or hand work - plus the inspection that verifies it. On a part with thirty edges of which three truly matter, the difference is not quality but time paid for nothing.
A general note for the ordinary edges and a separate indication on the few that have a function: bore entries, sealing faces, edges a seal slides over during assembly. The drawing then shows where care is spent and where what machining leaves is enough.
Simultaneous 5-axis vertical machining center. A Ø500 mm trunnion table supported at both ends, for complex parts machined in a single setup.
Simultaneous five-axis vertical machining centre for complex geometries and three-dimensional surfaces. The tilting rotary table gives the tool access to several faces of the part in one setup, which removes repositioning errors and shortens the cycle. The Mazatrol SmoothX control supports programming, simulation and path control. Suited to precision components for energy, automotive, medical and machine building.
Catalogue figure, confirmed on the machine. Specifications published by the manufacturer.
3-axis vertical machining center for prismatic parts, fixtures and series components.
Compact, versatile vertical machining centre for milling, drilling, boring and tapping. Three controlled axes cover prismatic parts, housings, plates and components of complex geometry. The automatic tool changer and CNC programming cut idle time and hold repeatability from part to part, for prototypes and small batches as well as series production.
Catalogue figure, confirmed on the machine. Specifications published by the manufacturer.
to be confirmed Taking the official Haas positioning and repeatability figures from the datasheet.
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