GEMINIS LATHES GRANTED EUROS 2.158 MILLION IN CDTI SUPPORT TO DEVELOP A NEW HYBRID LATHE

GEMINIS LATHES granted Euros 2.158 million in support from the CDTI, Centre for Industrial Technological Development, to develop a new hybrid lathe.

The project consists of combining the traditional lathe technology that GEMINIS specialises in, i.e. cylindrical material removal, with additive technology, which adds material to the part.

This research and development project is one of the main focal points of the work currently being carried out by the GEMINIS R&D&i Department and forms part of the collaboration framework with the TEKNIKER Technological and Research Centre. The line of research is encompassed within the Transferencia Cervera Research and Development Projects aimed at supporting applied business research and development projects arising from collaborations with businesses and technological centres. According to Iosu Unzueta, CEO of GEMINIS LATHES, “the project aims to achieve a product that provides our clients with new approaches to their manufacturing systems and allows them to produce parts with enhanced features and functionalities, and also to recover worn out parts. This will mean a significant improvement in manufacturing processes and we believe it offers a distinguishing technological edge on the technologies existing in the market”.

This development started out in a project subsidised by the Basque Government’s Hazitek programme. According to Iñaki Irure, Director of Engineering, “we have managed to confirm that the additive technology we wanted to incorporate is within the right productivity levels and, after conducting market research, we have decided to implement this technology in our lathes. Right now, we are in the process of manufacturing the machine and the devices necessary for this hybrid lathe to become a product with the best possible material additive features without affecting its machining capabilities. And so, we are also working to improve the precision of the lathe itself”.

Joining both technologies together has multiple economic and environmental benefits, since it cuts down on the use of costly raw materials since different surface additive materials can be used, improving the machining features of the parts, their re-use and resulting extension of the useful life of machined parts and elimination of the highly toxic chromium plating process for finishing.