MiterWave and Combicut: the perfect miter always, even with non-planar slabs

MiterWave: "if the world were perfect, it wouldn't be
(Yogi Berra)".
 

Often, if not always, the slabs of different materials, above all ceramic, are not perfectly flat or as flat as one might think.
 
Tensions, bad cutting, or imperfect calibrations are very common.
 

When you want to get a perfect 45° cuts (Miter) with a machine, you have to work hard and the result is not guaranteed.
 
Breton presents MiterWave, the hardware/software package to be able to perform perfect 45° cuts in all non-planarity conditions.
 

 
MiterWave, which is especially dedicated to ceramic slabs, automatically corrects the cutting paths for a perfect result.
MiterWave can be installed on CombiCut machines, even existing ones.

Write to mail@breton.it for more information.

Thank you for reading this post.
 
Best regards.
Sergio Prior

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breton combicut, miterwave

Smartflex - CNC cutting centre with three cutting spindles, belt rotating work bench and twist head

Equipped with three cutting spindles, one of which mounted on a rotating head that is also equipped with workpiece suction cups in order to optimise the surface area to be cut.

Tool for chamfering and cutting at the same time

Perfect for the production of panels with chamfered edges. It is no more necessary to perform the next chamfer on a different machine.

 

Breton SmartFlex is the most productive and flexible solution, ideal for fabshops specialised in both medium-large series production for the building trade and single slab optimization procedures for the furniture sector (kitchens, bathrooms, etc.).
In the single slab process with cuts optimisation using exclusively the rotating spindle with vacuum lifting tool, the Breton SmartFlex is transformed precisely into a Breton Smartcut Optima.

For more information about Smartflex, please write to mail@breton.it
Thank you for reading this post.
Best regards
Sergio Prior

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Breton SmartFlex, CNC cutting center 3 spindles

Breton Smartflex: the ideal solution for the laboratories of the building-furnishing sector

Article first published on MM International n. 98

Towards the end of the 70s, Luigi Scapin, with his three sons Vincenzo, Gianni and Romeo, built the first factory specialized in the crafting of stones for the building sector. Scamar-Scapin Marbles was then born in Tombolo (PD, Italy).

The company works with natural stone, marble, granite and engineered stone for building construction and furniture design.

The company's core business is kitchen worktops, alongside several related products: bathroom counter-tops, table tops and furniture accessories, floor and wall surfaces, bath tubs, carved blocks and sculptures.

The first step for the company’s success was to increase the level of precision of the work processes, which was achieved by adapting the existing machine tools and purchasing the first NC stone working machines.

The second step was to change the company’s name with one that communicate confidence: "Marmo Arredo, the stones for the furniture".

The most important markets for Marmo Arredo are currently Italy and other European countries, in relation to the daily output of kitchen tops, bathroom tops and furniture accessories. On the worldwide stage, the company operates through contracts or with custom-made projects.

In the near future Marmo Arredo envisions a more heterogeneous market demand that includes both engineered and natural stones, as well as a significant increase in ceramic based materials.

Marmo Arredo is now on the market more and more effectively and efficiently and its research vocation is constantly being proved by constant development of state-of-the-art patents and technologies; in this being also supported by custom-made machineries and solutions developed by Breton. 

Breton has recently provided a SmartFlex: a CNC cutting center with 3 spindles, belt rotating work bench and twist head. One of the spindles comes with a head with suction cups for taking the material and optimizing the surface to be cut. It is a flexible and productive solution, ideal for building products and home furnishings (kitchens, bathrooms, etc.).

The company has specific and complex needs and was looking for an advanced multi-disk cutter that could easily and quickly combine inclined and non-orthogonal contour cut-outs for construction jobs with more complex cuts typical of applications for the furnishing sector.

SmartFlex, thanks to the ability to make sloping cuts on a variety of product types, and to easily use drilling tools, is an "excellent, fast and accurate tool".

Remote programming of the machine without on-site human intervention is another essential advantage which facilitates the production process.

Compared to previous machines, SmartFlex is steps ahead both from the mechanical point of view (higher speed and precision) as well as for the handling of materials.

The machine at some moments "seems to be dancing: the combined movements of spindles and disks are fast, harmonious and accurate".

Thanks to on-the-field experience and Breton collaboration, the company will be able to further refine the software to optimize slab load / unload and tool change cycles, and to further enhance the overall cutting optimization algorithm.

“Breton S.p.A., since 1963 innovation and technology at the service of the operators”.

For more information or requests please write to mail@breton.it.

Thank you for your attention.
See you soon
Sergio Prior

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breton cnc, Breton SmartFlex, CNC cutting center 3 spindles, Marmo Arredo

Marmomac 2017: Breton preview for stoneworks

This year Breton is showing up in great style at the most important Italian fair for stoneworks, scheduled September 27-30 in Verona (Italy)

Our booth, covering more than 1.400sqm will be located in Hall 4.

Here's what you will find:

Worthy OPTIMA: CNC monoblock bridge saw with rotating head, fixed bench and suction cups.

Smart-Cut 550 OPTIMA: interpolated axis multipurpose cutting center.
 

Smartflex: CNC cutting center with 3 spindles and integrated "Multicup" suction system.
 

Contourbreton NC 300 K19 EVO: CNC contouring machine with small footprint, large workout runs and maximum accessibility to the Metalquartz® workbench.

Contourfive NC 1200: CNC work center, ideal for the production of large and complex 3D-shaped parts.
 

Combicut DJ/NC: CNC bridge saw + waterjet with 5 interpolated axes.
The machine will be working on cutting ceramic slabs and Lapitec.

Do not miss the Digital Fabshop Area where we will showcase new software for our machines, and a Breton composite stone area, with the innovative Bretonstone®, Bretonstone Cement® and BretonTerastone®.

There's more! There will be the world premiere of our new Hyperock technology, shown in a special exhibition area.

For further info, please write to mail@breton.it

Thanks for your attention.
See you soon,
Sergio Prior

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Breton SmartFlex, Breton Worthy Optima, bretonterastone, combicut, Contourbreton NC300 EVO, CONTOURFIVE 1200, hyperock, marmomac 2017, smart-cut 550 optima

ContourFive NC 700/1200 - Shaping, contouring, sawing and turning stone working centre

Contourfive NC 700/1200 - CNC milling centre with 5 interpolated axes designed for cutting, contouring and turning operations

Contourfive is a numerical control machining centre with five interpolated axes for machining pieces made from marble, granite, compound stone and stone in general.

Top structural stiffness and accessibility
Floor-anchored shoulders made from either masonry or (on request)heavy-duty metallic structure ensure a top structural stiffness of the system. The excellent accessibility to the working area is guaranteed by the worktable which is separated from the lateral shoulders and stiffly anchored to the floor, so that the operator can easily approach it from all sides, with no steps to mount. The height of the worktop of 500mm (19.7") plus the height of the suction cups of 230mm (9"), enables an easy handling of the machined tops.

Thanks to its vertical travel of 700/1.200mm, Contourfive is the ideal machine for architectural and funerary art as well as for those processing which require a deep dishing out; it therefore offers the users the possibility of performing different and complex machining operations which would otherwise require several machines::
• shaping utilising the saw blade to get large pieces with complex shape.
• shaping and dishing out utilising millers.   
• contouring utilising shaping tools.
• sawing utilising the saw blade.   
• turning of columns with shaped profiles or machining of columns to create a twisted effect all along the surface (provided the lathe accessory is purchased). 

Contourfive stands out for performance:
• short beam ensuring maximum rigidity;
• “rapid” displacements of up to 40 metres per minute;
• powerful high-frequency spindle of 27/46HP;
• max. diameter of the cutting saw blade: 19.7/31.5/39.4"
• “C” axis rotation: ± 200°;
• “A” axis rotation:  from 0° to +115°;
• “X” axis travel: 145.5/141.7/137.7";
• “Y” axis travel: 110";
• “Z” axis travel: 27.6/47.2";
• possibility of using  various saw blades, shaped tools, drills, millers, etc.;
• automatic tool-store with 27 positions + (optional) position for the saw blade.

Contourfive stands out for its structural features:

• High-speed, 27/30/46HP electrospindle featuring a rotation speed of up to 14.500/7.500/7.000rpm; it is provided with thermal stability and long-life grease lubrication of the bearings. The tool coolant flows inside the spindle.

• Birotary head for interpolated 5-axis machining. The head has a symmetrical structure and consists of two main structural elements, the first (“C” axis) is fitted for ± 200° rotation around its own vertical axis and the second element (“A” axis) rotating from 0° to +115° and housing the high-frequency spindle.  
Rotation transmission are provided by brushless-type motors.

• Iron casting spindle-holding carriage running on roller slides ("X" axis) and actuated by a precision pinion-and-rack system, which is motorized by a digital brushless motor. The spindle-holding steel ram ("Z" axis) is vertically housed in the carriage; the ram moves through a ball bearing screw/preloaded lead nut/ digital brushless motor system. The position monitoring is performed by the motor encoder.

• Steel work-table secured to the ground, with aluminium top with recesses for mounting fixtures to secure the work piece in place.

• Beam with “gantry” movement along the shoulders (“Y” axis) on ground guides; is through a pinion-and-rack system and precision reducers with backlash adjustment, driven by digital brushless motor.

• Mobile 27-cell carrousel tool-store for tool-holders, to automatically change tools other than the saw blade.

• Store for saw blade with a max. diameter 19.7" (STANDARD version), 23,6" (HD version), 39,4" (SHD version) (optional).

• Lathe for producing columns and twisted effect details with workable sizes: ø37.8/63x126" - optional accessory.

• Frontal protection barrier consisting of a series of sliding doors with manual opening; doors are made from structure and are provided with wide inspection ports. 
• Siemens Sinumerik 840 SL: the latest digitally-controlled computer numerical control system, with PC architecture and a PC unit utilising Windows as operating system, with Windows user-friendly interface and fully-developed software for work program management.
• Control console mounted on a mobile pendant structure and equipped with a 15-inch touch-screen colour monitor, a joystick to easily move the motorized working axes movement and a USB port for data transfer.

• Portable mini console, wired to the main control console, to duplicate the major controls (axes management + hand-wheel, emergency shut-down, etc.); this portable mini console allows the operator to be close to the piece to be machined thus controlling directly some delicate machining operations.
• Electrics and utilities are housed in two cabinets with IP54 grade of protection and cooled by an air conditioning unit specially designed for a maximum external temperature of +45°C.

Top structural stiffness and accessibility 
Floor-anchored shoulders made from either masonry or (on request) heavy-duty metallic structure ensure a top structural stiffness of the system. The excellent accessibility to the working area is guaranteed by the worktable which is separated from the lateral shoulders and stiffly anchored to the floor, so that the operator can easily approach it from all sides, with no steps to mount. The height of the worktop of 350mm (13.8") plus the height of the suction cups of 230mm (9"), enables an easy handling of the machined tops.

Breton Teleservice
A Internet connection is required in order to ensure an effective technical support in case of need.

Software for simulating work cycle
This software has been developed to simulate Contourfive when working by dividing the machining centre into different parts: machine structure, axes, spindle, tool-store, tools. The software imports the file generated by the CAM program (ISO code) for the piece to bemachined and simulates the entire machining cycle,thus detecting any possible impact which may occur.

Wide choice of software (optional)
Breton offers a wide choice of software – which are customized according to the single users’ requirements - for the CAD/CAM programming of their shaping, cutting and turning centres with several controlled and interpolated axes.

Thanks to Breton’ software, such numerical control centres make the most of their technological potentials, and execute the widest and most fanciful range of machining for interior design, architectural and funerary art.

All software operate in a Windows environment, are easy-to-understand and user-friendly thanks to the parametric macros, which enable to execute drawing s in a simplified way starting from standard parametric models.

Breton’ skilled officers will be at your disposal to show you demos of the different options so as to choose the most suitable software. 

Accessories
• Lathe for producing columns and twisted effect details with workable sizes: ø37.8/63x126" - optional

• Automatic tool control (optional). 

It consists of a laser system for measurement to hundredths of the tool profile (installed on a shoulder of the machine) and of a software that automatically aligns the profiles of the series of tools that polish the edge. This software can also check the consumption and efficiency of each tool.

• Suction cups with mechanical locking H=9 in. (optional).

• Store for saw blade with a max. diameter of 500mm (19.7"), 600mm/23.6" (for HD version) or 39.4" (SHD version) secured to the side shoulders (optional).

• 3D detection of the piece 
This is a precision 3D “laser scanner” optical system that, without contact, detects the shape and dimensions of the piece to be copied. The powerful management software enables you to copy complex, three-dimensional surfaces by creating their shape and programs the milling operations with graphic simulation in order to check in advance the final result. (optional).

• “Laser” projector of the piece and suction cup shapes  
It is a “laser” projector mounted on a special support stand, that makes the positioning of the vacuum pads on the work table easier for the operator through the projection on the table surface of the shape of both the piece to be produced and the single vacuum pad to be prearranged. The laser projector is controlled by the computer-aided system. (optional).

• Steel frame also available (optional)

• Measurement “by contact” of the surface   

It is a device that measure “by contact” with radio transmission the correct spatial position of the planes to be worked. The machine is equipped with software that enables the working tool to follow accurately the surface. It is “essential” to carry out drainboards on slabs not perfectly calibrated or to process edges with the slab polished face upwards. (optional).

Layout - overall dimensions

Technical specifications

Here you can find the stone working centre Contourfive NC 700 with 5 interpolated axes while is realizing several pieces.

For request or info write to mail@breton.it

It's all for today.
Bye-bye

Sergio Prior

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5 axis machining centre, 5 axis stone working centre, architectural components, breton contourfive, breton machining stone