Keith Young, Technical Specialist for Phantom Works, the advanced manufacturing research and development group of The Boeing Company, attended the MAG4 product rollout at Makino’s corporate headquarters in Japan. We met with Mr. Young and captured his thoughts on the event, the MAG4 and the future of aerospace engineering.?

Today’s aerospace manufacturers are faced with the daunting job of developing accurate, efficient processes in the ever-increasing move toward lightweight, monolithic part production. The first development in the evolution toward better production was the original gantry, which introduced to aerospace manufacturers greater efficiencies and less room for error. Today, the next generation in process development for monolithic parts production is the MAG4 high-speed machining center, which was rolled out for public viewing at Makino’s headquarters in Tokyo, Japan during the fall of 2000. Keith Young and Amy Helvey, Technical Specialists for The Boeing Company’s Phantom Works research and development group, were there.

During the machining demonstration, Young was impressed by the easy and fast motion as well as the quiet sound of the spindle cutting. “My impression of the machine was that it was very smooth and very precise,” he says. “It is the nicest machine I’ve seen.” The MAG4 combines feed rates up to 1,574 IPM, a 60-tool magazine and a 30,000 rpm spindle for maximized speed and productivity. “The spindle design and the design of the tool changer are both quite innovative,” Young continues. “There are no hydraulics going into the spindle for a tool change. The spindle comes over and an arm pushes against it to release the tool.” In Young’s view, this is a serious advantage. “I have seen a lot of problems with reliability involving high-pressure hydraulic lines that go through slip rings. They tend to fail, then hydraulic oil gets into the electrical components and that leads to spindle problems. The MAG4 would solve that problem.”

Another benefit to the MAG4 design that Young found impressive was the innovative axis design. The MAG4’s A and C axes virtually eliminate moving wires, tubes, or hoses outside of the body of the machining center. “One design advantage,” he says, “is the continuous C axis. It can rotate infinitely without having to rotate cables and hoses.” Another benefit Young took note of was the MAG4’s performance when contouring in five axes. “I’m not used to seeing a machine move in five axes so smoothly and with such speed,” he says. The result is higher productivity. “With the MAG4, they were able to contour at very high feed rates in five axes and still make a precise surface.”

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