Flat guide for MTE milling machines

We started building our first machines 30 years ago and relied on proven flat guide technology.

Construction
A Flat guide consists of two main parts: a flat guide rail and a carriage that slides on it. The guide rail is usually made of hardened steel and precisely machined. This provides a smooth and straight surface.

Freedom of movement
Flat guides enable linear movements in one direction. Precise, straight movements are crucial for workpiece machining, especially with milling machines.

Stability and precision
The large contact surface of the flat guide rail ensures high stability and precision of movements. This minimizes the likelihood of deviations or vibrations during the milling process.

Friction and wear
Flat guides can be sliding or rolling. Sliding guides have a higher friction, but offer a very rigid connection.we use sliding flat guides on our Bed type milling machines / machines. These Flat guides are coated with a hard plastic and are permanently and automatically lubricated.

Production of a Flat guide
Solid cast bodies form the basis of every machine we build. Unlike welded steel constructions, this results in high stability and very good vibration behavior. After the casting process, we pre-mill our assemblies on our own MTE milling machines. The assemblies then disappear into storage so that the stresses in the workpiece can escape, after which we mill and grind the assemblies to size on a surface grinding machine. The movable guide surface is given a plastic coating to minimize wear. Finally, true artists are at work: they scrape the guides of our Flat guided milling machines by hand – a job that requires great expertise. We only use employees with many years of experience for this.

Linear guideway for MTE milling machines

In addition to stability and precision, new factors came to the fore in the construction of milling machines. The machines had to become increasingly dynamic in order to speed up the machining process and achieve higher tool feed rates. With the construction of linear guided milling machines, we have also taken up and implemented these market requirements.

Construction
Linear guideways were developed for milling machines to enable precise linear movements of the machine tables and machine slides. Linear guideways consist of precisely machined guide rails and carriages or slides with bearings that either slide or roll.

Freedom of movement
Linear guideways enable movements in one or more axes. In our MTE milling machines, they are used for the X, Y and Z axes to move the machine table/machine tower and the Milling head / heads.

Stability and precision
Linear guideways offer high stability and precision. They minimize deviations and vibrations during the milling process and thus contribute to high machining accuracy.

Production of a Linear guideway
As with our Flat guided machines, a stable cast construction forms the basis. First we mill the support surface. Many machine manufacturers would already install the guideways at this stage. However, we also grind the support and reference surfaces on our linear-guided milling machines in order to achieve maximum accuracy and stability. This improves the contact pattern and increases stability and accuracy.

Conclusion: Specific requirements and type of processing are decisive

Linear guideways offer higher precision and can realize faster movements. Flat guides offer greater stability and damping, but are more maintenance-intensive.

Linear guideway or Flat guide? The right decision depends on the specific requirements of the milling machine and the type of machining required.

Our Bed type milling machines / machines offer both types of guide to build the perfect machine for every application. For our larger machines, such as the Floor type milling machines and Fixed table travelling column milling machines, we rely exclusively on the Linear guideway.