Handtmann PBD 200

The Handtmann PBD 200 is a CNC 5-axis profiling machining center from Albert Handtmann Maschinenfabrik, a German company based in Biberach an der Riß that specializes in high-speed 5-axis machining centers for the aerospace, railway, and automotive industries — particularly for the machining of aluminum structural profiles, extrusions, and structural components at the large format and high throughput rates characteristic of aerospace and rail vehicle manufacturing.

Handtmann's PBD (Profile Bearbeitungs-Durchlaufanlage) series is designed for the high-speed machining of aluminum extruded profiles — the long, continuous cross-section aluminum sections used in aircraft fuselage, wing, and floor structure; railway car body frames; and automotive space frame structures. These profiles (up to 20,000 mm in length in some configurations) require 5-axis machining to produce the complex pocket geometries, feature locations, and end-face operations that aerospace and rail engineering specifications require.

The PBD 200's 5-axis head provides full simultaneous 5-axis contouring at high feedrates — up to 60 m/min in X (along the profile length) — enabling high throughput on long profiles. The machine's horizontal spindle configuration with a traveling gantry over a fixed profile bed provides the optimal architecture for long-profile machining: the profile is fixed; the machine moves along it at production speed. HSK-A63 spindle at 24,000-42,000 RPM handles the full range from aluminum structural pocket machining (roughing at 24K) through complex curved surface finishing (42K).

Handtmann's aerospace customers include Airbus (Hamburg and Toulouse), FACC, Premium AEROTEC, and other European aerospace structural component manufacturers. Their rail vehicle customers include Alstom, Siemens Mobility, and Bombardier Transportation (now Alstom). At $1,500,000-$3,500,000, the PBD 200 is a production investment for facilities with sustained aluminum profile machining volume.