Johnford VMC-3000S

Three metres of X travel on a single-column vertical: the Johnford VMC-3000S has 3,050 mm (120 in) of X, 1,100 mm (43.3 in) of Y and 800 mm (31.5 in) of Z, over a table of 3,200 x 1,000 mm (126 x 39.4 in). It is the longest machine in the Large VMC series and uses the BT-40 / CAT-40 geared spindle.

The length shows in every dimension around it. The machine is 7,700 mm (303 in) long, because a moving table needs its own length again to travel, and it weighs 23,000 kg (50,600 lb). All three axes rapid at 12 m/min (472 ipm), the slowest in the series, and cutting feed stops at 8,000 mm/min. Crossing the full table at rapid takes a noticeable time, so programs for this machine are worth ordering to keep moves short.

Table load is 4,800 kg (10,560 lb), the same as on the VMC-2000S. Spread over 3.2 m that is a modest load per unit length, which points to the intended work: long, relatively slender parts such as rails, beams, extrusions, press brake tooling and long plates, not compact heavy blocks. Two or more shorter jobs can also be set up along the table and run in turn while the operator loads the other end.

The spindle runs 80-8,000 rpm on 7.5 / 11 kW (10.1 / 14.8 hp). The standard 24-tool armless changer is mounted at one position, so every tool change on a long part includes a trip back to it. Johnford lists linear scales on X, Y or Z as an option, which is worth considering on a 3 m axis.