Palmary FCL-18

The Palmary FCL-18 is the mid-size CNC centerless grinder of the FCL alloy bearing spindle series. It covers Ø1 to Ø60 mm as standard and Ø40 to Ø150 mm with a special arrangement, using a Ø455 mm grinding wheel 205 mm wide.

Compared with the small FCL-12, everything roughly doubles. Against the FCL-12 the grinding wheel motor is 15 HP (11 kW) instead of 7.5 HP, the regulating wheel servo 3 kW (4.0 hp) instead of 1.5 kW, and the coolant tank 170 L (44.9 gal) instead of 100 L. Machine weight is 2,900 kg (6,393 lb), where the FCL-12 weighs 1,700 kg. Peripheral speed is the same conventional 33 m/s (6,496 ft/min).

The regulating wheel is Ø255 mm by 205 mm and runs from 10 to 300 rpm. It tilts +5° to -3° and swivels ±5°. For through-feed work the 205 mm width gives a useful grinding zone for bar and pins; for infeed, parts up to about that length can be plunge ground on the infeed rest that comes with the machine.

Palmary's video for this model shows screws for the aerospace industry being ground. On the page itself the stated strengths are structural: Meehanite cast iron, an alloy steel feed screw that is hardened and ground, automatic lubrication of the grinding wheel spindle and centralised slideway lubrication. The controller is FANUC. A wider-wheel sister model, the FCL-1810, uses 255 mm wheels on the same motors.