Enclosed Cut-Off System

Posted by Lori on Tuesday, March 11th, 2014 in News, Safety, Monthly

A Cut-Off System centered around Ease of Use, Safety, and Precision

Horizontal-Air-Float-Table-Cut-Off--Fox-4-800x800Fox® grinders and cut-off equipment have proven reliability, and offer the most productive casting finishing equipment available for the rugged, dirty foundry environment. Designed for maximum up time with the highest quality components, Fox® equipment has innovative designs that are assembled and arranged for easy service.

The Fox® Air Float Cut-Off with Horizontal Traveling Axis is a specially designed cut-off system that provides control of the saw from an Operators Control Station located outside of the machine enclosure for added safety.

This model provides vertical and horizontal saw travel, allowing the operator to move the saw up & down, forward & backward, all powered by hydraulics. The Cut-Off saw incorporates a hydraulic down-pressure system to efficiently cut risers and/or gates from a variety of castings. Hydraulic down force provides for quicker, cooler cuts with less blade wear.

The Fox® Air Float Cut-Off machine is ideal for gate, runner and riser removal on small to medium size castings, or removing castings from trees. The Air Float System incorporates a casting gondola, Blanchard ground table, and pneumatic/vacuum system that allow the operator to effortlessly “float” the work into cutting position. With quick and easy fixture change over, the Air Float system excels at cutting castings produced in small to medium runs.

Horizontal-Air-Float-Table-Cut-Off--Fox-3-800x800Along with fast positioning of parts, the Air Float System incorporates a vacuum hold-down feature on the casting gondola. A foot operated electric control pedal activates floatation, keeping hands free for gondola movement. Once the foot pedal is released, the vacuum system secures the gondola to the table during cutting. An alignment laser is used to provide quick, precise alignment of the cut path. The gondola can be repositioned after each cut or left in position with the vacuum system holding it in place for processing higher quantities of the same part number.

Safety features of the Fox® Air Float Cut-Off with Horizontal Traveling Axis include machine enclosure, rotating wheel guard, and touch sensors to name a few. The front door of the enclosure is supported on overhead rails, and is manually slid open and shut. This Lexan door, with an easily replaceable Plexiglas splatter shield, incorporates a proximity switch so that the door must be fully closed before the operator can control the Cut-Off Wheel. There are touch sensors located on either side of the door’s rails. To activate the optional fixture Clamping System, the operator must place both hands on these sensors which help to ensure hands and arms are out of the way.

The rotating wheel guard covers the wheel at all times, except when the operator is standing on the safety mat at the Operator’s Control Station. Once the operator stands on the safety mat, this activates the wheel cover to open. Anytime the operator steps off of the mat, the wheel cover will automatically rotate closed. This feature allows the operator to move, realign, or change parts inside the enclosure without stopping the saw.