New Milling Machine for the Department of Materials
A high-end milling machine goes into operation on Tuesday 18th, 2019 — for the benefit of the Department and of ETH as a whole.
First-class laboratory experiments depend on three key factors: a groundbreaking idea, excellent scientific implementation in the lab and a functioning infrastructure. The latter depends on constructive cooperation with the administration and the workshops — and in order for a workshop to function well it must be just as well equipped as the scientific laboratories.
The central workshop of the Department of Materials Science, headed for 11 years by Martin Elsener, has now taken a fundamental step in precisely this direction. In a competitive process, ETH-internal funds were raised for a new milling machine of the highest quality among the five-axis milling machines. As Martin Elsener explains, this machine is built from materials with particularly favourable thermal and mechanical properties. Due to its symmetrical design and the external placement of any heat-generating components, the thermal stability of the milling machine is further increased, exceeding the value achieved with milling machines with a simpler design by a factor of ten.
In March of this year (2019), the time had come: the new milling machine was delivered, which took the considerable effort of four trucks, one trailer and two forklifts. Two technicians from the manufacturer as well as a team of three specialists were present for the installation. This effort was justified. The machine with a weight of 9700 kg, a width of 2.37 m and a hight of 2.82 m had to be moved with millimetre precision so that it could be inserted into the existing workshop environment. In a joint effort, this was achieved in the surprisingly short time of five hours.
Immediately after the installation, the commissioning began. Computer control of the machine functions was prepared. All components of the machine were digitally registered in order to make full use of their capabilities. A training course teaching all the complex programming steps followed. On Tuesday 18th, 2019 the milling machine goes into regular operation, which is honoured with a ceremonial inauguration. Martin Elsener is looking forward to exploiting all the new possibilities offered by the new milling machine, true to the words of Jean Anouilh: "Things are never the way they are. They are always what they are made to be".
The Department of Materials Science is not the only one to be pleased with the new milling machine. With its unique equipment, it is also available to other ETH users via the newly established ETH Workshop Platform, which unites the immense expertise present in all the mechanical workshops at ETH under one organizational roof. With its new milling machine, the workshop of the Department of Materials will make a significant contribution to this platform. It is planned that in the future about 20% of the orders processed on the machine will be submitted via the ETH Workshop Platform.