GMM ZEDA CNC Working Center: A unique equipment for realizing a unique idea

Gmm S.p.A. in cooperation with OMG Srl Marble – Granite created the work ACUS design by Arch. Raffaello Galiotto. An ACUS armor featuring sharp angled elements whose implementation was made possible by using a diamond blade on a five-axis CNC saw and following precise paths in 3d. The great delicacy of the points is preserved by the accuracy of the machine blade which as well as cutting was required to smooth the surfaces without additonal finishing being required. The work has been carried out completely using only damond blades and was followed and edited by technical staff of Gmm. The machine used was a 5 axes GMM ZEDA CNC and the entire process has been implemented securing the completion of the cusps and accuracy of the tips perfectly. Made from a block of Palissandro Oniciato, a material that is unique in the world, with an initial weight of about 40 tons and a final one of 24 tons , The Acus has been processed the in only 100 hours ,using two types of blades – a normal one for the initial ‘blanking out’ of the outline and then one with special diamond ‘spokes’ integrated into the blades body in order to acheive a honed effect finish during the processing. The material was able to absorb the stresses maintaining excellent finish quality even to a tapering thickness only fractionally different to the degree of inclination. With a useful cut of 195 mm, cuts were made up to 193mm using 5-axis interpolated machining processed pushing to physical limit the possibility of cutting. The precise toolpaths have been obtained using AlphaCam, a 5 axis interpolated CAD-CAM package, which made possible the movement with angles of rotation axis C from -30 to + 45 ° and inclined axis from +75 to -12 ° .