The Kern Micro HD - An update from the NH workshop

For those that have been following along with our Manufactured in Australia journey, about 14 months ago we placed an order for the most precise 5 axis milling machine on earth - the Kern Micro HD. Now we are home to the most accurate milling machine in Australia, again.

This machine would give us a capability boost - with it, we will be able to bring the manufacturing of our cases in-house! Our current milling machine - the Kern Pyramid Nano - was able to prototype cases quite well, although serial production of those parts would be a challenge with that machine. On top of cases, the new machine is still able to manufacture many of the internal/movement components of our watches.

Undoubtedly, cases do not need to be the most precisely made parts of the watch, so why purchase one of the most precise milling machines available? Well, during the last four years we have been approached by many parallel precision industries; including but not limited to the medical, space, optics, and high end science/research fields to name a few, to manufacture parts for them. About 1 year ago, the work we were receiving from these external industries grew to a point where we had to formalise a distinct business arm to cater specifically to "contract manufacturing". The skills we have in manufacturing watches, and making complex, tightly toleranced parts filled a gap in the market. Very few people in Australia manufacture things precisely. Undoubtedly within these industries, there is a need for things to be made precisely.

All this ultimately led to the establishment of "NH Micro" (https://www.nhmicro.com/) with the mission statement - "Ultra precision manufacturing in Sydney, Australia"

The start of our year revolved around preparations for this new machine from Kern Microtechnik. We had to renovate our electrical, compressed air, and air conditioning systems, as well as completely change the layout of the factory! We also had to do some major structural reconfiguration of our factory. Cutting open our mezzanine and strengthening the second floor. Many of the displaced machines and equipment would need to be moved upstairs. Thank you Peter!

The first quarter of this year involved a period of constant moving, packing, shifting and reshuffling. The new Kern has a fairly large foot print (about 1.7m wide and 3m long) and weighs around 6 tonnes. Shifting it into place is a one-time project that requires precision and planning, albeit on a very different scale than we are used to!

By mid March, our new machine arrived in Brookvale. This marked the beginning of the last chapter of a 14 month long project. 9 months of building this special machine, and then a long journey across the world.... From "Upper Bavaria" to Bremerhaven, through the English Channel, down to Durban, then across to Perth (where port congestion delayed the vessel which had so far been spot on time, by 10 days), past Melbourne and finally into Port Kembla. From Port Kembla the ship was unloaded, and the individual crates were trucked up to Brookvale.

The "install day" started at 0400, when we began taking machines out of our factory into the common area, preparing the final route for the new machine to enter, and waiting for the low-loader truck, the forklift, and the "riggers" - specialised tradesmen who are experts in moving and managing heavy loads.
By 0700 everything was in place - just waiting on the crates to arrive!

0700 to 1700 was a blur. Forklifts moving precious cargo, old machines being skated out of the way, new machines being unboxed, and the wooden crates being disposed of. At one point it also started to rain, which caused a mad rush to protect all the machines that were still sitting outside... but finally by some time around 6pm, the new machine was in place and ready to be properly installed.

Our Kern install technician - Jonas - flown in from Germany, would for the next two weeks complete the install, calibration, and commissioning of the Micro HD. After the commissioning, Andrew, James, and I, had a week of training and applications support on the machine. This involved learning how to do basic maintenance (as well as some higher level stuff because we are so far away) and programming. Most importantly, Jonas shared some tips, tricks, and general advice on how to chase the micron from his years of experience - he actually did his apprenticeship at Kern!
We all knew the capabilities of the machine on paper, but seeing it hit and surpass those specs in our workshop, was truly mind blowing. The mis-alignment of the spindle to the rotating c-axis was measured to be 0.08 micron (yes you read that right) over 1 metre. To put that into perspective, that is 80 micron (a human hair) over 1 kilometre. Just one of the many points of alignment and positional accuracy.