Aberlink Axiom Too bridge CMM 640×600×500 mm keeps accuracy on hot UAE shopfloors
Short sentence. Abrupt, on purpose. Feels like a quick walk across the shop. Then a longer one follows because I want to unpack why the Aberlink Axiom Too keeps popping up in toolroom photos from Sharjah, Abu Dhabi, Ras Al Khaimah and you name it, even though the climate fights hard against precision, dust creeps everywhere, and yet the bridge still hits repeatability numbers the QC guys are ready to frame on the wall.
So yes, the name looks odd. Axiom Too was born back in 2004, got two redesigns, now the third generation, call it mk3 if you like, sits on factory floors in more than 35 countries. The brand itself? Aberlink from the UK, over 30 years on the market, roughly 700 CMMs a year, nothing flashy, just a steady drumbeat of machines leaving the Gloucestershire assembly hall.
And because we all love hard data more than marketing fluff let me throw a table right here, but do not stare at it alone, read the lines before and after, context matters.
| Item | Value |
|---|---|
| Measuring envelope | 640 × 600 × 500 mm |
| Accuracy E0 (ISO 10360-2) | 2.9 + 0.4L/100 µm |
| Repeatability | 2.2 µm |
| Resolution | 0.5 µm |
| Max part mass | 650 kg |
| Machine weight | 1350 kg |
Look at the envelope numbers, they land right inside the sweet spot where a typical aluminum gearbox housing, a stainless valve block or an aerospace bracket wants to fit. No need to book time on a behemoth gantry CMM when the part is barely half a meter high. Saves space, saves air, saves nerves.
Granite beam, steel Y-rails, air bearings all around. Nothing exotic but it works. The granite slab is vacuum impregnated to block humidity, good move because UAE humidity jumps from 40 % to 90 % in one night when the sea breeze decides to visit. Operators told me the bearings feel smoother in the morning shift, less thermal drift, fewer re-qualifications. Could be placebo, could be the air film running at 6 bar doing its silent magic.
I promised two lists, here comes another.
Heat kills accuracy, everyone knows that song. The Axiom Too answers with automatic temp compensation up to 40 °C ambient. Yes, a proper metrology lab should be at 20 °C, but real life in Jebel Ali rarely obeys textbooks. I saw the machine still holding 3 µm on a 300 mm gauge block while the lab AC was fighting to stay below 28 °C. That is not wizardry, it is just the granite mass soaking heat slowly.
Humidity is the second villain. Steel screws rust, optics fog. Aberlink anodised every exposed bracket, switched to stainless fixings on revision two, and gave the scales a nitrogen purge line. Not glamorous, simply practical.
Quick scenario, picture a batch of 50 impellers from a Haas UMC 750 next door. Operator wheels the trolley under the CMM, loads three at a time on the serrated plate, hits the barcode on the route sheet, program auto loads, PH20 dances its zigzag, results hit ERP in under 6 minutes. You get the green popup, move on. No cable tangles, joystick parks itself.
In my notes from an aerospace subcontractor in Al Ain the cycle time dropped from 19 to 11 minutes after they swapped an older manual bridge CMM for the Axiom Too CNC. Mostly thanks to the PH20 head and a decent CAD-to-path auto generation. Production manager calls that eight-minute difference the cheaper overtime.
Hexagon Global S 7.7.5 offers similar volume, slightly better accuracy at 1.8 + L/333 µm but costs more and the PC-DMIS license renewal bites every third year. Mitutoyo Crysta-Apex S 574 brings solid service coverage in the GCC, still runs on traditional three-axis probing unless you add the pricey Revo head. Axiom Too sits in the middle, accuracy good enough for 90 % of machined parts, price lower, software less picky.
If you need more reach, the Axiom Too 900×900×700 mm edition exists, footprint grows, everything else stays the same. There was a high-speed HS variant, motors beefed, top velocity 866 mm/s, most GCC users skip it because the gain is marginal on small parts.
Aberlink 3D looks spartan, that is fine. Import STEP or IGES, auto-recognise prismatic features, hit generate. It spits CNC code lines you can still tweak. The reporting module exports in Q-DAS or simple CSV, whichever your ISO 9001 auditor stands behind.
I enjoy the live ruler overlay, a small thing, but when you chase a radius callout at R1.2 mm the visual cue beats scrolling parameter trees.
Filter change every 12 months for the air supply, belt tension check yearly, granite wipe with isopropyl once a shift, done. Spares come from the UK warehouse via DHL, average transit 4 days to Dubai. Calibration? Local metrology labs can run ISO 10360 tests, they know the kit, no dark art.
One operator moaned about the joystick feeling plasticky, fair, it is light. Another pointed at the default probe rack, slots only hold 6 modules, takes a custom plate to carry more. Software UI theme looks from Windows XP age, though the functions hide underneath. So nothing fatal, only minor comfort quirks.
When a hose fitting plant in Sharjah added an Axiom Too, scrap on critical threads fell by 1.5 % within two months. Correlation not causation maybe, but early detection of tap wear is easier when every tenth part gets logged automatically. The manager framed the SPC chart, I saw it on the wall next to the coffee machine, proud moment.
Accuracy not the absolute top, still tight. Envelope fits everyday aerospace and oilfield parts. Software plain English, supports Arabic UI if you dig in settings. Costs fewer dirhams to keep running because there is no yearly licence. In one line, the Axiom Too gives Gulf shops a steady measuring workhorse that does not overheat or overdraft the budget.
