Pivoting production at Unicut Precision

Unicut Precision, a subcontractor based in Welwyn Garden City, has now repurposed 75% of its capacity to the manufacture of medical components for the Government’s Ventilator Challenge UK.

The company operates 22 Cincom sliding-head lathes and eight Miyano fixed-head turning centres from one supplier, Citizen Machinery UK. The workload has now reached 780,000 components across 31 varieties, which Unicut is currently producing 24/7. More than 80% of this work is being produced on the Citizen-supplied machines. Social distancing on the shop floor and in the offices is said to be working well.
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

Driven-tool turning centres

A new range of CNC turning centres with live tooling in the turret has been introduced by Hurco. The three models – TM8Mi XP, TM10Mi XP and TM12Mi XP – cover the 8-, 10- and 12-inch chuck sizes required by most manufacturers.

Hurco previously sold a range of driven-tool lathe models designated TMM, but their performance was limited as they were not controlled by the proprietary Max5 control that has proved so popular on the company’s machining centres due to features such as concurrent programming and recovery restart.
The new lathe control system, an in-house development by Hurco’s software engineers, was first introduced on the XP-series of two-axis lathes in early 2018. This all-digital control platform was delivered alongside improvements to the design of the machine, including a smaller footprint, roller guideways in the linear axes, a larger spindle bore and enhanced rigid tapping.
A primary reason for developing the TM Mi XP range, in addition to adding the superior features of the Max5 control, was to ensure that driven-tool milling is smooth and accurate. The machines include a servo-controlled C axis and the capability to deploy driven tools at all turret positions, allowing milling and off-centre drilling to be performed in addition to normal turning operations.
Two machines are currently in the UK, a demonstration model at Hurco in High Wycombe and another on trial at a customer’s factory. The first machines available for sale will arrive later this month. These models will be the new 8-inch chuck version which, compared with the former TMM lathes, offer higher spindle power at 22.6 kW, a spindle bore increased from 62 to 79 mm, a draw tube diameter of 64.5 mm (up from 52 mm), and faster rapids at 30 m/min (previously 24 m/min).
For further information www.hurco.co.uk

Corbetts wins NHS and utility contracts

Maintaining supply to critical utilities customers and helping protect vital IT cabling for the NHS has kept the UK’s oldest hot-dip galvaniser open for business during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Corbetts the Galvanizer has used its 160 years of experience to pivot some of its operations to provide galvanising services for covers at sewage treatment plants, and for cable trays and ladder racking used at the NHS Nightingale Hospitals in Birmingham and Manchester.
The company, which has kept more than 50% of its workforce operational, is now planning to ramp up volumes in line with government guidance on social distancing. This move will allow Corbetts to increase activity within its other customer markets, which include leisure, automotive and trailer manufacturing.
For further information https://wcorbett.co.uk

Magnetic filter boosts lathe tool life

Sheffield-based Gripple has enjoyed a 50% increase in tool life and 44% reduction in downtime on its Star sliding-head CNC lathe by installing a MicroMag magnetic filter from Eclipse Magnetics.

In order to satisfy its environmental commitments, Gripple was keen to maximise efficiency and reduce waste on the lathe, which included exploring ways to prolong coolant life and enable the coolant flow system to work as efficiently as possible.
Since installing the MicroMag, the build-up of swarf material in the bottom tank of the Star machine has been significantly reduced, while the coolant flow system is working more efficiently due to the reduction in swarf circulating in the coolant. In contrast, before the addition of the MicroMag, the bottom tank of the CNC lathe needed to be cleaned approximately every month. There has been such a significant reduction in swarf collecting in the tank that it now only needs cleaning every 50 days. As a result, Gripple can reduce the frequency of cleaning from 12 times per year to just over seven. In addition, the bottom tank previously took approximately 45 minutes to clean, but has since reduced to just 25 minutes.
The tool change data is also impressive since the installation of the MicroMag. For example, on some tool locations, the number of EN1A (leaded) steel components produced has increased by 50% before the tool requires replacement; from 10,000 to 15,000 parts.
Gripple employee Jake Slaughter says: “The MicroMag is a great addition to the lathe and really improves the way it runs. In the long term, I estimate that the company will be able to produce a lot more components with MicroMag units installed on all of the machines.”
For further information www.eclipsemagnetics.com

Lathes breathe life into ventilator challenge

With the ramp-up of the Ventilator Challenge UK project to battle the COVID-19 pandemic, Dugard has witnessed an unprecedented surge in enquiries and sales relating to its Hanwha range of sliding-head turning centres.

As manufacturers up and down the UK switch production output to machining small turned components for ventilators, the attributes of the Hanwha range are coming to the fore. The Hanwha XE is the latest generation series, and enjoying particular success during the COVID-19 pandemic is the Hanwha XE35.
This compact heavy-duty machine is the largest in the XE series, with the facility to turn bars up to 35 mm diameter. The rigid 2750 kg XE35 is designed to machine hard materials and undertake high-volume material removal, as demonstrated by the vibration-dampening heavy cast construction, and strong, rigid tool post.
From a technical perspective, the Hanwha XE35 has a 2.2/5 kW main spindle motor and a 1.5/2.2 kW sub-spindle motor, both achieving a maximum spindle speed of 6500 rpm. The high-torque spindle motors are matched by Hanwha software, FANUC-0i CNC and gear-type modular live tooling configuration.
The tooling offers 18 positions that provide simultaneous front and rear spindle machining through a platen of five fixed tools and four driven tools in the X1 axis, with another four driven tools on the Z2-axis plane and one on the Z1 axis, accompanied by an additional four tool stations for the boring, drilling and machining of other internal features. All live tooling positions offer a high spindle speed of 6000 rpm with a 1 kW spindle motor.
The travel range of the Hanwha XE35 is generous with 210 mm in the Z1 axis, 62 mm in X1, 340 mm in Y1, 205 mm in Z2, and 312 mm in X2.
For further information www.dugard.com