Five-axis mill-turn capacity extended

Part of the British Engines Group based in the north of England, BEL Engineering operates two factories at Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Cramlington to provide project-managed manufacturing solutions, some of which involve the heavy-duty subcontract machining of large workpieces weighing up to 40 tonnes.

Much of the metal-cutting activity involves turning on horizontal- and vertical-spindle lathes, but parts often have to be transferred to a prismatic machining platform for milled and drilled features. Around 30 three-axis CNC mills are available at BEL for this purpose. However, for such parts to be produced more economically in one clamping, the subcontractor recently invested in a Hermle C62 UMT five-axis, vertical-spindle machining centre supplied by Kingsbury.

Having a nominal 1 cubic metre working envelope, the machine was duly installed at the Newcastle factory. It was BEL Engineering’s second venture into this technology; an Italian-built, five-axis mill-turn centre with travels in excess of 2 m in X, Y and Z having been installed a few years earlier. There is also a pair of Japanese-built five-axis CNC milling centres on site, one with a 10-pallet storage system.

The Hermle fits neatly between these larger and smaller five-axis models, extending the subcontractor’s capacity. In particular, following the company’s accreditation in October 2019 to AS9100, the machine is proving to be of ideal size to produce aero-engine parts for a nearby customer.

Bel Engineering’s chief production engineer Phil Westgarth says: “We mainly process tough materials, from high-strength steels through titanium, to nickel superalloys like Hastelloy, Waspaloy and Inconel. So we need powerful, rigid machine tools. A pair of similar Hermle mill-turn centres is being used successfully at another of our group companies, Michell Bearings, so this influenced our choice of the German machine.”

For further information www.kingsburyuk.com

Robotics consultation service launched

TM Robotics has launched a new robotics consultation service to advise metalworking manufacturers on how automation can aid recovery and growth.

The free consultations will be held virtually using a video conferencing service and hosted by one of the company’s robotic automation experts. Alternatively, consultations can be arranged by appointment.

Nigel Smith, president and CEO at TM Robotics, says “Our global distributor network spans six continents and, within it, we boast unrivalled expertise in industrial robot installations. The launch of the robotics consultation service will provide manufacturers in the metalworking sector with practical advice on which automation tools can prove most effective for them, based on an assessment of their specific situation.”

For further information www.tmrobotics.com

Embracing change at BSA Regal

There is a transformation taking place at Southampton-based precision subcontract specialist BSA Regal Engineering Ltd.

This root and branch shift is a radical repositioning of the company focused on improvement and growth, and concerned with strengthening and elevating BSA Regal Engineering’s position within its existing supply chains, and on winning new high-value business in different industries.

Part of this transformation embraces recent investment in two new MACH 1062-HD vertical machining centres from MACH Machine Tools, part of the Vigilance Group. The machines, both MACH 1062-HD models (1020 x 625 x 610 mm in the X, Y and Z axis respectively) are now installed at the company’s 12,000 sq ft facility, where they are being put through their paces machining a range of high-precision components from a diverse range of materials that includes aluminium, stainless steel, tool steel, plastic, titanium and nickel alloy.

MACH 1062-HD machining centres are high-performance machines and have replaced three of the company’s older machines, which were used in part exchange to help fund the new investment.

Explains Martin Clayton, workshop supervisor at BSA Regal Engineering: “To achieve our growth objectives and make us more productive and competitive, we need access to high-performance CNC machine tools that deliver the accuracy, speed and process reliability we expect – and that our customers demand. When MACH made us aware of the performance and competitive price of the 1062-HD machines, we sat up and took notice.
“We’re delighted with the performance of our MACH 1062-HD machines,” he adds. “They are making us more productive, efficient and competitive. Features like their 24-position ATCs, their good ergonomic design and easy workpiece accessibility have already made them firm favourites with machine shop staff.”
For further information www.machmt.co.uk

Record production month at Corbetts

One of the UK’s oldest hot-dip galvanisers has recorded its highest-ever volume from a single facility in July, with over £1m of new customer orders secured since returning from lockdown.

Corbetts the Galvanizers, which celebrates 160 years of trading in 2020, has seen a 48% rise in volume from the fencing sector, with ‘wins’ also achieved in utilities, infrastructure and transport. The company is processing all of this demand in just one plant after taking the decision to temporarily close its other facility until early 2021.

In June, the Telford-based company announced 17% more output than its average performance and this rose a further 7% in July, driven mainly by investment in operational efficiencies and a bespoke loading system. “We are bouncing back from what has been a very difficult period of volatile sales due to the impact of COVID-19,” explains Sophie Williams, finance director and general manager. “Now, however, we have average output at an all-time high and some excellent new customer wins that will generate about £1m of additional revenue.”

For further information www.wcorbett.co.uk

Special VMC performs deep-hole drilling

For over 30 years, Taunton-based Pattern Forme Ltd has been at the forefront of thermoforming mould tool design and manufacture, mainly in the food industry. The company can take projects from initial concept to finished mould tool in lead times as short as 2-3 weeks.

Recent demand has been for larger mould tools to increase productivity, which has led to a need to drill deeper holes. Typically, these holes would range in size between 6 and 10 mm diameter, with depths up to 1000 mm. The traditional solution would be to purchase a dedicated deep-hole drilling machine or subcontract the work. However, the former would require significant investment, whereas the latter brings logistical problems and a lack of control over production. XYZ Machine Tools was able to propose and deliver a quicker and more cost-effective solution.

“It was a chance conversation with XYZ Machine Tools, who have supplied us with several machines, where I mentioned that we needed this extra capacity,” explains Paul Wilkins, managing director at Pattern Forme. “They immediately suggested modifying one of their XYZ 1000 LR vertical machining centres to give the extra Z-axis capability we required. The simple and cost-effective solution was to add a 1050 mm riser block to the machine, which would allow us to drill these holes from either end using the 500 mm Z axis.”

By reconfiguring the machine, XYZ Machine Tools was able to increase the minimum distance from spindle nose to table by 1050 mm. Including the standard Z-axis stroke, this made the maximum distance 1550 mm, which is more than enough to accommodate Pattern Forme’s components. The order for the machine was placed in November 2019 and delivery took place in April 2020.

For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com