Terry Benfield, owner of TPB Precision Engineering in Abingdon, has more than 25 years’ experience working in subcontract machining for a broad range of customers in sectors such as medical, scientific and motorsport. Once an applications engineer at Hurco, he chose two of the company’s machines, a TM8i lathe and a VM20i three-axis machining centre, when he started his own company in 2018.

Thanks to a recent redesign, the TM8Mi turning centre now encompasses functions that are widely appreciated on the company’s proprietary WinMax conversational CNC software driving Hurco’s machining centres. Concurrent programming, error checking and estimated run time now feature, while processing speeds are faster and the graphics enhanced.

“The programming of milling operations on the lathe is the same as rotary programming for the mill,” says Benfield. “Due to space being limited within our workshop, we use a bar puller rather than a bar-feed. It’s perfect for us because a lot of our batches are quite small, often in the order of 50-off or less.”

For a business such as TPB, continuous, consistent accuracy of machining to within microns is essential. The TM8Mi processes tough materials such as D2 tool steel without difficulty or vibration, and Benfield describes the surface finish achieved as “always excellent”.
He adds that owning the new TM8Mi is like having two machines. The ability to carry out off-centre drilling and milling operations on a shaft mean that complete components can often be finished in one hit, allowing him to offer more competitive prices.

For further information
www.hurco.co.uk

EMAG has developed a compact manufacturing solution based on its VL8 vertical turning lathes that expedites the machining of large brake drums for a leading manufacturer in the commercial vehicle segment.

The vertical structure of EMAG pick-up machines is among the factors that helped to compress the entire machining process into just three operations. EMAG provides all components of the solution, including the machines, robotic handling, peripherals, clamping devices and tools. The customer therefore receives a co-ordinated system, designed for maximum productivity. EMAG also takes care of service and maintenance.

In terms of the process, raw parts arrive on pallets, from where the robotic rail automation system takes over all component handling tasks. In Op 10, which takes place on two machines due to the cycle time, all turning work on the first side of the brake drum is performed, both inside and outside. The part is turned over between Op 10 and Op 20, allowing the bolt ring on the brake drum to be machined, including drilling the holes for the bolts. This is possible via a turret on which driven tools can be used. Op 30 follows with the final balancing work, which is also performed on a system developed by EMAG.

The flexible system is capable of adding another station, such as a measuring station, before the finished part is stacked on its pallet. Also, the VL8 machines from EMAG can be optionally equipped with measuring probes that can carry out pre- and post-process measurements.
EMAG’s VL8 offers a chuck diameter of 500 mm, while the pick-up spindle picks up workpieces with diameters as large as 400 mm.

For further information
www.emag.com

To upgrade its plant and instigate 24-hour production later this year, High Wycombe-based subcontract machining firm EV Engineering has bought four Japanese-built Okuma turn-mill centres from sole UK agent NCMT. Founded in 2001 by David White, the subcontractor specialises in producing complex prismatic components in exotic materials for the oil, gas and energy sector, which accounts for around three-quarters of the firm’s turnover.

It was at EMO 2005 – where Okuma launched its first Multus turn-mill machine with a B-axis spindle – that EV Engineering became interested in the Okuma range of machinery. The five-axis Multus features collision avoidance in real-time, both in-cycle and in-manual mode, preventing collisions and minimising unscheduled downtime. It was the latest version of this Multus machine, with a sub-spindle and steady rest, which arrived on the shop floor in 2018.

“It’s an extremely rigid, slant-bed lathe on which we carry out a lot of machining, including deep-hole drilling in titanium and Inconel,” says White. “We don’t consider it feasible to leave it producing high-value parts unattended, so we don’t intend to add automation on this machine. The same currently goes for the Okuma Genos L3000 that we bought the same year, as it’s a two-axis lathe with live tooling dedicated to producing smaller parts in lower volumes.”

He adds: “It is our intention, however, to retrofit a robot to the Multus U3000-2SW multi-tasking B-axis lathe with automatic tool changer, lower turret and sub-spindle that we installed in December 2019, to give us the benefit of lights-out running.”

An Okuma Space Turn LB3000-MY lathe with live Y-axis turret is currently on order and will be fitted with a Belgian-manufactured RoboJob Turn-Assist.

For further information
www.ncmt.co.uk