As far as cutting tool manufacturers are considered, Lanarkshire-based Gilmour Tools has carved a niche in the local and export industry by manufacturing and supplying specialised cutters for the oil and gas, automotive, and aerospace sectors.

Producing indexable inserts and rotary tools from materials such as carbide, ceramic, PCD, PCBN and CBN, the Larkhall company also manufactures tool holders in-house.
Manufacturing bespoke solutions as opposed to ‘off-the-shelf’ product lines is how this Scottish manufacturer competes with the larger ‘economy-of-scale’ cutting tool OEMs. With all products designed to customer specifications, Gilmour Tools has an output in the region of 250,000 tools per annum, with upwards of 70% being exported. To keep pace with demand, the company has invested heavily in the latest EDM technology from Fanuc.
Commenting upon this relationship, Gary Gilmour says: “We started buying Fanuc machine tools over 20 years ago to replace creep-feed grinders, and we currently have a total of 11 Fanuc models on site. The latest arrival is the next-generation RoboCut C400-iB wire EDM machine. All of our Fanuc models run around the clock, seven days a week. The Fanuc service is second to none and the CNC is an easy-to-use universal system. This means that our staff can easily transition from one machine to the next, regardless of model or age.”
Referring to why the company has recently acquired the RoboCut C400-iB, Gilmour says: “The oil and gas market has grown dramatically, which is mostly overseas, so we knew we had to buy more machines and employ more people. Since our journey started with Fanuc, they have always been very helpful with regards to support, financing and payment plans.”
For further information www.fanuc.eu