Gound broken at Space Park Leicester
Leicester has taken its first steps into the future of the space industry as work began at the £100m Space Park Leicester with a ground-breaking ceremony attended by the Rt Hon Chris Skidmore MP.
Opening in 2021, Space Park Leicester will create a regional cluster in the UK, integrating industry with academia. This landmark initiative is being developed by the University of Leicester in collaboration with partners including Leicester City Council and the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP).
The LLEP has allocated £8.175m from its Local Growth Fund to support the development of phase one at Space Park Leicester – part of the Loughborough and Leicester Science and Innovation Enterprise Zone. Planning permission for the second phase of the development was granted in January, and will focus on research into AI and robot-assisted satellite production.
For further information https://le.ac.uk/spacepark
Mitutoyo UK is 40
Mitutoyo’s UK subsidiary, which is located in Andover, has reached its 40th anniversary.
Back in 1980, the company began by concentrating on hand tools such as micrometers and calipers, but also ventured into the CMM marketplace. In due course, strategically placed showrooms at Warwick, Halifax and East Kilbride were established. A major change in recent years was the relocation of the Warwick operation to Coventry. Mitutoyo sees the future as exciting, with the launch of products including the MiStar shop-floor CMM, the Formtracer Avant and the Crysta‑Apex V series of CNC CMMs for smart factories.
For further information www.mitutoyo.co.uk
Guaranteed injection moulding tolerances
A specialist in the manufacture of custom prototypes and low-volume production parts is helping to make life easier for design engineers by guaranteeing specific dimensional tolerances for each type of plastic injection moulding resin.
After extensive testing at its Telford facility, Protolabs is offering customers a machining tolerance of ±0.08 mm with a resin tolerance of between 0.002 and 0.010 mm/mm, depending on the material. The tolerance guarantee applies to all 50 of its stocked resins, although the company can advise on the accuracy of the other 1500 that are available to customers across the world.
For further information www.protolabs.co.uk
Milling cutter range expanded
The milling assortment for mould and die, as well as general machining applications, has been expanded by Dormer Pramet with several introductions.
Included in the expanded offer is the newly developed double-sided SNGX11 insert for high-feed milling with up to 1.7 mm depth of cut. A strong main cutting edge ensures high levels of durability and process security, especially when machining corners inside a pocket. With eight cutting edges, the square-shaped SNGX11 also represents an economical solution.
Designed for copy milling, helical interpolation, ramping, progressive plunging and face milling, the SNGX11 is available in two geometries. M is for machining steel, but also hardened steel and cast iron, while MM provides a smoother cut and is more suitable for stainless steel, soft steel and super alloys.
Dormer Pramet’s range is supplemented by the latest SSN11 cutter, which is available in diameters from 32 to 125 mm, with intermediate sizes for mould and die applications. All cutters feature a special through-coolant design to further improve process security, as well as a high overhang to support deep milling up to 10xD.
The company has also added to its ADMX07 milling programme with a newly introduced F geometry for finishing and semi-finishing applications. F geometry sits alongside the existing M, FA and HF geometries, and targets the light machining of stainless steel and low-carbon steels.
Aimed at vibration-sensitive machining, the chip breaker features a highly positive geometry with narrow peripheral land. This design reduces chatter and enables a smooth cutting action without burrs on the machined wall. Significantly, it also supports lower cutting forces, which not only reduce energy consumption, but prevent work hardening.
For further information www.dormerpramet.com
