Soon after taking delivery of a Harrison Alpha 1550XS CNC lathe from 600 UK, Blackburn-based subcontractor Fairbrother and Grimshaw witnessed an upturn in orders, utilising the versatility of the Alpha lathes for taking on larger capacity turn-mill jobs.

Neil Grimshaw, company director, says: “We are firm believers of pushing what we do with current technology and standing still is not an option. The Alpha manual/CNC lathe is ideal in that sense as it’s an easy switch from turning manually to using the Alpha with the minimum of training.
“We already have some Colchester manual turning machines and a range of VMCs and CNC turning centres from many suppliers, but large-capacity turning applications were difficult for us to manage,” he continues. “The Alpha XS has helped us raise the bar and added a different dimension to our turning capability. This, in turn, has already helped spread our reputation and we are taking on more work because of it.”
The 2 m between-centres Alpha 1550XS has a swing-over-bed of 554 mm and a 104 mm spindle bore. A large 15 kW motor means that spindle speeds can reach up to 2000 rpm.
“When we purchased the Alpha, we also made use of its range of accessories, including steadies, morse tapers and four-jaw chucks, to give us the maximum flexibility,” says Grimshaw. “We did consider other lathes, but once we saw the Alpha, there was never any doubt in our minds as no other competing product could match the combination of flexibility, accuracy and value for money.”
For further information www.600uk.com

The decision to invest in machining capacity by Rugby-based SiFab Engineering Solutions was driven by a desire to be able to control deliveries to customers, as well as manufacturing costs. However, with no formal machining training, and limited floor space, company director Simon Hall had to choose his machine tools wisely.

Hall turned to friend and business acquaintance Phil Boffin of BMS Engineering, who had gone down the same route in starting his own business, for advice. “I had used Phil for some tube work for roll cages, so knew he had invested in XYZ machines. On his advice I went along to an XYZ open day at Nuneaton with the intention of looking at a lathe. After having a ‘play’ on a couple of machines, I placed an order there and then for an XYZ SLX 1630 ProTurn lathe and an XYZ 2-OP machining centre.”
The two machines were delivered to SiFab at the end of November 2017 and, once installed, Hall went for his free training on a Friday. Come Monday morning he was producing and shipping his first parts. The conversational aspect of the ProtoTrak control on both machines made generating the first parts easy.
“I produce lots of one-off and prototype parts, and while I am confident that the first-off will be right using the Traking facility on the SLX lathe, it is also straightforward to make amendments when the customer changes things,” says Hall. “The further advantage is that I haven’t waited two weeks for a subcontractor to make these parts and been charged the earth for them.”
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Optimas Solutions is offering its customers a new way of receiving low-volume parts with greater expediency than normally possible.

The service has been enabled by the installation of a Takamaz XY120 Plus CNC lathe, which can quickly produce a range of parts in quantities up to 5000 pieces. This rapid component delivery service will be offered by Optimas’ UK manufacturing arm, Barton, as part of a new worldwide express service, which provides low-volume components on greatly reduced lead times to alleviate existing supply pressure on manufacturers.
The service is aimed primarily at the automotive, petrochemical and other pressurised industrial sectors.
Components manufactured from all types of materials are available, including exotic materials, titanium and high-temperature alloys, plus all base-plating options. Male components offered by the express service include hex, flange and banjo bolts; and double ended studs and solid rivets ranging from M5 to M22 diameter at a maximum length of 330 mm. Female variants include nuts, spacers, special forgings and fittings up to a maximum of 42 mm diameter.
The Takamaz XY120 Plus operating at Barton is a multi-axis CNC machine offering a highly automated compound machining capability. Its ability to turn-mill and tap at both ends ensures an integrated and expedient process, which is further aided by a turret that is capable of housing 12 driven tools. The machine is coupled with a Hydrafeed barfeed cassette inherent to the machine.
For further information www.optimas.com

Burnley-based Fort Vale Engineering is a specialist in the design and manufacture of valves and fittings for ISO, gas and offshore tank containers. The company’s owner, Ted Fort OBE, started buying Okuma machining centres and lathes more than 40 years ago. An ex Rolls-Royce engineer and chairman of his company, he recently stated: “Machine tools are our artillery and we always buy the best, without exception.”

Andrew Bryce, the company’s innovation director, who joined as a machinist in the late 1980s, continues to buy Japanese-built Okuma machines from UK agent, NCMT. One-fifth of the 40 CNC machine tools in the factory are currently from that source. Most recently, he purchased an MA600 horizontal machining centre with the ability to ‘turn-cut’, Okuma’s terminology for interpolation turning. Circular movement of the machine’s X and Y axes, coupled with synchronous rotation of a turning tool in the spindle and forward feed in Z, can execute either internal boring or external turning, even on parts with highly complex features.
Process improvement engineer Stephen Maher says: “Interpolation turning is an extremely useful addition. Previously, when producing a newly designed component with a stepped cross bore containing radii, counterbores and chamfers, to generate that single profile we had to specify and purchase up to six special form cutters, and they could take typically up to six weeks to arrive.
“Now, with turn-cut, we can produce the part immediately,” he continues. “One roughing and one finishing boring bar with indexable inserts does the same work, saving on expensive cutters as well as shortening programming and cycle times. It also significantly compresses lead-time from concept to finished component.”
For further information www.ncmt.co.uk