From its Bristol factory, Mil-Tu-Fit Engineering has been manufacturing precision components for the electronics, oil and gas, defence, construction and medical industries for over 40 years. The company’s machined products are generally under 125 mm diameter with low batch quantities from just one or two parts up to around 100. Commonly machined materials include 303 grade stainless steel and plastics.

“Some of our existing machinery was reaching the end of its useful life and we needed to replace it, and at the same time upgrade our manufacturing capabilities,” says production manager Paul Beattie.
Mil-Tu-Fit evaluated a range of options. The main criteria were a 4th axis, driven tools, the spindle diameter, the number of tool stations in the turret, accuracy and ease of programming.
“Simplicity of programming on the machine was a major consideration as, with small quantities, we need to be able to complete this task quickly and be sure it is right first time,” says Beattie. “I am familiar with the Siemens control on the DMG Mori CLX 450 and had absolute confidence in the system. Programming the Y axis and driven tools can be done easily, while the verification and graphics check ensure a reliable milling and turning toolpath.
“Previously, we would often have to carry out turning and milling operations on multiple machines,” he adds. “We can now combine the operations on the CLX 450, with many parts coming off the machine completed in one hit. As well as manufacturing parts around 20% quicker, we save on handling, we only have to set one machine, and fixtures for different operations have been largely eliminated.”
For further information www.dmgmori.com

EBC brakes has been manufacturing high-performance braking components at its Northampton headquarters for nearly 40 years. In addition to the brakes used in various racing classes, the company produces a comprehensive range for road cars, motorbikes and bicycles, both as a standard series built to OEM specifications, and oversized brakes to increase performance.

Central to EBC Brakes’ production are its Haas machines. Machine shop manager Vince Goosey says: “We chose Haas because we love the fact the machines are built in the US. As a company that is built around manufacturing in the UK and US, we want to select machine suppliers that align with our company’s ethos. Investing in Haas – who were selected over a number of competitors – has allowed us to take full control of our manufacturing process by machining all components in-house.”
The Haas DS-30 SSY dual-spindle lathe is used to machine the hubs of two-piece discs for the car side of the business, allowing turning of both sides and the drilling of mounting holes. The two-piece disc, a steel rotor with an aluminium hub, is used predominantly to save weight and improve brake disc performance at the extreme temperatures seen on the track or during fast road driving.
To solve the issue of the rotor fluctuating in size as it heats or cools, EBC uses an SD (square drive) system, allowing the rotor to slide against the hub as it expands or contracts and therefore avoid warping.
For further information www.haas.co.uk

The rise of the Berger Company has seen it become one of the world’s largest enterprises in the field of high-precision turning for the automotive industry, a business built with Tornos turning centres. Berger is constantly investing in state-of-the-art technology to produce turned parts with maximum quality at reasonable cost. Against this backdrop, only a few months after its market launch, the 200th MultiSwiss was delivered to the Berger plant in Ummendorf, Germany.
Berger recently pitched to a leading auto OEM for the global supply of a key component on an advanced direct fuel injection system. The volume amounted to 16 million parts. Herbert Maurer, director of corporate sales, recalls that the requirements were, and still are, fierce. For instance, as the part is installed directly in the combustion chamber, it is made of high-strength material, while the complex geometries have to be machined to a tolerance not exceeding 2 µm.
In the run-up, Berger considered Tornos and other competitive machines to find the appropriate manufacturing strategy. However, the new MultiSwiss soon turned out to be the best option.

“At the moment, it is simply the most precise lathe and, it seemed to be the most appropriate machine to achieve stable processes,” says Maurer.
Instead of experimenting on a sole machine, Berger purchased 10 MultiSwiss machines and has optimised the processes from the very beginning with series production in mind. All 10 machines are now running 24/7.
For further information www.tornos.com

With over 30 years of gunsmithing between them, along with 20 years’ international shooting experience, good friends and business acquaintances Stuart Anselm (Osprey Rifles), Pete Walker (Walker Custom Rifles) and Gary Costello (March Scopes) decided to pool their resources to capitalise on the niche market of bespoke gunsmithing by creating PGS Precision Engineering.

Much of the work that the three partners are involved with is one-off commissions, which would not justify investment in CNC machining capability. However, a recent contract for higher volume work made the possibility of upgrading from manual machining a feasible proposition.
“This was our first contract for large 50-calibre military rifles and, in addition to the chamber, we had to carry out turning and threading to fit the rifle action, as well as the suppressor [silencer],” says Anselm. “These increased volumes led us to look into CNC.”
PGS Precision Engineering opted to purchase an SLX 355 ProTurn lathe from XYZ Machine Tools, which scored highly due to its easy-to-use ProtoTrak control system; in particular the ‘TRAKing’ facility that allows the operator to manually run through the program using the hand-wheels before pressing cycle start.
“We are machining barrels much faster than we ever could using our manual lathes and with the reassurance of consistent accuracy and quality,” says Anselm. “Adding the automatic toolpost was a great decision as we can now complete the turning and threading cycles in under three minutes.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com