STARRAG: FAR MORE THAN JUST MACHINE TOOLS

Starrag’s headquarters in Rorschacherberg specialises in creating high-performance
machining centres for aircraft and turbine manufacturing. Nonetheless, the company offers
a broader range of solutions. Years of accumulated expertise from various projects is
evident in the numerous components developed internally: from carbide tools and RCS CAM
software for blades to clamping technology, fixture construction, automation solutions and
host computer technologies.
 
“This ‘full package’ sets us apart from other suppliers,” says Sofian Regaz, Starrag sales
manager for aerospace and turbine technology. “We don’t see ourselves purely as a
machine manufacturer, but as a solution provider for production processes in the aerospace
and turbine sector. This ranges from stand-alone machines to flexible manufacturing
systems, which customers can obtain from us as a one-stop shop.”
 
Sofian Regaz is primarily responsible for product management and sales of Starrag tools.
“Here in Rorschacherberg, we’ve spent many years developing and grinding carbide milling
cutters for aircraft and turbine components made from difficult-to-machine materials such
as titanium, Inconel or high-alloy steels.”
 
Though Starrag offers a small range of standard tools, over 90% of the company’s tools are
custom-made products. These tools are tailored to specific machining processes that fully
embrace the component, the machine, the material and other considerations.
“It makes a huge difference whether I adapt my NC program to a catalogue milling cutter or
design the tool in terms of the cutting edge length, corner radius, flank angle and coating,”
says Regaz. “This enables us to deliver the optimum machining process. Our customers
enjoy great success with this.”
 
Starrag sells most of its machines as part of a manufacturing solution for a specific
component or component family, so the corresponding specialist tools are usually supplied
with them. This incorporates an explanation of why the tools are designed in a particular
way and the expertise on which they are based.
“The customer needs to know how their tools differ from catalogue tools and the impact
these differences have,” he says. “They also need to understand that the advantages of our
tools cannot be found with other suppliers.”
 

This expertise is no coincidence. Starrag maintains a close, partnership-based relationship
with its customers and supports them throughout the production process and beyond the
warranty period.
“This means that if, for example, a component is due to be changed and the machine needs
to be set up for a new process, we are still by our customer’s side to offer new customised
tools as necessary.”
 
Starrag says it has a distinct advantage over traditional tool manufacturers. Tools are both
developed and ground at the Rorschacherberg plant, which also houses the Aerospace and
Turbine Competence Centre (ATCC). The 2000 sq m   centre is equipped with all the latest
five-axis machining centres from the Starrag NB, LX and STC series.
Says Regaz: “We use these machines for a wide range of our own trials and trials for our
customers, as well as for developing and optimising processes ,and for our analyses and tool
tests. We even take on small series production on behalf of customers.”
 
For the tool team, this means they can reproduce the customer’s processes 1:1 on original
machines and optimise the tools before delivery. Time and again, customers confirm that
this saves numerous transport routes and, in turn, a significant amount of time and money.
“If corrections to the tool are still necessary, we can react and adopt changes very quickly
because we have our own grinding shop. We achieve incredibly quick response times,
sometimes just in half a day.”
 
The ATCC is an important meeting place where Starrag technologists, machine operators,
automation specialists, tool specialists and customers come together. Starrag offers
comprehensive support in programming the machines, managing processes and optimising
subsequent processes. For the tool team, this is a valuable source of expertise.
“This is where we find out how the market is evolving, how materials are changing, what the
blanks of the future will look like and what requirements components will have to meet. The
ATCC allows us to get ahead of the game with our tool developments and offer our
customers solutions early on.”
 
Starrag is also well-positioned worldwide in tool servicing. Starrag has partnered with
Oerlikon Balzers to save customers time and money by providing on-site regrinding and
recoating services for Starrag in America and Asia.
“We also offer a similar service in-house, but customers can save themselves the long
journeys from overseas by using our partner offer.”
Regaz says customer feedback on Starrag tools is consistently positive. He indicates a recent
special confirmation of success from Honeywell Aerospace Ireland, where Starrag had the

chance to work as a tool problem solver. The starting basis was that tool wear was
extremely high when machining a titanium turbine blade. No more than 10 components
could be machined with the existing milling cutter. That is when the engine manufacturer
invited important tool manufacturers to get a handle on the problem. While one supplier
managed to increase the service life to 20 components, Starrag’s special tools were able
produce 40 components.
“Honeywell considered this worthy of not only a contract, but also an award. In June 2024,
we were awarded the ‘Kaizen of the Month’ prize.”
 
The tool business has experienced tremendous growth in recent years. This success is not
solely due to stories like the Honeywell contract. The expanded product range has also
played a significant role. While Starrag used to produce only end mills, torus mills and
conical ball-nose mills, today the company also grinds cylindrical and barrel ball-nose mills,
lollipop mills, barrel cutters and chamfer milling cutters. Additionally, a range of high-feed,
plunge, and various form milling cutters can be applied to turbine blade roots.
 
To generate further growth, Starrag will offer special tools for machining aluminium
alongside tools for more challenging materials.
“Our process expertise in aircraft and turbine construction is so extensive that we can also
enjoy great success with our tools on third-party machines,” concludes Regaz. “And we’re
already in talks with other Starrag sites. In the future, we want to utilise their machining
centres and their expertise to produce special tools for other industries.”
More information www.starrag.com

COMPONENTS MADE ON XYZ MACHINES HELP METALLIC ELEPHANT TODELIVER BUSINESS GROWTH

Alternative American rock band REM once had a hit with ‘Shiny Happy People’. That song
would be the perfect anthem for Karl and Ros French, the founders of Metallic Elephant.
Working out of a secluded set of farm buildings in the village of Frating, Essex, this husband-
and-wife team – along with the company’s employees – says it has become the benchmark
in the manufacture of hot-foil presses. Producing these machines, along with the supply of
associated equipment, allows everybody from UK greeting card manufacturers to multi-
national corporations to emboss and deboss a wide range of materials.
Introduced to engineering by a teacher at school, Karl French embarked on a career where
his desire to learn as much as he could saw him end up effectively running his employer’s
business. Upon Ros’s suggestion, they decided to go it alone and began the journey of
Metallic Elephant by firstly refurbishing hot-foil presses.
These presses use a die, usually manufactured from brass but sometimes magnesium,
heated to between 90 and 110°C. The heated die pushes (against coloured foil and a backing
material) up to a back plate for a few seconds. When released, the result is the coloured
shiny initials or logo of the die embossed (or debossed) on the backing material.
The big break for the business came when a well-known fashion house, famous for its iconic
check/tartan patterns, visited Metallic Elephant with the intention of purchasing 10 presses
that would allow the personalisation of items purchased in-store. The customer requested
that the Metallic Elephant badge located on the side of the press was removed but, against
Ros’s wishes, Karl stuck to his guns and refused to remove the manufacturer’s identification.
The company still got the order, which meant its product was seen in major high streets.
However, with such a large order, manufacturing the presses had to take place from scratch.
Discussing the journey from refurbishment to full manufacture of new presses, Karl says:
“When we started out things were tight. We didn’t have a great amount of capital but
needed to manufacture parts when we were refurbishing presses. Outsourcing proved to be
an issue for several reasons. A manual turret mill and pre-war manual lathe were all we had,
and it was amazing what we produced on these machines but a visit from the Health and
Safety Executive put a stop to us using this equipment.”
He continues: “It was time to reinvest. We knew the guys were comfortable using manual
machines, but our volumes had increased, so CNC was an option we had to investigate. It

was at this point we were introduced to XYZ Machine Tools and the Proturn range of flat-
bed lathes. They sounded perfect for our requirement because when we needed a 10-off
batch, we knew every part would be identical. Importantly, we could also use the machine
in manual mode for the odds and sods that we manufacture. We purchased the SLX 355 and
it’s proved to be a gamechanger for the company.”
The business now has a range of XYZ machine in its shop. Alongside the original SLX 355
stands an RMX 2500 CNC bed mill with ProtoTRAK 15” touchscreen control, three 1000 LR
vertical machining centres with Siemens 828D controls and a CT 65 LTY turn-mill lathe –
again with Siemens control.
“Because XYZ delivered on their promises with the SLX 355 and the support that was
provided in our early days of using a CNC machine, it made sense for us to return to them
when we needed to increase our manufacturing capability,” says Karl. “As demand
increased, we needed to be more efficient, so we needed automatic tool changing
machines. The capacity that the 1000 LR offers along with the 24-station arm-type tool
changer accepting BT40 tooling means we can walk away from the machine during the cycle
and partake in other activities in the shop.”
He adds: “To aid our efficiency and one of the reasons we went for the 1000 LR machines
rather than take a smaller footprint machine from XYZ’s LR range was that we can easily fit
three vices on the bed. Although the materials we machine are not tough, the 15 kW spindle
with 8000 rpm is more than adequate for manufacturing the parts needed for the press
bodies.”
As the 1000 LR machines started to make an impression, attention shifted to turned parts.
Due to the automatic feeding system of the foil on the presses, there was increased demand
for rollers and pins. Again, efficiency was important for the business going forward, so the
XYZ CT 65 LTY was installed in the workshop.
Offering a maximum turned diameter of 220 mm and a turning length of 490 mm, the rollers
could be tackled with ease. The Sauter 12-station driven-tool turret allowed for both static
and driven tools to be loaded into every station, providing the opportunity to not only turn
parts but also carry out milling, drilling and tapping in one set up.
“Making this investment moved us on from the original Proturn machine, which is still an
important part of our machine shop,” explains Karl. “It allowed us to reduce the need for
two or three operations on our rollers – but with its 17 kW spindle, driven tools and barfeed
pushing bar up to 65 mm – we could produce multiples with greater ease.”
The machinists that Metallic Elephant employ are full of praise for the CNC systems fitted by
XYZ. Levi Battiste previously worked at a large multi-national company that had a range of
different machine tools.

“Coming to Metallic Elephant I was a little unsure about using the Siemens control,” he says.
“To be honest, I was more a G-code type of programmer but, it’s been a pleasure to use the
ShopMill and ShopTurn conversational software fitted to our 1000 LR and CT65LTY
machines. I’ve been impressed with how simple it has been to produce our parts, while the
construction of the machines has given me the confidence to push our tooling and produce
more in less time”.
Jack Marciniak visited Metallic Elephant as part of his school’s work experience programme.
This encounter was the catalyst for him to join the company when he finished full-time
education.
He says: “I never dreamt that after this short time I would be programming and running CNC
machines. The Siemens control has been intuitive and easy to learn. With the support of the
company and XYZ, I have learnt so much in such a short amount of time.”     
More information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Mate expands line of press brake tooling

Mate Precision Technologies, a global specialist in metal forming and metalworking solutions, has added more than 500 new items across its American precision style, Wila Trumpf style and European precision style press-brake tooling lines. The new additions include a complete selection of Amada fixed-height style profiles designed to increase the efficiency of press-brake operations in complex bending applications.

The Amada fixed-height style profiles from Mate reduce set-up times and are well-suited to bending operations with small production lots and a wide variety of projects. Mate’s fixed-height profiles provide a consistent height for all punch profiles to eliminate the need for multiple set-ups and account for uneven heights. The new Mate profiles also eradicate the need to make the frequent adjustments to the safety beam required when using standard press-brake tooling with uneven heights.

In addition, Mate has expanded its range of punch and die profiles for its Wila Trumpf style and patented American precision style with Maglock press-brake tooling. Using rotating supports to bend up to 40° without marking, the new Wila Trumpf style version of CleanBend is now available in eight sizes. Variable openings range between 8 and 78 mm, with one option that includes an adjustable variable opening between 40 and 100 mm.

Mate has also added new accessories to its press brake line including heavy-duty radius holders and radius inserts, as well as punch adapters and extenders.

“Sheet metal fabricators rely on Mate’s press-brake tooling to make their bending operations more efficient and increase output,” states John Galich, marketing manager at Mate Precision Technologies. “These new additions to our tooling provide our customers with even more options for improving productivity and enhancing their day-to-day operations.”

More information www.mate.com