Largest titanium casting from ceramic shell

Sheffield-based Castings Technology International (Cti) has recently produced the largest single component ever cast by the company in commercially pure titanium, and probably the largest titanium part poured into a ceramic mould. With an envelope of 1000 mm square by 600 mm high, and requiring over 1.2 tonnes of molten metal, the titanium workpiece showcases several novel casting techniques developed in-house at Cti. The casting was part of an order from a Japanese OEM and will see service in an industrial pump that handles highly corrosive media at elevated temperatures.

For further information
www.castingstechnology.com

£100,000 investment in new press line

A specialist in precision pressed parts and machined components has invested more than £100,000 in the installation of a new high-speed press line to boost capacity ahead of a raft of new opportunities. Source Engineering, which employs 32 people across its two divisions in Plympton, has leveraged the expertise of Bruderer UK for a machine to carry out the work of four conventional HME power presses.

Established in 1992, the company has gone from strength to strength, building and maintaining experience and knowledge across all aspects of its business. Source Engineering is continuing to develop that knowledge by training the next generation of engineering and toolmaking apprentices, ensuring that the company continues to thrive into the future.

Source Engineering is always looking to move forward and continually improve, whether it is product improvement or developing production processes. The firm stays competitive and improves quality by developing new production techniques, automating processes and investing in the best equipment – from EDM wire erosion machines for the tool room, through to Swiss-made high-speed/high-precision presses for the press shop.

The BSTA 200M 20 tonne stamping press from Bruderer was identified as the ideal solution for the company’s latest requirements and is now up and running at Source Engineering’s Langage Business Park facility, achieving 300 strokes per minute. This rate represents a 200% increase in production output across a range of products destined for the automotive, electrical wholesale and oil and gas markets.

Engineers at the firm have freed up an additional 500 sq ft of production space to use for the introduction of new projects, and to help Source Engineering cope with an increase in demand for its range of automation solutions.

Andy Dunkerley, chairman at Source Engineering, says: “Buying a Bruderer is like buying the Swiss watch of machines; you get unrivalled precision, speed and repeatable quality, all wrapped up in a relatively small footprint. We already had one in another part of the factory and were fully aware of its capabilities. So when it came to looking at how we optimised the factory floor space by replacing four machines with one high-speed line, we called in Bruderer’s technical experts to review the options.”

He continues: “They really understood what we were looking to achieve in space utilisation without giving up the versatility and the volumes, which basically meant we needed one machine to do the work of four.”

The Bruderer BSTA 200M high-precision, high-performance stamping press was identified as the preferred option and was fitted with a high-speed servo feeder and pallet de-coiler to help achieve precision control of material de-coiling and pinpoint pitch through the progression press tool.

Specified with a tool area of 510 x 400 mm, the machine can deliver up to 1800 strokes per minute, and is capable of handling a maximum material thickness of up to 2 mm and material width of 100 mm. The Bruderer BSTA 200M has also been equipped with ‘Press Force Monitor’, a feature which ensures protection of the press from overload. In addition, this technology limits tool damage if any stray material is pulled back up into the process – stopping the machine within a stroke, even at high speed.

Pablo Gutierrez, technical director at Source Engineering, goes on to add: “Sales are now back to pre-pandemic levels and we are looking to grow, with our ability to provide design, tooling and manufacturing all in one place driving the need for more production space. Our long-standing relationship with Bruderer UK has been pivotal in giving us a faster and more flexible machine, while also delivering capacity to install different types of presses or a dedicated assembly area to support bespoke automation work.

“There are lots of new opportunities domestically and overseas, and we are hoping to turn some of this potential into contracts that will see turnover rise by 20% over the next 12 months,” he continues.

Adrian Haller, managing director of Bruderer UK, says: “This is a perfect example of how the technical expertise of our team and the power of our presses can be combined to find a solution that does the work of four machines in one. Tolerances of manufactured process speed have improved significantly, while the ability to achieve fast press-tool changeover has been achieved due to the in-built Bruderer application of SMED (Single-Minute Exchange of Dies).

He adds: “We’ve been working with Andy and Pablo for nearly a decade and have got an excellent relationship with the technical team at Source Engineering. This was a project that really excited us as we could use our technology to provide an immediate operational solution and, importantly, a way of supporting the company with its ambitious expansion plans.”

Source Engineering, which is approaching 30 years in business, has developed new control boxes that help monitor the part as it goes through production. The company has already supplied a number of models to Bruderer UK for installation on its machines and is looking to expand its offer further over the coming year.

For further information
www.bruderer.co.uk

Biggest ever UK order for JCB

Britain’s biggest equipment rental firm is buying 2100 new JCB machines in a deal worth £65m, the biggest-ever order from a UK customer in the company’s 75-year history. Sunbelt Rentals is expanding and renewing its fleet as the construction industry rebounds strongly from the COVID-19 pandemic.

The rental specialist is investing in JCB Loadall telescopic handlers, mini and midi excavators, site dumpers, tracked excavators, and rough terrain fork lifts – all manufactured at JCB’s Staffordshire factories. Sunbelt Rentals is also investing in 350 JCB access platforms – JCB’s biggest-ever UK deal for this equipment following its entry into the $8bn powered access market in 2017. The massive order comes as JCB recruits hundreds of new shop-floor employees following soaring demand.

For further information www.jcb.com

Fibre laser tube processing

With its new ByTube 130, Bystronic says that sheet-metal processors can quickly and easily get into tube processing. The fibre-based machine opens up a wide range of applications for all metallic materials in diameters from 10 to 130 mm, and material lengths up to 8.5 m. In addition, the machine has a loading capacity of 17 kg/m, while the 2D cutting head allows the processing of a large proportion of customer requests, since vertical cuts account for 90% of the market.

Notably, the ByTube 130 has the potential to substitute complex and cost-intensive processing steps: a growing number of manufacturing companies are discovering laser cutting as an alternative to sawing and drilling. The fibre laser performs both processes at once and, according to Bystronic, considerably faster. Thanks to clean cutting edges, deburring is also a thing of the past. This capability not only results in reduced labour costs, but reduced cost per component thanks to elevated throughput speeds.

The machine is available in two performance levels, 2 or 3 kW. Due to its shorter wavelength compared with CO2 laser technology, the fibre-based ByTube 130 has no problems with highly reflective non-ferrous metals, such as copper and brass.

With the new ByVision Tube user interface, Bystronic combines all the functions relating to the laser cutting of tubes on a single touchscreen. Even entry-level users without extensive experience can immediately start producing with the ByTube 130, says the company. The intuitive software supports new users with the import and creation of cutting plans, which ensures the straightforward handling of cutting sequences.

For further information
www.bystronic.co.uk

QFS installs five-axis laser cutter

QFS Technologies, a specialist supplier of body-in-white (BIW) parts to the automotive industry has invested in a new Trumpf TruLaser Cell 5030 five-axis (3D) laser cutter. Although the company has an older Trumpf five-axis machine that has given many years of reliable service, QFS knew that investing in the higher performance and richer feature set of the TruLaser Cell 5030 would provide a number of competitive advantages, particularly in relation to new project work for a major customer.

“Once the investment decision had been made, it was always going to be a Trumpf machine,” states managing director Neil Holloway. “I’ve worked with other laser cutters in the past, but Trumpf machines are a lot more reliable. When you think about the curvature and complex shapes of a car panel, it’s easy to imagine the essential role of a 3D laser cutter at QFS. We cannot afford to run an unreliable machine.”

With its low machine-hour rate, the TruLaser Cell 5030 is suited to small and medium batch sizes, and for applications where components are frequently changed. Furthermore, TruTops Cell Basic software enables users to make quick adjustments to programs directly at the machine.

BIW parts produced on the new TruLaser Cell 5030 at QFS are mostly cut from aluminium, although some are made from high-strength steel, typically 1-3 mm thick.

“Our guys became accustomed with the machine really quickly,” says Holloway. “The controls on the TruLaser Cell are easier to use than on our older five-axis model. In addition, we were already familiar with the TruTops offline programming software, so our learning curve has been pretty shallow. We’re now in the process of migrating programs over to the new machine.”

For further information
www.trumpf.com