Family-owned Stevens & Carlotti is a subcontractor supplying metal fabrications to a wide range of industries from its 64,000 sq ft facility in Sandwich, Kent. These fabrications, which can be anything from a simple bracket to fully-assembled and tested machines, are supplied to customers in the power generation, oil and gas, and yellow goods sectors, among others.

At any one time Stevens & Carlotti can have up to 1200 individual jobs in progress which, in addition to laser cutting, CNC punching and folding, welding, and painting, also require the support of a machining facility. Investment in turning and milling capacity with machines from XYZ Machine Tools has enhanced productivity on the company’s fabricated components, and created opportunities to develop a dedicated subcontract machining capability.
“The machining of parts used in our fabrications remains the bread and butter for our machine shop, but with the increased capacity and capability we have now, we’ve seen a growth in pure machining work for customers,” says Joe Douglas, planning manager at Stevens & Carlotti. “This now accounts for between 10 and 15% of our machined output, and is growing year-on-year.”
Most recently Stevens & Carlotti has taken delivery of additional capacity in the form of an XYZ TC 320 LTY turning centre, an XYZ 1510 HD vertical machining centre and an XYZ 710 HD VMC.
The XYZ TC 320 LTY turning centre replaced a temperamental lathe from another manufacturer and provides greater capacity with its barfeed, 78 mm bar capacity, 32 kW spindle and 100 mm Y axis. It is the turning workhorse of the business, with operator Callum Jones simply stating “it works” when asked why he likes it.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

According to Big Kaiser, the company has released the world’s first hydraulic chuck designed specifically for Swiss-type automatic (sliding-head) lathes.

Now available in the UK from Industrial Tooling Corporation (ITC), this chuck solution overcomes the problems frequently encountered when using ER collet chucks.
Swiss-type machines make widespread use of ER collet chucks. However, operators often face difficulties when replacing their cutting tools as the available space inside the compact work envelope is extremely tight, providing very little space for tightening the nut. The hydraulic chuck from Big Kaiser simplifies the tool replacement process by using just a single T-wrench. In addition, the chuck facilitates the connection of a coolant tube from the underside.
Head of sales and marketing at Big Kaiser, Christian Spicher, says: “This hydraulic chuck finally provides a simple, easy-to-use solution for all Swiss-type machines, including those from Citizen, Star, Tornos and Tsugami. With the chuck, customers can simplify and accelerate tool replacement. In addition, the system achieves even higher precision cutting results than ever before.”
The new chuck offered by ITC is a world-first concept and Big Kaiser is said to be the only company currently producing such a hydraulic chuck solution. This chuck promises to save time and take the frustration out of tool replacement, essentially superseding existing ER chucks. The Big Kaiser hydraulic chuck for sliding-head lathes is available in six sizes.
For further information www.itc-ltd.co.uk