LoneStar Fasteners Hydrobolt (LSFH), a manufacturer of fasteners, bolts and other precision-machined components, has placed a repeat order for turning centres that will further expand CNC turn-milling capacity at its Wednesbury facility. The company has invested £1.5m in six twin-spindle Y-axis lathes built by Biglia in Italy and supplied through sole UK and Ireland agent Whitehouse Machine Tools.

LSFH is buying new lathes to manufacture components more efficiently and precisely in one hit, rather than in two, three or even four operations, as previously. The decision to invest in Biglia was based on lathe rigidity and the power of the spindles and driven tools, which enables the machining of components in stainless steel, titanium and high-nickel alloys. These materials commonly find use in the oil and gas, petrochemical, and power generation sectors, all of which are supplied by LSFH. To preserve surface finish on components and prevent damage after machining, every lathe features a parts catcher and conveyor.

Robbie Beckett, operations director at LoneStar’s Wednesbury facility says: “The first two machines, installed in 2023, were B620YS single-turret turning centres with 80 mm bar capacity, which have enabled us to reduce production costs, improve surface finish on components and increase productivity. They performed exceptionally well over their first year of operation, so we decided to order four more turn-mill centres from the same supplier.”

The next pair of lathes to arrive, in May 2024, were a Biglia B750YS with a single turret and 100 mm bar capacity, and a B465T2Y2, the first with twin turrets. They were followed in August 2024 by an additional B750YS and another twin-turret lathe, a BMX45T2Y2 with superimposed machining capability, facilitating three tools in simultaneous cut.

More information www.wmtcnc.com

Josh Watkins, director of Welsh subcontractor Harlech Engineering, has recently bought two
lathes from Citizen Machinery, a Miyano fixed-head model installed in mid-2023 and a
sliding-head Cincom one year later. Both benefit from the manufacturer’s LFV chip-breaking
software in the operating system of the Mitsubishi control, which he says has transformed
turning efficiency and productivity at his Swansea factory.
The twin-spindle, double Y-axis-turret Miyano ANX-42SYYLFV turning centre with 3 m bar
magazine replaced a slower, single-turret lathe of a different make. It resulted in
significantly higher productivity, both through faster cycle times and fewer operations,
usually producing components in one hit. It was, however, the LFV software that set the
machine apart from a couple of similarly specified lathes on the market that Watkins was
also considering. 316 stainless steel accounts for more than 75% of work going through
Harlech’s shop floor.
“Historically, we’ve used two other types of chip-breaking software on sliding-head lathes,
but Citizen’s LFV is more effective than either. The function is easy to incorporate into a
cycle, as it only requires a single line of G-code to switch it on or off. Moreover, the starting
parameters suggested in Citizen’s offline Alkart Wizard software are normally near-perfect,
so there’s little trial and error involved.”
By mid-2024 it was apparent that, with business holding up strongly, more sliding-head
lathe capacity was required at the Swansea facility. A 32 mm bar machine was needed to
fulfil the largest possible range of work. As Citizen’s Cincom L32-XLFV also benefits from the
chip-breaking software, it was the obvious choice to bring the subcontractor’s tally of
sliding-head lathes to eight, the other seven being of a different brand.
More information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk