FEATURE ON CNC LATHES AND TURNING CENTRES

Two further Citizen CNC lathes bring total to 21

The decision to set up a turned parts subcontracting business at the start of the worst economic crisis in living memory has paid dividends for Yian Stavrou and George Dingley, joint owners of Luton-based Sub-CNC Precision. Supporting their successful evolution from earning a few thousand pounds a month in 2008 to turning over a predicted £3m in the company’s current financial year has been, from the very beginning, continued investment in twin-spindle, multi-axis, bar-fed lathes supplied by Citizen Machinery UK.

Over the years, the ISO 9001-accredited and JOSCAR-registered subcontractor has bought 25 such machines, part exchanging a few to leave 21 on the shop floor as of the end of 2025. Two-thirds are Cincom sliding-head models for producing parts from 0.5 to 38 mm in diameter, while the remainder are Miyano fixed-head turning centres. Many run lights-out from 18:00 to 07:00. 

In 2017, the introduction of Citizen’s proprietary LFV (low-frequency vibration) chip-breaking software in the Cincom control massively assisted unattended machining. The big advantage of the function is that it can be programmed using G codes to switch on and off during a cycle, added to which it also has different modes to adjust the size of the chips. The function is disabled for parts of the cycle where enhanced chip-breaking is not necessary.

As to the fixed-head Miyano lathes, which produce parts from bar ranging from 8 to 65 mm in diameter, or from billet up to 200 mm diameter, they started arriving at the subcontractor’s factory in 2012. The latest to take its place on the shop floor, alongside a new Cincom L20-XLFV, is a Miyano BNE-51MSY.

More information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

New Mazak QRX-50MSY suits high-volume production

At Mazak Corporation’s recent Discover 2025 event in Florence, Kentucky, the company unveiled its compact QRX-50MSY CNC turning centre, which provides manufacturers with the speed and versatility needed during the high-volume production of small, intricate parts. According to Mazak, the QRX-50MSY’s combination of milling capability, second turning spindle and Y-axis functionality delivers exceptional performance for shops machining small parts such as EV input shafts, mid-shafts, valve fittings and other components exceeding 50 mm in diameter.

The QRX-50MSY is the latest adaptation of Mazak’s HQR Series two-turret/two-spindle CNC turning centre, which has similar milling and Y-axis functions. Mazak’s new machine boasts a 15% smaller footprint with floor dimensions of 3030 x 2200 mm, while maintaining throughput and reduced cycle times. Additionally, the QRX-50MSY’s modular design uses common machine components such as identical left and right spindles, upper and lower turrets, and upper and lower carrier drives. The modular nature of the QRX-50MSY keeps machine cost down to maximise a manufacturer’s return on investment when producing small parts.

Mazak’s slant-bed QRX-50MSY sports a maximum bar diameter capacity of 50 mm with a 152 mm diameter chuck. The main and second spindles use 15 kW motors that provide maximum speeds of 6000 rpm. The 12-station/24-tool position upper and lower turrets feature 5.3 kW rotary tool spindles that also offer speeds up to 6000 rpm.

Its tool holding utilises a BMT 45 interface for fast, precise tool changes. The interface uses static and driven tools and supports a wide range of tool holder types, including radial, axial and angular holders.

The QRX-50MSY comes standard with the Mazatrol SmoothG CNC that includes conversational programming as well as EIA-ISO G-code programming capabilities.

More information www.mazak.com

Colchester unveils Magnum heavy-duty manual lathe

The new Colchester Magnum HD is a heavy-duty manual lathe designed for workshops looking to handle large components with complete mechanical reliability. Colchester Machine Tool Solutions says the machine combines attributes that include strength, smooth control and straightforward usability. It is intended for sectors where power and precision must co-exist, such as oil and gas, energy generation, transport, shipbuilding and heavy fabrication.

With a swing-over-bed of 800 or 1000 mm, capacities up to 8 m between centres and spindle bore options up to 380 mm, Colchester says the Magnum HD is capable of tackling components beyond the reach of conventional manual lathes. Its single-piece cast-iron bed provides rigidity and vibration damping, ensuring consistent accuracy under heavy load and extended duty cycles.

Typical headstock configurations offer spindle speed ranges from 4 to 800 rpm across multiple gear ranges, allowing slow, high-torque cutting for roughing and difficult materials, as well as higher speeds for finishing passes. This capability suits a wide mix of work in medium and high-strength steels, stainless steels and other alloys.

The gearbox and headstock are arranged to provide smooth torque transfer at low speeds, helping the machine maintain stability and dimensional control when dealing with large, unbalanced or irregular workpieces. These characteristics make the Magnum HD particularly relevant for repair and maintenance work, heavy turning operations and general-purpose machining, especially where large part envelopes, significant section thickness or tougher materials place high demands on machine stiffness and drive performance.

Notably, the machine’s layout provides clear, unobstructed visibility of the cutting zone, helping operators maintain safe working practices and monitor tool engagement on large components. The controls are positioned for logical reach and intuitive use, reducing unnecessary movement during set up and machining.

More information www.colchester.co.uk

Schaeffler Aerospace opts for WFL MillTurn technology

With around 600 employees, Schaeffler Aerospace in Schweinfurt develops and manufactures high-precision roller bearing systems for the aerospace industry. To help master this activity, the company has purchased a total of six WFL MillTurn machines in recent years, the latest of which is an M50 MillTurn with automation cell.

Prior to the purchase of these machines, many machining steps were carried out separately on conventional two-axis turning and five-axis milling machines. Thanks to the MillTurn machines, the company was able to achieve process-integrated complete machining for the first time. Machining steps such as turning, milling drilling and measuring are now carried out on a single system, which reduces set-up times, prevents re-clamping errors and improves machining quality. In the case of average batch sizes between 15 and 50 pieces, the number of set-up processes plays a decisive role.

Says Thomas Memmel, head of technology development at Schaeffler Aerospace: “One of the particular advantages of the MillTurn machines is the integrated B axis. Thanks to swivelling tool positioning, complex component geometries can be created with a small number of tools in just one clamping operation.”

The decision to work with WFL was mainly due to the machines’ rigidity via the slant-bed design, as well as the B axis mounted on a double-bearing. Thanks to the positive experience with this machine concept and WFL’s highly skilled service team, Schaeffler Aerospace has been using WLF machines for almost two decades now.

The finished bearings can be found in modern Rolls-Royce aircraft engines such as the Trent 1000, Trent XWB or Pearl 10X models used in the 787 Dreamliner and A350 airliners or business jets.

More information www.wfl.at

Nortim Precision installs two CNC multi-tasking lathes

Mills CNC has recently supplied precision subcontract specialist, Nortim Precision Engineering, with two FANUC-controlled multi-tasking turning centres from DN Solutions.

The machines, a 12” chuck Puma 3100LSY and an 8” chuck Lynx 2100LSYB – both equipped with sub spindle, Y axis and driven tooling capabilities – were installed at the company’s 7000 sq ft machine shop facility in Stonehouse, Gloucestershire earlier this year.

Since installation, the two lathes have been put through their paces machining a range of high-precision, complex components.

Explains Jon Kemper, Nortim’s manufacturing director: “Mills always seems to have the right specification machines we’re looking for, and can often deliver and install them, from stock, in double-quick time.”

At the start of the year, Nortim Precision was facing a dilemma. An existing bathing and care equipment customer approached Nortim to ask if it could take on extra and regular work machining precision cylindrical parts for its range of height-adjustable baths. However, the cylinder length was beyond Nortim’s existing capacity

Lee Marner, Nortim engineering’s director, takes up the story: “We could see that the 12” chuck/102 mm bar capacity Puma 3100LSY with its 1285 mm maximum turning length and 420 mm maximum turning diameter would be the ideal machine to handle the project.”

Rather than opt for a two-axis version of the Puma 3100L series, the multi-tasking, mill-turn capabilities of the Puma 3100LSY were a key selling point.

With Nortim Precision reaping the productivity benefits from its first multi-tasking lathe, the company decided to invest in a compact multi-axis lathe to handle a majority of its smaller part processing requirements. The answer? A DN Solutions Lynx 2100LSY lathe, an 8” chuck/65 mm capacity lathe with sub spindle, Y axis and driven tools

More information www.millscnc.co.uk