Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of Doosan machine tools in the UK and Ireland, has recently supplied brake and clutch system specialist Alcon Components with three new Doosan vertical turning lathes (VTLs).

The trio of Doosan V8300 VTLs were installed at Alcon’s Tamworth facility as part of a process improvement solution to manufacture the company’s range of high-performance brake discs.
Prior to the acquisition of the Doosan lathes, and the implementation of the new manufacturing process, Alcon machined its brake discs on three horizontal fixed-head lathes. These ‘legacy’ machines, while still performing satisfactorily, are relatively old having been purchased in 1983 when Alcon Components was first established. As a consequence, the machines are slow and increasingly prone to breakdown.
Explains Brian Cutler, Alcon Component’s production engineering manager: “Our business is growing and demand for our braking systems is at an all-time high. So it was clear that we needed to invest in and significantly upgrade our brake disc manufacturing cell.”
The new flexible manufacturing cell at Alcon comprises three new Doosan 15” chuck V8300 VTLs with Fanuc controls. Each is positioned in close proximity to the next, enabling rapid part transfer. A range of different sized brake discs is being produced. The discs are made from cast iron and machined to tight tolerances and high surface finishes. Alcon currently machines approximately 500 to 600 discs per week in the new cell. Brake disc diameters vary in size (from 200 to 405 mm) depending on the end application.
“The machining process using the three V8300 VTLs has enabled us to ramp up production and reduce part
cycle times by up to 40%,” concludes Cutler.
For further information www.millscnc.co.uk

Teixidó has been specialising in the mass production of precision parts since it was founded in 1952.

Based in Catalonia, the bar turning company is the largest of its kind in Spain, supplying sectors that include automotive, pneumatic and aerospace. Teixidó produces over 300 million parts every year with an average PPM of 3.
The bulk of the company’s production covers diameters from 0.5 to 20 mm. As Spanish group sales director Xavier Teixidó Pont explains, “many bar turners are capable of producing these diameters, but what distinguishes us from our competitors is our ability to adapt to the tightest tolerances”.
Teixidó has relied on Tornos and its machines since its outset, today running several dozen Tornos CNC machines, including two EvoDeco 20 models that replaced two old Deco 20s.
“We’ve a number of multi-spindle machines as well as our Deco, Delta and EvoDeco fleets,” states production manager Josep Colina Vidal. “We have SAS 16, SAS 16.6 and BS 20.8 cam-type multi-spindles, MultiAlpha, MultiSigma and MultiDeco CNC machines, and several recently acquired MultiSwiss 6×16 machines, including two machines with a Y axis.
“These machines can exceed the specifications required of single-spindle models, offering stable, highly precise machining,” he adds. “And their six spindles make them extremely productive; we can produce far more parts per square metre. This means a MultiSwiss can easily replace three single-spindle turning machines. It’s a very high-performance machine, and I think it’s fair to say we have been seduced by its performance.”
For further information www.tornos.com

The installation of five more Cincom CNC sliding-head turning centres from Citizen Machinery at Renishaw raises the metrology equipment producer’s tally of lathes from this supplier to 58. Renishaw’s annual output of components from the machines exceeds 2.5 million.

Three of the latest 12 mm capacity Cincom B12 lathes fitted with Iemca Elite 112 bar magazines were installed at Renishaw’s Miskin plant in Wales, where 20 Citizen sliding-head turn-mill centres are already in use. The other two went to the company’s Stonehouse factory in Gloucestershire.
Robert Horsley, senior production engineer, says: “This latest investment in Citizen lathes, which raised the number we use by nearly 10%, was driven by increased demand for our measurement technology. The B12 lathes are mainly used for turning and milling 303 stainless steel bar to manufacture styli and other probe components. We normally produce a month’s worth for stock, which can be anything from 1200- to 30,000-off, before we change over a machine to start a new batch. Run times are at least eight hours.
A number of different materials are processed, ranging from mild, stainless, carbon and low-alloy steels, through brass and aluminium, to corrosion-resistant copper-nickel-zinc alloys. According to Horsley, all of the lathes hold tolerances down to ±20 µm parallelism and squareness, and ±50 µm on milled features. Surface finish down to Ra 0.4 is easily achievable, doing away with the need to cylindrically grind cosmetic features.
Head of communications for Renishaw, Chris Pockett, says: “We have standardised on Citizen sliding-head turning machines since the 1980s, when the company demonstrated what, at the time, was ground-breaking technology. The commonality of lathe layout ensures ease of training and complete flexibility for our production engineering staff to develop processes and program any machine.”
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

Moving to ‘one-hit’ machining has delivered a Lancashire precision engineering specialist a £500,000 boost after securing a string of new orders.

Merc Aerospace, which employs 50 people at its facility in Barrowford, has seen turnover rise to £4.2m thanks to a sustained investment drive that has included the purchase of two CNC turn-mill machines from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG).
The company has replaced five older models with two Nakamura WT150II machines as part of its commitment to lean manufacturing and reducing lead times for customers that include Airbus, AgustaWestland, BAE Systems and Bombardier.
“We are focused on offering our clients the lowest total cost of acquisition solution for their precision components,” explains Richard Meade, commercial director at Merc Aerospace. “This is where the two Nakamuras really come into their own and ensure we live up to our promise, delivering fantastic control, speed and repeatable quality. Our customers have been so impressed with these new capabilities that they’ve even placed new product orders, building on a £500,000 increase in annual sales for the past 12 months.”
The turret-mounted power tooling ensures components with complex milled features are coming off virtually burr-free and generally as part of a one-hit operation.
Says Meade: “Our ‘one-hit’ machining approach has really improved the company’s productivity and, in turn, made us more competitive when looking to secure new opportunities both at home and overseas. We’re not going to stand still though. The emphasis is on continuous improvement and we have already signed-off further investment, with delivery of a twin-spindle, triple-turret Nakamura NTY3-150 multi-axis lathe scheduled for later this month.”
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

Cheshire Seals & Components Ltd (Cheshire Seals), based in Warrington, has recently extended its workshop capacity with a new Harrison Alpha 1550XS manual/CNC lathe from Colchester Machine Tool Solutions.

Managing director Paul Wallace says: “We had an existing Colchester centre lathe which had been very useful to us, but we needed the machining flexibility that the Alpha could bring. We bought plenty of extra kit for the Alpha and from day one it’s been put through its paces. The machine is performing well and is certainly earning its money.”
Cheshire Seals is a family-run, independent manufacturer of machined parts in a wide variety of materials, ranging from aluminium to zirconium, taking in duplex stainless steels and nickel alloys, and many exotic metals, through to plastics and rubbers for seal manufacture. The company also takes initial customer design concepts and converts them into fully finished products, whether it’s a one-off prototype or a full production run.
Wallace adds: “We looked at other CNC machines but felt that the flexibility of the Alpha lathe and its various modes of operation within the Fanuc system were strong factors in our decision. We find that the machine torque is excellent for cutting harder materials, while the lathe has significantly improved our cutting and program creation times by using ISO programming and the eight-station turret.”
The 2 m between-centres Harrison Alpha 1550XS has a swing over bed of 554 mm and a 104 mm spindle bore. A large 15 kW motor allows spindle speeds up to 2000 rpm.
For further information www.colchester.co.uk