When pneumatics expert John (Jack) Bushby formed Sheffield-based Air Accessories in 1967, it was as a wholesaler of proprietary products from the world’s leading manufacturers, something that continues to this day.

From those early days, customer service was at the heart of everything the company did, and this vision remains under current owner and managing director Nick McKee. Part of that service is delivering products that meet customer needs precisely, and these don’t always come from a standard catalogue; therefore, a need for additional machining capacity to meet in-house product development was required.
Turnover has doubled since McKee took over the business and led to a push from Ian Malpass, Air Accessories’ production manager, and CNC setter operator Clive Glossop, to extend its in-house machining capacity. Already a user of an XYZ ProtoTRAK mill, an update to this machine seemed to be the obvious route for the company to take, as that control is ideal for the one-off and low-volume work planned. However, Malpass and Glossop had other ideas.
They put forward a proposal to bring in vertical machining centre capacity in the form of an XYZ 500 LR VMC.
“At the back of my mind was the fact that we are pneumatic engineers, not production engineers, and my thought was a machine of this type was a luxury, not a necessity, but I recognise that to get the best out of people you need to have better equipment,” says McKee. “The new machine would also reduce our reliance on putting work out to subcontract and, give us greater flexibility. Now that we have the machine, we may well become production engineers as it gives us the flexibility we need; it’s like having another member of staff.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Yamazaki Mazak’s new CV5-500 entry-level five-axis machining centre is being given its UK debut at the company’s EMO Encore in December. The open house, which is being held at Mazak’s European Technology Centre in Worcester on 3-5 December 2019, will showcase 26 machines in total.

The star of the show will be the CV5-500, a new fully simultaneous five-axis machine developed in the UK for European machine users engaged in, or aspiring to, five-axis machining. Mazak’s CV5-500, which is being brought to market at a competitive price point, has a high-rigidity bridge construction with a fully supported trunnion table.
A new versatile 12,000 rpm spindle is capable of a peak performance of 18.5 kW and 119.4 Nm, making it suitable for a range of materials. Crucially, the machine has a compact footprint, ensuring its suitability for smaller machine shops, and can be easily automated with a side-loading door and robot interface. The CV5-500 is equipped with SmoothX CNC, Mazak’s specialist five-axis version of its Smooth Technology.
Another standout machine at EMO Encore will be the new Integrex i-200H ST, which is equipped with a second spindle, a newly designed lower turret and multiple turning and milling spindle specifications. In addition, the machine is equipped with a new CNC, SmoothAi, Mazak’s latest artificial intelligence control.
Mazak will also be giving UK launches to two new specialist gear cutting and measurement machines, with the highlight being the Integrex e-1250 V/8S AG. The AG series, which stands for Auto Gear, is a range of high-specification machines featuring specialist hardware, software and metrology, which in combination produce highly accurate gears compared with conventional CNC machining.
Additionally, EMO Encore will include a specialist laser open house featuring the Optiplex 3015 Fiber III laser equipped with multi-control torch and intelligent functions.
For further information www.mazakeu.co.uk

The latest investment at KOSO KentIntrol is a Heckert 630 DBF horizontal machining centre from Starrag, which is paying big dividends in the machining of valve bodies, predominantly because the machine’s ability for single set-up, multi-tasking machining has eliminated the need for two separate machines, and all the associated resetting and queuing times.

“As well as replacing separate machining operations, the Heckert DBF has effectively ‘simplified’ the production process by allowing us to load once with raw material, undertake complete machining, then unload a finished part ready for inspection,” explains Richard Addy, machine shop manager. “This also means we’re effectively getting more parts per week from the machine than when we were using separate machines by, of course, eliminating queuing times.”
Formed in 1967 (as Introl) and now a worldwide supplier of valves (choke, control and butterfly), as well as actuators and instruments to sectors such as oil and gas, petrochemical and power generation, KOSO KentIntrol purchased the Heckert DBF to increase its capacity for machining valve and globe bodies in the 1-6” range (flange outlet bore size) – from materials that include Inconel.
“Previously, we were using two machines to complete the bodies,” says Addy. “A lathe to produce the flange and plug-way in three operations; then the part often had to queue for a separate operation [and additional set-up] on a drill, the final operation. The Heckert 630 DBF offers a machining capability and specification that more than meets our needs for valve bodies.
“On Duplex bodies, for example, we’re taking 3 mm cuts at speeds of 60 m/min and 0.25 mm/rev feed rates,” says Addy. “However, it’s a careful balance between cutting depths, speeds and tool wear; we aim to prolong tool life as much as we can.”
For further information www.starrag.com

Matching machine-tool investment to the intended applications is something Crediton-based subcontractor Adaero Precision Components has done well over the years. The latest addition to its capacity, a Wele AQ1265 three-axis vertical machining centre with Nikken rotary table fourth-axis, is no exception.

The provider of the Taiwanese-built machine, sole UK agent Whitehouse Machine Tools, has delivered numerous other machining centres to the subcontractor during the last decade, sourced from Brother and Akari. So Adaero had confidence this time around in the supplier’s advice, despite never having heard of the Wele brand.
On this occasion the requirement was to replace an ageing, four-axis machining centre that had become unreliable.
Mainly, the new machine has been devoted to carrying out cycles of relatively low complexity on simple parts, such as large aluminium plates. A moderate level of investment was appropriate in a machine fulfilling this type of work. Nevertheless, Dimensional accuracies of typically ±0.01 mm need to be held. Furthermore, despite three-quarters of output from the factory being aluminium parts, the machine has to be robust to perform arduous cutting cycles, continuously, every day from 08:00 to 17:00.
David Smith, Adaero’s finance manager says: “The Wele met our requirements and cost significantly less than other machines we reviewed. Our engineering director Jack Wilson-Hill visited a Whitehouse customer to see a similar machine in action and was impressed with the rigidity of build. The fact that Wele is part-owned by Toyoda, a Japanese manufacturer of top-end machine tools, also pointed to production equipment that was of high quality, added to which the AQ1265 was competitively priced, so we placed the order.”
For further information www.wmtcnc.com

Numac Engineering, a subcontractor which secures more than half of its business from the oil and gas sector, has ordered a Hermle five-axis, trunnion-type, mill-turn centre to strengthen its prismatic machining capability and simultaneously add extra turning capacity.

Kingsbury, sole agent for the German machine builder, will install the Hermle C42UMT in the customer’s Stalybridge factory in October 2019.
The Hermle C42UMT will also allow the contract machinist to take on more complex work in the aerospace and motorsport sectors. A wide variety of metals is already machined on site, encompassing most grades of stainless steel, as well as exotic materials including titanium and nickel alloys such as Hastelloy and Incoloy.
Andy McLaren, managing director at Numac, says: “We have four-axis horizontal and vertical machining centres here, but are keen to add full five-axis milling and drilling, both to increase the complexity of parts we can produce and reduce the number of set-ups needed for 3+2 axis work.
“The Hermle’s torque table will cut the number of separate operations even further on some of our mill-turned components, as we’ll be able to avoid a separate clamping on a lathe,” he continues. “We have a number of oil and gas parts earmarked for such a process improvement, and estimate that typically the number of set-ups will be halved, resulting in major efficiency and productivity increases.”
Some 18 months were spent by McLaren researching five-axis mill-turn centres and says he opted for the Hermle primarily due to its superior turning capability, the table having a maximum speed of 800 rpm and the ability to turn components with the trunnion positioned at any angle.
For further information www.kingsburyuk.com