For the latter half of its 16-year existence, Sheffield-based contract machining firm Ian Cocker Engineering has relied almost exclusively on Hurco vertical machining centres to produce prismatic components, mainly for the oil and gas sector. Now, to extend its capacity, the company has installed its first five-axis model, a Hurco VMX84SWi. The machine is the largest in the manufacturer’s VMX range and the first to be installed in the UK.

Proprietor Ian Cocker says: “The large working envelope means we can machine parts that we previously had to turn away. We produce them cost effectively, as the machine has an integral B-axis spindle head and we’ve added a fifth CNC axis by purchasing a Kitagawa rotary table.”
In 2014, volume production for the oil and gas industry accounted for 80% of the subcontractor’s turnover. That figure halved due to the slowdown in the sector. Luckily, much of the shortfall was replaced by development contracts in the same field, while additional work was won from the AMRC at Sheffield University, and from Sheffield Forgemasters.
A batch of components for the latter customer was one of the first jobs to be put on to the VMX84SWi. The project involved re-engineering seven rack segments, measuring 1 m long, for the axis drives on a Chinese-built floor-type milling machine in use at Sheffield Forgemasters. Each segment required 40 teeth to be machined at an 11° angle to an accuracy of ±15 µm.
“Having a B-axis on the big machining centre was ideal for completing this job as it avoided having to tilt the components to mill and chamfer the teeth,” says Cocker.
For further information
www.hurco.co.uk

Family-owned M&J products started life in fabrication, producing architectural ironwork for industrial and domestic customers over 35 years ago. The natural progression was to move into sheet metalwork. While fabrication and sheet metalwork remain a major part of its business, under the direction of Adam Bills, the Bolsover-based company is now expanding into machining.

“Like any business, we look to drive down costs and add to our competitiveness; upgrading our machining capability was key to achieving that,” says Bills. “Although our customers appreciated and liked what we did, we knew we had to move on from manual machining, and CNC would bring the versatility that we needed. However, our limited experience with CNC meant we had to be careful in which direction we jumped and we probably spent six months researching the best option for us.”
That was two years ago and the decision by Bills was to go for an XYZ ProtoTrak bed mill, which has now been joined by an XYZ 1020 VMC with Siemens control and fourth-axis attachment.
“We were being asked to get involved with more complex contracts, including water pump development and mould work, in particular rotational moulds,” says Bills. “This meant we needed larger capacity and the XYZ 1020 VMC gave us just what we needed.”
The XYZ 1020 VMC has axis travels of 1020 x 520 x 540 mm in XYZ, with an 1120 x 520 mm table able to support workpieces up to 800 kg. Performance is enhanced by the use of boxways with 20 m/min feedrates in all axes and an 8000 rpm, 20 hp, BT40 spindle complemented by a 24-position toolchanger.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

“Scottish companies traditionally immersed in the oil and gas sector are increasingly looking to diversify into the high-speed machining of aluminium,” or so says Starrag UK. Taking part in the recent ‘Profitable growth through applied research for Scotland’s manufacturing sector’ event at the University of Strathclyde’s Advanced Forming Research Centre (AFRC), Starrag UK received “a number of serious enquiries for machines from Scotland-based blue-chip companies”.

These included an oil and gas OEM which is showing great interest in the Scharmann ‘lights out’ Ecoforce solution for automating large-valve machining using a system that would incorporate component transport, co-ordinate measuring machine technology and robot welding.
In addition, a company involved in shipbuilding is also considering, for the machining of large workpieces, Droop+Rein’s kinetic measuring system in conjunction with the SQS self-qualification system and V3D for checking rotational axes with a touch probe.
Visitors to the event also reacted positively, says Starrag UK, to the affordability of the recently-announced Heckert Focus horizontal machining centres (pictured). These “flexible and cost-efficient” machines are designed for general subcontract applications performed by supply chain partners.
At the AFRC event, Starrag displayed a number of machines for aerostructure (Starrag STC 800X horizontal machining centre), aero assembly (Droop+Rein FOGS overhead gantry-type machine), automotive (Heckert HEC horizontal machining centre) and oil and gas (Scharmann Ecoforce horizontal machining centre) applications.
For further information
www.starrag.com