TEK4 plans to open a brand new, purpose-built technical centre in late summer 2019.

The facility is located in Blaby, Leicestershire, just six miles from the company’s current site. TEK4’s new centre will offer good accessibility, with the M1 motorway just 10 minutes away.
Enhanced customer facilities will be at the heart of the operation, which is set to be five times larger than TEK4’s existing site, providing the capacity to deliver up to 10 machines per month. Among specially designed areas will include those for research and development, and another for running trials and demonstrations. A temperature-controlled inspection area will also feature. The new development will facilitate continued growth at TEK4, enabling it to exceed customer expectations.
TEK4 was founded by Jason Duffin in 2002, who continues to run the business alongside a team of engineers and support staff who have underpinned the company’s success. Duffin has spent his working life developing special process technology for gas turbine component manufacture. He co-founded MJ Technologies Ltd, and was MJT’s managing director until 2001 before he left to establish TEK4. MJT subsequently became the Winbro Group.
TEK4 specialises in fast-hole drill (FHD) or high-speed drill (HSD) EDM machines for drilling straight and shaped cooling holes in aero and IGT blades, vanes, segments and other components. Solutions combine EDM and laser systems for FHD and ceramic coating ablation; laser for drilling and cutting operations; and ECM for the STEM drilling of deep cooling holes in gas turbine components.
For further information www.tek4.co.uk

A one-day seminar and open house on the manufacturing of gears will be held at NCMT’s Coventry technical centre and showroom on 9 July.

Various production methods will be demonstrated on Japanese-built Makino and Okuma machining centres, as well as on one of the latter’s multi-tasking turn-mill machines.
Methods covered will include hobbing, power skiving and ‘InvoMilling’, which is capable of producing different gears using the same standard machine platform. Gear grinding will also feature, involving the use of NCMT’s proprietary EasyGear grinding software. Wire-cut and die-sink production solutions demonstrated on Makino EDM equipment, will be among further highlights.
The main message during the event will be the flexibility, productivity and relatively low investment cost offered by producing external and internal gear types on five-axis machining centres, multi-tasking lathes and EDM machines, coupled with short lead-times, and high levels of accuracy and repeatability.
A further focus will be the inspection of gears to verify their accuracy. Measurement will be performed in-cycle via a touch probe on an Okuma Multus multi-tasking lathe, supported by off-line inspection on a Hexagon Metrology Leitz CMM equipped with Quindos software.
Completing the exhibits will be an automated system configured for gear-blank production based on an Okuma Genos L3000 lathe fitted with a Cellro robotic system for automatically loading billets and unloading components.
Proceedings will include guest speakers such as Dr David Curtis, senior technical fellow from the Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre, and Dr Rob Frazer, head of the gear design unit at Newcastle University, who will be present on behalf of the British Gear Association.
For further information www.ncmt.co.uk

Vollmer has further optimised the machining processes for PCD (polycrystalline diamond) tools produced on its QXD 250 erosion machine.

With the company’s new performance package, Vollmer is reducing machining time and therefore increasing the efficiency of the QXD 250, largely through seamless interaction between generator technology, process parameters, gap evaluation and drive technology. The company is offering a new payment model for the package, which can be individually adapted to customer requirements.
With the QXD 250, different PCD tools can be sharpened accurately in a single set-up. The VPulse EDM generator technology ensures high surface quality at maximum material removal rates. In addition to the software available for PCD tools with inserts, the ExLevel Pro software permits hybrid sharpening (eroding and grinding) of cylindrical slugs with sintered or soldered-in PCD to produce drills, mills and reamers.
Vollmer can retrofit the package, consisting of a software and hardware component, on any QXD 250 that is being used by a customer. Implementation is performed on-site by a service technician, who checks the machine’s condition and technical requirements. Vollmer’s service also includes a test phase, during which users can test the efficiency of the performance package for their application areas on the QXD 250 without high costs or risk.
The performance package is one of the first products from Vollmer’s new V@dison digital initiative, which aims to integrate the company’s grinding and erosion machines in an IoT environment in order to help tool manufacturers implement their Industry 4.0 projects.
For further information www.vollmer-group.com

AgieCharmilles CUT P 350/550/800/1250 machines from GF Machining Solutions are said to house efficient digital power generators, robust designs and intuitive HMIs, as well as several automation options for lights-out and unattended operations.

Featuring proprietary Intelligent Power Generator (IPG) technology, the EDMs deliver surface finishes to Ra 0.10 µm and boost cutting speeds by up to 20% over previous models. Several of the company’s ‘Expert’ systems further optimise the cutting performance of the generators, especially in challenging applications.
The Power-Expert software module, for instance, monitors and changes power levels when the machine is cutting parts with variable heights. Power-Expert thus protects components from unstable conditions while the machine maintains high cutting speeds. Simultaneously, this system controls the spark parameters during finishing operations to provide high-quality surface finishes on variable-height parts.
Regardless of workpiece height, the Wire-Expert system dynamically controls wire wear to achieve continuous and consistent geometrical accuracy from all directions, says the company. For part profile accuracy, Profil-Expert automatically adapts the machining parameters and cut path for rough and skim passes to provide control of fine details, and ensure positioning and contour accuracies of ±2 µm.
Taper-Expert technology cuts angles from 0 to 30° (45° as an option) to maximum Z heights. The system corrects shifts of the Z-reference position in real time, even when the taper angle is changing. In addition, the taper angle is held to within 10 seconds on average, providing taper accuracy and geometry reference accuracy throughout the taper cut.
For further information www.gfms.com

Erodex UK, a supplier of EDM graphite and tooling to the aerospace market, has reported record levels of turnover, with the company set to hit the £20m mark for the first time in its history.

Overall turnover increased by £2m to £19.3m during the last financial year, spurred by strong growth from the company’s machining/EDM sundries division, and a 46% rise in turnover within the tooling division, Erodex Tooling Solutions. Following a strong start to 2019, the company is now set to surpass total sales of £20m.
According to Erodex, it has continued to benefit from a strong and growing reputation within the global aerospace industry. Notably, a large proportion of new business has been won outside of the EU, in countries such as Israel, the US and Mexico.
Says director Steve Rolinson: “We operate in a mature industry, so achieving the level of growth that we continue to achieve is testament to our people, the expertise that we have within the group and our constant efforts to innovate. Export sales have increased significantly; our
US operation continues to grow year-on-year and we have secured a further three customers in Mexico for tooling and EDM electrode work.”
Erodex has made investments totalling £1.2m in the past 12 months and surpassed a total head count of 100 staff members.
Rolinson says: “Around £900,000 of the £1.2m was spent on upgrading plant, IT infrastructure and machinery, including machining centres, grinding machines and Mitutoyo metrology equipment. Such investments go hand in hand with our focus on employing and investing in the best people, as part of our long-term growth strategy.”
For further information www.erodex.com