SUBCONTRACTING NEWS

Anopol buys Poligrat

Anopol, a UK specialist in electropolishing and chemical surface treatment processes, has acquired Poligrat UK. For over 60 years, Poligrat has specialised in the development, production and application of processes for metal surface finishing from its plant in Aldershot. Anopol operates from ISO9001 and ISO14001 accredited facilities in Birmingham and Hampshire. Specialties include electropolishing, pickling, passivation and further surface treatment processes of stainless steels and other metals. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

More information www.anopol.com

Notable cycle time savings with Ceratizit tools

Lancashire-based subcontract manufacturing specialist Woodbrook Precision continually invests in the latest machine tools, supported by cutting tool solutions from Ceratizit UK. 

Indeed, Woodbrook’s managing director Stephen Hogg says that Ceratizit has been instrumental in enhancing the productivity of the company’s new machinery.

Stephen’s father founded the second-generation business more than 35 years ago.

Initially investing in three-axis Mazak VMCs with rotary tables and turning centres with live tooling, more recent acquisitions have included two 3.5-m bed Mazak VTC800/30SR five-axis machining centres and a five-axis Mazak CV5-500. As the business has shifted from machining steel and aluminium to stainless, super duplex, titanium, Inconel, carbon fibre and Hastelloy, Ceratizit UK has risen through the ranks to be the cutting tool partner of choice.

“Over 10 years ago, Ceratizit was one of many suppliers but, as I took control of the business, it became evident that Ceratizit had the best-performing tools and their service was far beyond anything else,” says Hogg, who can cite many successful examples.

“We recently implemented Ceratizit facing and parting-off tools, and it reduced the component cycle time on 400-off job from 1 minute 58 seconds to 1 minute 26 seconds. Furthermore, Dragonskin CircularLine DLC-coated solid-carbide end mills have cut cycle times on an aluminium part from 3 minutes to 1 minute 20 seconds, while more than doubling tool life.”

On another 100-off repeat order for stainless steel aerospace fixtures, the company needed to reduce its cycle times to maximise margins and reduce costs. Ceratizit introduced a high-feed indexable end mill, reducing our cycle times from 38 to 26 minutes per part, with a tool life improvement of more than 20%.

More information www.ceratizit.com

NADCAP Gold Merit

The Wallwork Group’s aerospace heat treatment site in Bury has been accredited with NADCAP Gold Merit Status. The site, one of four, comprises 8361 m² of processing space. The company is the largest independent aerospace heat treater in the UK, offering 117 thermal processes. To achieve Gold Merit, Wallwork had to achieve two consecutive accreditations of 18 months each without any major non-conformance reports and with less than seven days of cumulative delinquency. Achieving a merit level is only the start. Constant vigilance is required to maintain the systems that support it.

More information www.wallworkht.co.uk

Second MecWash MWX400 for Vixen CNC

After purchasing a MWX400 system in 2020, Vixen CNC experienced such an improvement in cleaning efficiency that the company ordered another system for its factory in Snowdonia. Vixen CNC has seen a significant increase in demand for its services over recent years. The company needed the additional machine due to its use of both ferrous and non-ferrous metals – and the different process requirements of the two applications.

Jake Wood, managing director of Vixen CNC, says: “The MWX400 systems have transformed the washing capability and overall productivity at our factory. The communication and servicing from MecWash have been excellent, which combined with the effectiveness of the cleaning, made the decision of investing in a second machine a simple one.”

He continues: “We replaced a tunnel wash system with two MecWash MWX400 machines. Each machine uses a specific cleaning process, one for ferrous metal and the other for non-ferrous metals. The initial MecWash MWX400 system in 2020 considerably decreased our manual drying requirements, which had been both costly and time consuming. Overall, the MecWash systems have provided superior cleaning results, in faster time – and all with reduced manpower.”

The process starts with powerful ultrasonics, which are essential to clean the intricate shapes and blind holes of oil, swarf and fine particles. MecWash MWX systems boasts four ultrasonic rod transducers with single or mixed frequency (25 and 40 kHz). The ultrasonics create large amounts of localised cleaning energy, dislodging any contamination. After the wash stage, the components are rinsed, firstly with an ultrasonics stage, followed by flood and spray rinses, resulting in a polished finish.

More information www.mecwash.com

Shot-blast solution suits EV components

Due to rapidly growing demand for electric vehicle (EV) components, Alupress AG, a Brixen, Italy-based manufacturer of aluminium and magnesium die-castings, recently had to increase its shot-blasting capacity. For this purpose, the company purchased a continuous feed spinner hanger blast machine, including a transport system, from Rösler. The custom-engineered equipment design guarantees effective but also gentle de-flashing of workpieces without any risk of warping.

To ensure gentle but fast and effective de-flashing in continuous flow, the Rösler feed spinner hanger shot-blast machine features eight special turbines, each with an installed power of 11 kW. The turbines contain extra-wide throwing blades generating a particularly broad blast pattern. Furthermore, contrary to the standard placement of turbines on one side of the blast chamber, turbines are located on both sides.

This duplex turbine placement, together with the broad blast pattern, generates a gentle blast operation, significantly minimising the risk of warping. Meanwhile, the comparatively high blast media throughput, needed for the efficient de-flashing and cleaning of light metal components, ensures fast and effective shot-blasting operations.

Another feature preventing part warping is the workpiece carrier, which not only rotates during the shot-blast process but also oscillates back and forth in three positions. This guarantees the safe removal of flashes and burrs, even in difficult-to-reach areas like undercuts.


Necessary maintenance work is facilitated by multiple connections for cleaning equipment at different sections of the shot-blast machine.

A handling system ensures easy and trouble-free transport of the workpieces. At the load/unload station, the height of the workpiece carrier is adjustable to the height of the respective operator.

More information www.rosler.com