SUBCONTRACTING NEWS

30-taper machine is clear choice for SPE

These days, 30-taper machining centres are more robust and fast than formerly, and can also cut tough materials. One company discovering the merits of this type of prismatic machining equipment is Staffordshire Precision Engineering (SPE) of Newcastle-under-Lyme. The subcontractor recently purchased a Brother R650X2 30-taper four-axis machining centre with a table-mounted indexing trunnion from the Japanese manufacturer’s sole sales agent in the UK and Ireland, Whitehouse Machine Tools. Programming support and unlimited training formedpart of the deal.

The machine is the subcontractor’s first 30-taper machine and is today producing aluminium parts for the aerospace, Formula 1, high-end automotive, scientific, medical and other industries. The material currently accounts for about 60% of prismatic component production in the factory. However, it so happened that the first job put on the Brother involved the production of a batch of 304 stainless steel pivot blocks for an aerospace customer.

It was at this point that Phil Smith, joint managing director of SPE (alongside brother Gary), realised that he had been harbouring an incorrect view that 30-taper machines are unable to cut tough metals productively. He is now convinced that modern Brother machines, with their high-torque spindles, are far more robust than he thought.

There are numerous 40-taper VMCs on site that are between 10 and 15 years old.The company will gradually replace these machines with more capable and productive plant. Smith predicts that the four-axis Brother will do the work of two of these older models. For instance, the R650X2 produced the aerospace pivot block in just two operations in a cycle time of 15 minutes, whereas one of the older machines took 38 minutes to produce the part in four operations. Moreover, there is now far less workpiece handling and work-in-progress.
For further information www.wmtcnc.com

Future skills

Sheffield Forgemasters is welcoming 24 new apprentices as the company progresses development atits advanced manufacturing facility. The forging and casting specialist is investing heavily over the next 10 years to support its defence-critical assets, including a new 13,000 tonne forge line and building, and 17 major machine tool replacements within a new machining facility.Apprentices have secured roles in the following disciplines:machining, electrical and control engineering, NDT, methods engineering (degree), design engineering (degree), production planning, and estimating.
For further information www.sheffieldforgemasters.com

SUBCONTRACTOR TURNS ON PRODUCTIVITY TAP

When it comes to machining turned parts, there are very few companies with the experience, prestige and capabilities of HPC Services. As an industry leader, when Ilkeston-based HPC specifies new fixed-head CNC turning centres, it turns to the Engineering Technology Group (ETG) and its Nakamura-Tome brand.

Established in 1997 with a single sliding-head lathe, the BTMA member now has 10 sliding heads and eight fixed-head machines.Along with sister company Hemlock Engineering, the two companies have more than 80 staff and 45 CNC machine tools. This is why HPC Services and Hemlock Engineering claim to be one of the largest subcontract organisations in the East Midlands.

Typically producing batches from 200 to 2000-off on its fixed-head machines and larger runs on its sliders, HPC Services holds upwards of £1m of stock components for its multitude of long-term customers to ‘call off’ at any point. With the majority of its machine tools operating at a 92% spindle uptime, when stock depletes below a certain level, the company recognises the need to invest in new machines to meet customer demand. So, with stock levels diminishing in line with increased customer demand and the company witnessing a period of significant growth, HPC required more capacity.The answer was a Nakamura-Tome WT150II-F turning centre that arrived in May 2023.

Discussing why the company specified a twin-spindle twin-turret Nakamura-Tome WT150II-F, HPC Services managing director Paul Cobb says: “The Nakamura is the ultimate subcontractor’s machine. It is fast, powerful and productive, but above all else, it’s an extremely flexible machine. That’s what you need when you don’t know what job is coming through the door next.”

The ISO9001 manufacturer now has six Nakamura machines, alluding to which, Cobb continues: “We’ve had Nakamura machines for over 20 years; they never let us down. We had three Nakamura machines and, when the brand underwent a significant upgrade over 10 years ago, we bought a new WT150 machine.Its enhanced capabilities and speed enabled it to replace two of the previous Nakamura models. The major upgrades at that time were a move from worm to tang drives, which increased the rigidity of the axes and milling capabilities. Nakamura also introduced a new control and software system. From that point, we bought another three WT150II-F machines, a WT100 and a smaller single-spindle, single-turret Nakamura AS200.

Nestled between Derby and Nottingham, the subcontractor manufactures everything from high-end kitchen and bathroom taps and ancillaries, through fire suppression systems, camera and scientific devices, to hydraulic components for the rail industry. Primary materials machined include brass, stainless steel and aluminium.

Discussing the variation of parts manufactured, Cobb says: “Our sliders produce small components, while the Nakamura machines are dedicated to larger parts. However, when it comes to machining small stainless parts, we move these to the Nakamuras. The Nakamuras are more powerful and robust, which results in higher cutting speeds and feeds, better surface finishes and extended tool life. Although sliders will be inherently faster than fixed-head machines, the ability to use larger more rigid tools on the Nakamuras, along with the flexibility to machine any part with multiple tools cutting simultaneously, is fantastic. Furthermore, this stability and versatility means we can get jobs off the machines in one hit and, by using the Hydrafeed Rota-Rack system on the WT150II-F machines, we can run the machines unmanned over the weekends.”

Regarding the seamless installation of the most recent Nakamura WT150II-F, Paul adds: “We have our Nakamura machines set-up with the programs and tools ready to run. All our tools are stored on shelves with the pre-sets, so they are ready to go. This means that any time a repeat job arrives, we have the program and tools set. It may be more costly from a tooling perspective, but it drastically reduces set-ups and changeovers. We can have some pretty complex jobs set up and running in less than an hour, and this system of operating also works when new machines arrive. For example, the latest Nakamura WT150II-F was up and running within hours of it being commissioned.”

The bank of Nakamura machines now runs for 18 hours a day during manned shifts and the remaining six hours of the day unmanned. The new Nakamura WT150II-F that arrived in May has run 18 hours a day, five days a week since it landed on the shop floor.

“The Nakamura’s are fantastic,” states Cobb.“We had space under a staircase for a smaller machine and bought a Nakamura AS200 single-spindle machine. Even that has been running around the clock since it came. In fact, we keep our WT150 and WT100 machines for bar-fed work and the smaller AS200 is used for 3-4 inch billet jobs.”

Looking to the future, Cobb concludes: “We’re about to launch a new milling company called Skyblade for high-volume automated milling and we also want a dedicated facility for our Nakamura machines. We are confident that, with our growth trajectory, we’ll have 10 and maybe more Nakamura machines soon.”
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

Toolmaker gets right tool for the job

As a small subcontract toolmaking and machining business, Precision Engineering Services (Buxton) Ltd has carved a niche in the production of press and mould tools for the construction and DIY sectors. As part of these activities, the business undertakes a significant amount of wire EDM work, which is why it has just invested in a Mitsubishi MV1200S wire EDM machine from the Engineering Technology Group (ETG).

The Buxton-based manufacturer has a selection of manual and CNC machine tools as well as a die-sink EDM machine and a wire EDM. However, with the company’s 12-year-old Mitsubishi BA8 wire EDM being the busiest machine, its precision levels were sadly diminishing after more than a decade of non-stop operation.

“After more than 10 years of non-stop running, the ball screws on our existing Mitsubishi BA8 wire EDM were deteriorating and maintaining precision was becoming more of a challenge,” explains managing director Chris Barlow.“We knew that a new machine would be the best route forward. With linear drive technology and tubular shaft motors instead of ball screws, the new MV1200S has a 12-year accuracy warranty and an optical drive system that provides circular accuracy within 1μm, so we won’t have this concern in the future.”

With regard to overall cutting time, Barlowsays: “The speed of cutting is always restricted by the wire. However, features that would take four passes to finish on the BA8 are now possible in three or sometimes two passes with our new MV1200S. This improves our productivity by 25% and even 50% in some cases.”

This impressive productivity improvement is credit to the new V350 generator, which has a significantly higher effective clock rate.
For further information www.engtechgroup.com

VERICUT SUPPORTS PROCESS GAINS AT TRINITY PRECISION

An aerospace parts supplier in Wichita, Kansas, has built its business based on three key pillars: people, process and principle. VERICUT toolpath simulation and optimisation software from CGTech helps support the ‘process’ element of the company’s ethos.

Integrity and experience. Consistent performance. Clarity of purpose. These are words to live and work by, no matter the vocation. They are also the guiding philosophies behind Trinity Precision Inc’s motto of ‘people, process, principle’, and ever since founders David May, Steve Ford, Dave Tice and Chris VanNover opened the company’s doors in 2014, they have stood by them.

“When we started Trinity, it was important that we establish the foundations needed to ensure success for the company and its employees,” says VanNover, Trinity Precision’s vice president of operations. “One of these was the use of robust programming technology, which includes accurate, productive toolpath simulation. VERICUT has filled that role since day one.”

CNC programming manager Merritt Stuever has been at Trinity Precision for the past five years. Like VanNover and the rest of the company’s management team, he also has great respect for VERICUT. Including his time at Trinity Precision, he has been using the product for nearly two decades.

“After running a program through VERICUT, we’re not only assured that the G-code is consistent with a good part, but we also eliminate any chance of a crash,” he says.“Considering the cost of replacing a spindle and the machine downtime that comes with it, it’s a simple choice. VERICUT is a no-brainer.”

To say that Trinity Precision is heavy into aerospace work is an understatement. The company’s customer list includes blue-chip organisations like Boeing, Northrop Grumman, Gulfstream, Textron Aviation and many others besides. OEMs of this stature have zero tolerance for deviation in part quality or missed deliveries. As such, strict adherence to established processes is critical, which helps explain the aerospace supplier’s focus on ‘the three Ps’ in its logo, along with its reliance on sound programming procedures.

VanNover explains that Trinity Precision president David May purchased an existing “mom and pop” machine shop as a starting point for the new business. The previous owners were using a well-known brand of CAM software and had a single seat of CATIA from Dassault Systèmes that was gathering dust. May and his management team hit the reset button.

“We knew from previous experience that implementing change once you’ve reached a certain size can be difficult, so we took the opportunity early on to build everything right from the ground up,” he says. “We stayed with CATIA because that’s what most of our customers require and, like I said, we alsoinvested in VERICUT. It does everything that we need it to do, and seeing as we were looking forward to a lot of new CNC equipment back then, also liked the fact that we could develop our own machine tool models. It gives us a lot of flexibility.”

Today, Trinity Precision boasts 32,000 sq ft of manufacturing space and a fleet of advanced CNC machinery. The company has also enjoyed a four-fold revenue increase since those early days. VanNover notes that, like most in the aerospace industry, the pandemic-related slowdown in commercial aviation gave them “a pretty significant haircut” over the past two years. However, that tide appears to be turning and Trinity’s 70+ employees stand ready for future growth.

Of course, growth depends on robust processes, something Stuever and the rest of the engineering team spend their days developing. Every CNC machine tool has a standard tool list, greatly reducing set-up time and eliminating the chance that an operator will place a cutter in the wrong position.

In addition, all feedrates, cutting speeds and other machining parameters are similarly standardised within CATIA. Offline tool pre-setting is in active use at Trinity Precision and many of the machine tools employ tool breakage detection for automated operation. Every job goes through VERICUT before leaving the programming office, a requirement that Stuever says has saved the company countless hours of rework and even scrap.

“We’re mostly a high-mix, low-volume shop, so oftentimes we might have a couple of dozen new part numbers in a week,” he explains. “Since none of us can read and visualise hundreds of thousands oflines of G-code, VERICUT is the best way to check for interference, gouging, leftover material and any of the other everyday programming scenarios that can lead to a bad part or worse. And since we know the software will catch things like that, it makes the programming process both easier and faster.”

Stuever is also pleased with CGTech’s support level. He has taken several courses over the years and attended multiple VUE sessions (VERICUT Users’ Exchange). As a result, Stuever has come to know many of the people at the software developer’s Irvine headquarters.

“They’re very helpful and always take the time to make sure any issues or needs are resolved,” he says. “As far as technical support goes, there are only two companies that I rank extremely high. CGTech is one of them.”

VanNover offers similarly high praise: “The rest of the management team and I have worked in shops where machinists were out there changing programs, selecting their own tools and pretty much doing their own thing. However, you can’t operate like that anymore, especially with the available labour force. This is why we’ve taken most of that responsibility and put it in the programmer’s camp, making it critical that we have the right software tools. And so even from the very start, this was a non-negotiable aspect of our desire to lay the right foundation; VERICUT is a big part of that foundation.”
For further information www.cgtech.co.uk