Axminster Tools has established itself as a market leader in the mail order tools and machinery industry, having supplied premium quality products throughout Europe for over 45 years. This family-built business based in Devon has a proud heritage of UK manufacturing operations, and recently invested in a new sliding-head lathe from Star GB to expand upon its already impressive array of machines.

Axminster sources products from all over the world, as well as supporting a number of specialist UK companies. With over 17,000 products lines, a multitude of brands and ranges are brought together on the company’s website and in its stores. Boasting steady year-on-year growth through product innovation, competitive pricing and a commitment to customer satisfaction, Axminster’s management team recently decided to further enhance business by investing in the company’s manufacturing processes. The upgrades would allow Axminster Tools to become more efficient, increase productivity and open new opportunities to develop its product range.
With an SR-32J and SR-38 Type B from Star already on-site, and a relationship with the machine-tool supplier dating back over five years, Axminster’s supply chain director Andrew Parkhouse had no question of where to place his trust for guidance on the company’s latest project.
The project focused on a chuck jaw (pictured) for a woodturning lathe, originally produced locally in small quantities over 30 years ago. As demand increased, the company began sourcing the parts overseas to cope with growing volumes, but was faced with quality concerns that led Axminster to bring the component back in-house, where it has since remained for several years.
With production demand in the region of 25,000 units per annum, and current methods of manufacture requiring five operations, including milling, grinding and finishing, the company challenged Star to produce the jaw in a single operation.

The applications team at Star was confident the project was well-suited to a sliding-head lathe and set about selecting the ideal machine for the job. Star was then able to provide a competitive cycle time estimate which would allow Axminster to produce the components more efficiently and increase profitability.
Star’s SV-38R, with its capabilities and flexibility, made the machine a firm favourite for the project. Axminster commissioned a turnkey package and began building an extension to its facility to accommodate the new machine upon completion.
The high-specification machine chosen combines the fast processing ability of a traditional platen-type sliding-head lathe with the flexibility of a turret machine, to enable simultaneous machining operations. The turret allows for a substantial number of tools to be mounted and includes an independent Z3 axis, enabling two different features to be machined at the same time using Star’s ‘super-position’ control mode.
Fanuc’s 31i-B5 control delivers full five-axis capability, permitting complex components to be processed. In addition, the B-axis tool holders on the turret enable angular features to be machined on both the main and sub-spindle.
A sub-spindle with independent eight-station platen increases overlapped machining possibilities, while the Y2 axis on the sub-spindle platen allows both cross working and front-facing power tools to be mounted in any station. The flexibility of the Star SV-38R is further enhanced by its ability to switch between guide bush mode (Swiss type) and non-guide bush mode.

Through combining the machine’s balanced milling capability, specialist tooling up to 75 mm diameter and comprehensive process development, the final manufacturing time was reduced by 60% in comparison with the existing method. In addition to a faster cutting cycle, component quality has also significantly improved as a result of ‘one-hit’ machining, reducing the process down from the previous five operations.
Parkhouse says: “The SV-38R is a significant investment and we are confident that it will allow Axminster to progress to the next level. Our new machine will only run these parts for the majority of its service, however, we highly value the additional capabilities it gives us to develop other products in the future.
“At present, the machine also significantly releases capacity on our other machines to truly maximise the machining potential of our business,” he adds. “There are exciting times ahead for Axminster and we can’t wait to further reap the benefits of our continued investment in Star and its technology.”
Following the successful pass-off and delivery of the new machine, Axminster’s engineers underwent programmer training at Star’s UK headquarters in Derby followed by on-site setting and operation training. Included in the package was Star’s programming software, PU-JR. This editor makes programming the three-channel machine more efficient, allowing Axminster’s setters to generate complicated programs quickly and easily.

Says Parkhouse: “Our machinist, Marika, is particularly excited about the new machine. She has been with us a relatively short amount of time but took a liking to the Star sliding-head machines very early on. Marika joined us with little machining experience but is now operating, setting and programming all of our machines. With Star’s help, she will be up to speed with the SV-38R in no time.”
Moving forward, Axminster is forecasting continued growth with an ongoing investment strategy to keep up with the fast-moving industry it supplies. The company and its employees have consistently been nominated for awards, and several prizes have been won for customer service, alongside recently achieving high rankings on major consumer choice platforms in its business category.
For further information www.stargb.com

Andover-based MRT Castings, which has long used robotic systems in its aluminium die-casting foundry, has started to introduce automation in the machine shop following the arrival of a Japanese-built Brother Speedio M140X2 five-axis mill-turn cell. The cell is fed automatically with raw material from an interlinked Feedio robotic handling system from the same manufacturer, the first to be installed in the UK. MRT’s turnkey cell was supplied by sole sales and service agent Whitehouse Machine Tools.

One-hit machining is the watchword at the die-casting firm to keep production costs down and remain competitive on world markets, as well as to avoid tolerance build-up and hence maximise component accuracy. A user of Brother 30-taper, four-axis machining centres since the early 1990s, the company now operates 20, half of which are equipped with a pallet changer. In addition, there are three twin-spindle CNC lathes with driven tooling on the shop floor.
MRT’s managing director Phil Rawnson says: “Our pursuit of single set-up production means that we sometimes find ourselves processing parts on our lathes that entail only one-third turning, with the remainder of the cycle taken up by prismatic machining using live tools in the turret. It is an inefficient method of milling and drilling, as the rotational speed and power of the limited number of tools in a lathe are considerably lower than those of the spindle on a machining centre, which also has the benefit of access to more tools.
“So we decided to invest in a mill-turn machine and identified the Brother M140X2 as ideal for our needs,” he adds. “It has a 16,000 rpm, face-and-taper contact spindle and a 22-tool magazine, plus a turning table with a 55 Nm direct-drive motor powering a 2,000 rpm turning table. When not performing a turning function, the C-axis table together with the A-axis trunnion can be employed to position a component in the two rotary axes for 3+2 prismatic machining, which is needed for most of our components.”

To leverage the productivity potential of the M140X2, the plan is for any rotational part that requires a majority of milling and drilling in its cutting cycle, whether machined from a casting, billet or bar, to be assigned to the five-axis machine. The Feedio system, equipped with a six-axis ABB robot, is capable of handling billets up to 80 mm diameter, or aluminium castings up to 120 mm diameter, and delivering them to a hydraulic chuck on the machine table.
A vision system and built-in PC allows the robot to detect where on the upper inlet conveyor of the Feedio the raw material has been placed, so the billets or castings do not have to be aligned on a grid or in a tray. After machining, components are returned to an output conveyor that, to minimise the footprint, is positioned below the first rather than to the side.
Rawnson says: “Until recently, we operated a day shift with a few hours’ overtime in the early morning and evening. The new Brother cell has added to this by allowing us to run lights-out for up to eight hours, depending on component size and cycle times, as well as unattended during the day.”
The first contract to be fulfilled in the automated cell is a family of aluminium bodies for a range of LED light fittings. Prototypes were produced on twin-spindle lathes with live tooling, but as only around 30% of the machining is rotational, it is better suited to production on the M140X2 mill-turn. Cycle time has been almost halved from 15 to 8 minutes, thanks to the higher power of the 16,000 rpm milling spindle and its rapid acceleration and deceleration, tool change in less than one second, up to 30 m/min cutting feed rate, and 50 m/min rapids.
MRT’s production team had been looking for some time at different possibilities for automating its Brother machining centres to increase the efficiency of producing parts in batches of typically 500 to 1,000-off. According to Rawnson, such medium size volumes do not lend themselves readily to automated solutions, which normally require expensive, dedicated, hydraulic clamping fixtures in the machine tool. However, he points out that the M140X2 already has a hydraulic chuck and, therefore, the work-holding function is already in place, so no extra fixtures are needed. It is thus a suitable machine to trial automation in this type of production environment.

To assist in finding the best robotic handling configuration to go with the machine, MRT enlisted the help of the Manufacturing Technology Centre (MTC) in Coventry. After researching the market, its advisers concluded that a conveyor system and a teach-in programmed, vision-enabled, six-axis robot with interchangeable 3D-printed grippers would best suit the types of components produced and machines in use at Andover.
“It was a perfect fit for our needs, which was to acquire a standard, compact, entry-level cell that does not need complex robot programming or workpiece trays, delivered and commissioned by a single-source supplier, in this case Whitehouse Machine Tools,” says Rawnson. “Feedio is suitable for retrofitting to all our Brother machining centres, both non-APC and twin-pallet types, allowing us to reduce operator attendance and maximise production hours during the day. Quality is enhanced, as workpiece loading is more consistent.
“In addition, we are able to extend our single day shift by taking advantage of lights-out running into the evening or even overnight, raising output without increasing our headcount,” he adds. “Importantly, all our operators are supportive of introducing new technology like this.”
He goes on to cite other advantages of the automation system. At present, the LED lighting components are still produced by first completing Op 10 and then reloading them for Op 20. However, they could be produced in one hit if a turnover station was to be introduced. Alternatively, one Feedio could serve two machining centres carrying out both operations simultaneously. There are also possibilities to integrate other functions such as component deburring and washing.
Rawnson concludes: “We see automation as the future for our company. Aluminium billets have been machined so far but the suitability of automatically handling castings is being investigated. We plan to target a wide range of different components for production in the new mill-turn cell, and will be looking in particular at parts where turning content is less than half of the cycle time.”
For further information www.wmtcnc.com

A sheet-metal specialist is providing the perfect example of how a small company can build a successful digital ecosystem, bringing its factory in line with the Industry 4.0 philosophy of smart production. Laser subcontractor AFDL operates with between five and eight employees at any one time, and has installed the WorkPlan MES job management solution, which connects seamlessly with its Radan sheet-metal CADCAM system. Both products are from the Hexagon portfolio, geared towards supporting data-driven smart factories.

Installing the WorkPlan job management and quotation with Radquote module has allowed AFDL (Atelier Forezien de Découpage Laser) to become completely autonomous, from quotation through to invoicing, by providing a full overview of orders received, outstanding and delivered, and of the company’s turnover.
Site Manager Stéphane Noailly says: “Previously, we didn’t have production management software, and invoicing was managed by our parent group, Decofor, involving double entry of all our delivery notes.
“We needed to invest in this type of software because of strong growth, and more employees,” says Noailly. “It was becoming too complicated to manage the company’s activities with Excel files. We opted for WorkPlan as it comes from the same stable as Radan, which we’ve used as our sheet-metal production software for over 10 years.”
Focusing on both thick and thin laser cutting, from 0.2 to 25 mm, across a range of steels, stainless steel and aluminium, AFDL has also developed its activities in bending and welding, producing stainless steel tables for the furniture industry, and working for pharmacies and the public sector.

The company has grown recently, and now produces up to 50 orders a day, comprising individual unit parts, through to large series. Prior to installing WorkPlan, Noailly managed everything from order entry to manufacturing, but since the installation and deployment of the software he has been able to free up time to develop the company’s activity.
Combining the WorkPlan and Radquote interface with the automated system for time analysis, production cost estimation, and quotation generation for sheet-metal parts and assemblies, means AFDL has become more responsive, accurate and fair in terms of price, compared to its competitors, says Noailly, which has allowed the company to successfully manage an increase in demand.
AFDAL was created at the end of 2013 with Decofor being its only customer, yet today half of its customers are external.

“I use WorkPlan to generate precise quotations in connection with Radquote, and either duplicate or modify them for similar new orders; quickly transform them into orders; view all orders at any time; or give autonomy to the workshop to generate delivery notes by simply entering the order number, which also avoids missing invoices.
“Recurring orders from Decofor are now managed with just a few clicks,” he continues. “The file is sent in CSV format, and WorkPlan transforms it into a command – no more re-entries or errors. It’s a real time saver, as production can commence immediately.”

AFDL inherited a CNC machine tool which had originally been purchased at auction by Decofor with Radan already installed, and Noailly decided he wanted to continue using the software. Production is now carried out 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with Radan currently powering two Trumatic 3050 laser-cutting machines and an Amada HFT press brake. There are plans to replace one of the laser machines with a Trumatic 3030 automated fibre laser profiling centre, which will enable the company to move into copper and brass cutting for the electrical sector.
According to Noailly, Radan makes the production process as simple and efficient as possible.
“Customers provide us with files in a variety of formats, including: a DXF 2D plan, which we can use immediately; a 3D STEP file which we open in Radan 3D to unfold before working on it in 2D; PDF files which we have to completely redesign; or directly with parts to reproduce them identically. As soon as the file is validated it’s imported into Radan 2D or 3D to be nested and put into production.
“The drawing features built into our Radan 2D module mean we can efficiently design a 2D part,” explains Noailly. “The software also gives us a quick and simple method to repair or simplify geometries from other systems.”
With around 20 regular products to redesign, or files to use, production is divided 50/50 – firstly, a series of parts, comprising more than 50 pieces; and secondly, individual units.
“Thanks to Radan we can produce up to 30 pieces on the same day that the order is placed, which means we can readily adapt to our customers’ urgent demands when they require something immediately,” says Noailly.
“We are only a small company, but the integrated solution of WorkPlan and Radan has brought our factory in line with the Industry 4.0 philosophy of smart production adopted by companies many times our size.”
For further information www.workplan.com www.radan.com

One of the UK’s largest pump manufacturers shipping more than 200,000 units per year, Charles Austen Pumps, has invested in its first sliding-headstock bar automatic, a Cincom L20-X from Citizen Machinery UK. The machine was installed at the company’s Byfleet factory in June 2019 and has taken over the turn-milling of parts up to 25 mm diameter, the vast majority of which are brass. A few aluminium, stainless steel and plastic components are also produced.

Established nearly 75 years ago by Charles Austen, the company is credited with inventing the diaphragm pump, which in the 1950s helped John Enders develop the polio vaccine. The firm’s products later assisted the development of Concorde and the Apollo 15 mission to put a rover on the Moon. A wide range of pump types is now manufactured and the firm has been so successful that growth over the past six years has been 30% per annum, driven by strong home sales and a buoyant export market.
Naturally that has put a strain on all areas of the operation, not least the machine shop. While prismatic metal cutting, including the milling and drilling of parts for pumps, as well as injection mould manufacture, is largely carried out in-house, the two fixed-head, 57 mm bar capacity CNC lathes on site struggled to cope with the production volumes of rotational parts. The result was that lately as much as two-thirds of the turning requirement was subcontracted out at a cost of more than £100,000 per year.

Machine shop manager at the Byfleet facility Matt Wright says: “More than 80% of our turned components are between 16 and 19 mm in diameter, so we needed a lathe of relatively small bar capacity to start bringing work back to our factory. Our bigger lathes are not so efficient when machining these smaller workpieces due to their longer tool movements and slower axis travels.
“We considered fixed-head as well as sliding-head technology, as our parts are generally short compared with their diameter,” he continues. “We concluded that sliding-head turn-milling would be more productive because the tools are mounted on gang posts rather than turrets, so are quicker into the cuts as they have less distance to move. Also, because we do not need to use the guide bush, the bar remnants are shorter, saving money on material. Should we ever need it, we also have the flexibility of quickly installing the guide bush for true Swiss-type turning of shaft-type workpieces over 2.5D.”
He advises that the company initially reviewed most of the sliding-head lathe providers and that the choice of Citizen was primarily down its reputation for quality machines and for providing good applications support, training and after-sales service which, since the L20-X was installed, he describes as “brilliant”.
A selection of turn-milled components for the OEM’s pumps was taken to the machine supplier’s Bushey technical centre, where engineers recommended the best machine for producing the parts. This was deemed to be the twin spindle L20-X turning centre in optional, oversize configuration capable of machining bar up to 25 mm in diameter. An Iemca barfeed for 3 m stock was also supplied, as well as a workpiece conveyor.
Standard features of the machine include up to 44 cutters, including rotary stations on the gang, opposing and back tool posts, with Y-axis movement of the first two tool carriers. The LFV version of the machine with its patented, two-axis CNC chip-breaking software in the control’s operating system was not needed, as free-cutting brass is mainly machined at Byfleet.
Batch sizes produced on the Cincom vary greatly from ones and twos for the R&D department, up to 10,000-off. The first job on the machine was a brass cam that ran continuously for 96 hours, from Monday morning to Thursday evening. Machined in one 105-second cycle to tolerances down to +10/-5 µm, including in-cycle engraving for traceability, the part previously needed two operations taking three times longer, plus additional handling for manual chamfering and stamping. Wright says that machine attendance was minimal during the day and non-existent overnight. When he arrived at the factory the next morning and measured the parts, all were not only within the 15 µm tolerance band, but right in the middle of it.

Another brass component, this time a 19 mm diameter disc-type part just 0.6 mm thick, saw its two operations in 2.5 minutes reduced to one 50-second cycle – another three-fold saving – plus the elimination of handling. A third example, a double eccentric with an offset hole and an offset spigot with a 5 µm limit, is now produced in under three minutes instead of five, including engraving which previously had to be done manually. Surface finish on all parts coming off the L20-X is noticeably better.
An element of the service provided by Citizen Machinery prior to delivery of the lathe was the provision of programs for machining two components. Since then, the Cincom machine operators, including Wright’s son Ryan, have been using the supplier’s Alkart CNC Wizard programming software. According to Citizen, the software is easy to learn and a simple process to cut, modify and paste elements from the original programs and add new blocks for other features using the wizard’s G-code and M-code library.
Wright concludes: “We are already bringing turned parts manufacture back in-house and that will accelerate in the coming months. We have hundreds of component variations lined up to put on the L20-X. By Easter 2020, we should be turn-milling them all in our factory. With the amount we have been spending lately on subcontracting services, I calculate that the Citizen Cincom slider will pay for itself in a little less than two years.”
For further information www.citizenmachinery.co.uk

Ferrabyrne is a specialist moulding company predominantly producing bonded rubber for metal technology and suspension systems used in the rail industry and commercial vehicles. The Littlehampton-based business manufactures as much as possible in-house, including the design and production of mould tools. Recent growth in demand from its rail customers, driven by refurbishment of existing roiling stock to extend its service life and new projects, meant that the company’s tool room had to meet unprecedented production challenges. This saw a need for improved and increased machining capacity.

“The rail market is very active at present, which has led to unprecedented demand for our products,” explains Mike Wood, Ferrabyrne’s project director. “Customers such as Hitachi, Siemens, Bombardier, CAF and Stadler are very active in the UK and Europe. The development of new rolling stock has led to an increased number of new vehicles that our customers are bringing to market, and it is a privilege to working with them. We have invested heavily in rapid prototyping to ease pressure at the design stage, but our tool room was faced with major production challenges. We would typically produce one mould tool every 2 to 3 weeks, but at present we have a waiting list of over 40 mould tools, with a similar number of assembly tools. Additional tool room machining capacity was clearly a priority, hence the need for investment.”
As products have developed in size and complexity, demands on the mould tools have also increased, and the need for a machine capable of meeting these challenges has led Ferrabyrne to XYZ Machine Tools and its XYZ 2010 vertical machining centre.
Part of XYZ’s HD (heavy-duty) range, the 2010 VMC is a box-slideway based machine built on solid Meehanite castings, with the machine weighing in at 20,000 kg. One feature that attracted Ferrabyrne to this machine was its 1,000 mm of Y-axis travel, which is supported on six hardened box ways.

“As our work was increasing in size, we were finding that we were having to shuffle work around on our existing machines in order to fully manufacture them,” says Phil Nell, Ferrabyrne’s tooling design engineer. “So, having the large Y axis was an important part in our decision making and, although we did our research, the XYZ was the only machine of this type that could give us that. Our requirements also included a need to quickly set-up jobs for one-off and low-volume production, and the XYZ gives us that ability, in combination with our WorkNC and Autodesk software, which help create complex tool paths quickly for download to the Siemens control.”
Prior to placing the order for the XYZ 2010 HD VMC, the team from Ferrabyrne visited an XYZ showroom for a demonstration and, while there, attention was drawn to the ProtoTRAK lathe, in particular the new ProTURN RLX 425 with a 1.25 m bed length. This machine features the latest RX ProtoTRAK control.
“I used ProtoTRAK when it was first introduced, and we have an XYZ SLV turret mill in the tool room with one of the older EMX controls, so I was interested to see the new control and I have to say it’s brilliant,” says Nell.
The impact that the new control had on Nell and his colleagues saw them go away and produce a justification for the purchase of the RLX 425 that included the elimination of an existing CNC lathe.
“The benefits of the RLX 425 have fully justified our commitment to purchase it,” says Nell. “We did have some resistance from people who were used to the old machine, but the simplicity and ease-of-use of the ProtoTRAK control quickly won them over. Our efficiency producing low-volume parts has improved, as we can load DXF files for more complex jobs to the control, but still program many jobs at the machine and quickly be in production. However, the thing that mostly won us over was the TRAKing facility, whereby we can verify programs before pressing cycle start. This gives a lot of confidence to the operators; it is a perfect machine for our tool room work.”

XYZ’s ProTURN RLX 425 sits in the middle of the company’s ProTURN lathe range and is available with either a 1.25 or 2 m distance between centres. Performance is enhanced by a 7.5 kW spindle with three speed ranges covering 25 to 2500 rpm. In addition to the TRAKing facility, the ProtoTRAK control delivers constant surface speed, a touchscreen interface with the now familiar ‘pinch to zoom’ and ‘twist to rotate graphics’, a tool library, and on-screen speed and feed override. These features are among many enhancements that lead to smoother workflow and greater productivity, yet retain the familiar ease-of-use to which ProtoTRAK users have become accustomed, making the step up from older versions straightforward.
For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com