Daventry has been unveiled as the new home for an advanced engineering and manufacturing centre of excellence.

JRM, a company founded in 2007 and noted for its international success on the racetrack, has received funding of more than £1.6m from South East Midlands Local Enterprise Partnership (SEMLEP) to extend and remodel one of its existing sites in Daventry. Staff have already started to migrate into the new centre, while a new DMG Mori 3D printer (first in the UK) has also been installed. Building work is set to begin on what will become the UK’s Centre of Excellence (CoE) for Low-carbon Automotive Technologies.

JRM managing director Jason King says: “With the CoE we will become a company able not just to design and manufacture products, but test and approve them in our QC department. This means we’ll bring together under one roof all our capabilities as an advanced engineering company and, at the same time, bring in new ones – for industries locally and oversees.”

For further information www.semlep.com

TDT Machine Tools has signalled its intentions for growth by further strengthening the company’s sales team.

Mark Hone, who has around 15 years of experience in the machine-tool sector, has been appointed primarily to spearhead the sales of high-quality CMZ lathes and turning centres across the central England region. TDT was appointed a UK sales partner for Spain-headquartered CMZ in January 2020.

Hone arrives at TDT following extensive periods at a number of established competitors. His central England sales area for CMZ is extensive, running coast-to-coast from Lincolnshire in the east, to Wales in the west, taking in the East and West Midlands, including Hereford and Worcester, and extending as far north as Sheffield. Hone’s past experience will also be useful for TDT’s larger machine-tool products, from principals such as Kafo, You Ji and Lagun.

For further information www.tdt-machinetools.co.uk

For turning stainless steel components – regardless of whether they be cast, forged or semi-finished parts – Ceratizit says it now has the optimum insert in its range.

The established CTPM125 carbide grade has been joined by two new cutting materials to complete the product range: the more wear-resistant CTCM120 and the tougher CTCM130. Both feature the latest Dragonskin coating.

The arrival of these two new carbide grades, which are recommended for turning austenitic stainless steels, coincides with the publication of the new Ceratizit Up2Date supplementary catalogue. Development was focused on the most frequently used stainless steels – V2A (e.g. 1.4301) and V4A (1.4545) – with the aim of providing a wider selection of inserts to cover every application from roughing to fine machining.

CTCM120 is said to allow high cutting speeds on austenitic stainless steels and boasts a smooth cut. According to Ceratizit, the grade also impresses with its long tool life, which in some cases was double that of the competition in benchmark tests.

The tough CTCM130 carbide grade is recommended for interrupted cuts. If cutting speeds need to be kept low and conditions are unstable, the attributes of CTCM130 help to increase process security.

Ceratizit’s complete range for austenitic stainless steels is characterised not just by the precise co-ordination of the three grades, but by the free selection of different chip breakers. Depending on the application, customers can choose from three geometries for negative indexable inserts, or two for positive inserts.

For further information www.cuttingtools.ceratizit.com/gb/en.html

XYZ Machine Tools has adopted customer feedback and extended its Compact Turn range to offer greater capacity.

The company has introduced the CT 65 HD and, a highly cost-competitive solution, the CT 52 LR.

With the CT 52 LR, the use of linear rail technology has been extended to XYZ’s turning centres for the first time, having proved successful on its machining centre range. Using linear rails offers cost advantages without any compromise in capability. The CT 52 LR is available from under £36,000, making it advantageous to small and medium-sized businesses considering their first turning centre. Despite the relatively low cost, the CT 52 LR boasts an 11.2 kW (4500 rpm) spindle, 52 mm spindle bore, 10-station turret and Siemens 828D control.

The larger XYZ CT 65 HD offers enhanced turning capacity with a 510 mm maximum turned length, almost double that of its predecessor, and a total Z-axis travel of 525 mm. Another upgraded addition is the increased coolant delivery pressure, which now runs at 30 l/min (at 2.5 bar). Positioning is by ball screws that have been increased in size to 28 mm (X axis) and 40 mm (Z axis) respectively, with 20 m/min feed rates. Metal-cutting performance is enhanced using a Siemens 17 kW, 4500 rpm motor and the upgraded Siemens 828D ShopTurn touchscreen control unit.

Nigel Atherton, managing director XYZ Machine Tools, says: “The arrival of these two additions to our turning centre range will see a better balance between turning centre and machining centre sales. At present, machining centres outsell turning centres by around 3 to 1, but with these additions we can see that becoming more balanced.”

For further information www.xyzmachinetools.com

Dugard is strengthening its business model for the future with the addition of two new staff.

The appointment of Mike Corbett (pictured left), a well-respected name in the machine-tool industry with more than 30 years’ experience, is described by Dugard as “a real coup”. As the company’s new national sales support manager, Corbett will be drawing on his experience to support the growing sales team with technical expertise and advice.

Joining Corbett as a new starter at Dugard is Chris Anson, the latest addition to the service team. Taking on a dual role as a service and area sales manager, Anson has spent over a decade in the industry, working as a service engineer on some of the world’s most renowned and technically advanced machine-tool brands. Anson will use this expertise of working on turning and machining centres, as well as sliding-head lathes, to bolster the support for Dugard customers in the Midlands.
For further information www.dugard.com