Telford-based Advanced Chemical Etching (ACE) has invested another £100,000 into increasing its capacity to target new opportunities in precision engineering.

ACE, which employs 60 people at its base on Hortonwood, is taking delivery of an additional cleaning machine in the next few weeks that will give it the capability to deliver more than 2000 etched sheets every day – a major rise from the 350 it produced in 2018. “Our pre- and post-cleaning machines have made us so much quicker,” says Ian Whateley, managing director.
“This latest investment gives us the flexibility we need to scale volumes up quickly when required.”
For further information https://ace-uk.net/

On 30 August, Prosaw received an email from Rusty Road 2 Recovery, a not-for-profit community interest company in Bridgwater, Somerset. The company requested assistance with obtaining a much needed bandsaw and wondered whether Prosaw would be generous enough to donate the equipment.

Rusty Road 2 Recovery is a social enterprise and non-profit organisation that provides recovery-based services for people of all ages and sexes who suffer from mental health problems. Its purpose is to have a positive impact on the lives of 75 local people a week, including older citizens who suffer from isolation and loneliness, and younger people who have been rejected, or require guidance and opportunities to achieve qualifications which have not been possible for them to gain through normal educational services.
So, why the donation of a bandsaw? Well, participants work together as groups to take classic vehicles – including motorcycles, tractors and cars that are often viewed by many as scrap or beyond repair – and restore them to their former glory. This work encourages individuals to take pride in themselves and their achievements, while discovering that there is always hope. A bandsaw is vital piece of machinery for such a workshop.
Prosaw’s managing director Phil Crick says: “The idea just struck a chord with us and we soon delivered a Waytrain manual bandsaw, at no cost, to help with their mission.”
For further information www.prosaw.co.uk

To save time, weight and costs when producing metal aircraft components, Airbus Helicopters in Donauwörth, Bavaria, part of the Airbus Group, recently turned to additive manufacturing. The company not only develops and produces a range of helicopter models such as the H135 and H145, but specialises in the manufacture of more than 4000 doors for passenger and cargo aircraft every year.

To separate the titanium parts from their 400 x 400 mm titanium base plates rapidly, economically and without damage after they have been 3D printed, Airbus Helicopters recently purchased an automatic KASTOwin AMC bandsaw from Kasto. The base plate with 3D printed shafts weighing up to 40 kg is transported from the 3D printer by forklift truck to the saw and bolted securely to a clamping mechanism.
After the machine door closes, the mechanism rotates through 180° so that sawing of the components to remove them from the base plate is performed upside down. This design offers considerable advantages in additive manufacturing as, after being cut, the parts cannot topple over or buckle, preventing the risk of damage that could lead to time-intensive reworking or even expensive scrap.
As the plate is ground flat after each build so it can be repeatedly reused, it becomes progressively thinner. With this thought in mind, before sawing begins, an employee has to measure its thickness when clamped and enter the figure into the job wizard of the AdvancedControl CNC. The bandsaw blade, actuated by a precision ballscrew drive, then moves precisely to the programmed height. When cutting is complete, the shafts fall into a padded container to prevent damage and are removed through a flap.
For further information www.kasto.com

The most powerful flat-bed laser-profiling centre ever to be installed in the UK for processing sheet metal has started operation at subcontractor ESP Laser Cutting, a specialist in producing components from 3 x 1.5 m sheet in an array of materials to a thickness of 30 mm. ESP’s investment follows the development of a 12 kW fibre laser source by Bystronic, which has delivered a machine of that power, a ByStar Fiber 3015 to the contract machinist’s factory in Rotherham.

Delivering one-fifth more energy to the metal sheet than the previous most powerful fibre laser (10 kW), the new source was expected to be 20% faster at cutting. What ESP’s joint owners Steve McMillan and Paul Short actually experience is a typical productivity increase of 33%.
For processing one particular job, chain links from 10 mm mild steel sheet, a three-fold productivity improvement was gained on the 12 kW machine. When formerly profiling the parts on the ByStar Fiber 10 kW machine that is still in use at the Rotherham facility, 200 components per hour was the maximum output, as there was not sufficient laser power to employ nitrogen as the assist gas. Instead, oxygen had to be used, requiring the cutting speed to be reduced so that acceptable edge quality could be achieved.
By contrast, the 12 kW machine produces 600 parts per hour, as the higher power allows the use of nitrogen and hence full profiling speed. There is the added advantage that cut edges are better, especially on the underside of the sheet, than when formerly using ‘active’ oxygen, as ‘inert’ nitrogen does not react with the sheet material. ESP employs a profiling speed of 6900 mm/min when producing the chain links, although the machine is capable of 150 m/min on thin gauges.
For further information www.bystronic.co.uk

In the UK, Trumpf recorded an order intake of £65m and sales of £60m in 2018/19, a 29% increase on the previous year’s figures.

“We continued, for a second consecutive year, to see a high number of customers purchasing more complex solutions,” explains managing director Lee Moakes. “There was also very strong growth in bending, especially automated bending. Trumpf is now providing its most comprehensive package ever to ensure customers get the best return on their investments. We’ve also increased our technical service capacity by more than 15% this year, ensuring we are prepared for further growth.”
Overall, the Trumpf Group recorded a renewed increase in sales in the 2018/19 fiscal year, which ended on 30 June 2019. Total sales rose by 6.1% to €3.78bn. Revenues for the Machine Tools division climbed by 1.2% to €2.39bn.
For further information www.uk.trumpf.com