Steve Holmes, owner of subcontract machining company Pro-Cut Precision Engineering of Milton Keynes, founded his business in 2010 and bought a second-hand Hurco VMX30 three-axis vertical machining centre (VMC) to carry out prismatic machining operations.

Today, specialising in a mixture of prototyping and small batch work as well as longer production runs, he has on the shop floor seven modern machines from the same supplier. One of the most recent additions is the first full five-axis model on site, a trunnion-type VMX30Ui.

The VMX30Ui joined an existing VM30i three-axis machining centre in an adjacent unit that has benefitted from the addition of a Kitagawa rotary-tilt table with Lang work holding. The machine provides further five-axis capability while retaining the possibility of using the full 1270 mm X axis for processing larger components. When carrying out five-sided metal-cutting operations, the machine is often programmed using Hurco’s transform-plane software in the Max5 control.

Holmes advises that the move towards five-axis was a natural progression for the company and, having two different configurations of machine, allows him to produce a greater variety of workpiece sizes and shapes. He is impressed with the reliability and performance of the Hurco machines and says they produce components of high accuracy and surface finish.

“Compared with other models on the market, the VMX30Ui can handle surprisingly large sized components, considering the relatively small footprint of the VMC,” he states.

“We are happy to machine five-sided components in 3+2 axis mode or undertake fully simultaneous five-axis work, the more complex parts presently being required mainly for the motorsport sector.

“The flexibility to serve a variety of customers is key to our business success and the latest, larger capacity five-axis model will help us further in this respect.”

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