British high-tech company Domin is transforming hydraulic technology with efficient, 3D-printed components, supported by the precision of a Studer S33 universal cylindrical grinding machine.

Based at the Domin Technology Centre near Bristol, the company develops advanced servo valves and high-performance pumps for various sectors. Domin uses metal additive manufacturing to create complex, flow-optimised internal structures that would be impossible to produce conventionally. The resulting hydraulic systems can deliver efficiency gains of up to 90% compared with traditional solutions.

However, the precision required for Domin’s products extends beyond 3D printing. Its maraging steel components require accurate post-processing to align the control edges of valve spools with the windows of their housings to within a few micrometres. Previously, this was achieved using wire EDM, but the process was too slow to support increasing production volumes.

“We were faced with the problem of scaling an extremely precise but slow process for our growing production,” explains Cameron Adams, manufacturing engineering manager at Domin. “We needed a machine that would reliably guarantee the highest precision while offering the flexibility to combine different machining operations.”

Domin selected the Studer S33, which now grinds the diameters and fine control edges of valve spools. On the S6 Pro valve, for example, the required diameter tolerance is just 3 µm. During acceptance testing, deviation across 50 components was only 0.0006 mm using in-process measurement.

The S33 has also transformed productivity. Machining time for the S6 Pro valve has been reduced from almost one hour using EDM to just five minutes with cylindrical grinding. Its two-wheel configuration also allows diameters and shoulders to be ground in a single operation, eliminating wheel changes and tailstock movements.

With production volumes set to increase, Domin is now planning automated part loading.

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