XYZ bed mill hits the bullseye at Precision Rifles

Machine Shop staff are seeing the benefits the ProtoTRAK® CNC control can bring to the workshop.

Since its establishment in 1946, Fletcher Moorland, the Stoke on Trent based 24 hour a day repair and refurbishment company, has continued to thrive under the leadership of three generations; Sam Fletcher who founded the company followed by Malcolm Fletcher and now Matt Fletcher.

Starting as a company that rewound motors for local businesses, Fletcher Moorland expanded its services under Malcom’s guidance to include pump, gearbox and fan repairs. As technology advanced, the company became one of the first in the UK to offer independent industrial electronic repair services. Under Matt’s leadership, Fletcher Moorland has continued to invest and expand its services for its growing customer base.

The motor repair shop at Fletcher Moorland where the rotors are removed before sending to the machine shop for refurbishment.

This is especially evident in their machine shop, where they recently purchased an XYZ RLX 780 flat bed CNC lathe fitted with the ProtoTRAK^® RLX control. When asked about the acquisition, Matt Fletcher explained “Traditionally, we have worked on motors that are sub 1 MW (megawatt) but, with the advances in wind turbines we are now seeing repairs required on equipment that are 2 – 2.5 MW. These machines, which weigh around 10 tons, have larger rotors and end shields and we didn’t have equipment to process these larger parts”.

Faced with this challenge, Matt tasked the Electrical Mechanical Workshop Manager, Matt Sparkes, with finding a solution that would allow them to continue to provide a first-class service to their customers. “The main reason for seeking a larger lathe was to meet our customer demands, without having to subcontract work out” +comments Matt Sparkes Electrical-Mechanical workshop Manager.

The process of acquiring a larger lathe involved researching the market for suitable equipment. This culminated in two visits to XYZ’s Midlands Technical Centre located in Nuneaton, with both the shopfloor machinists and, Matt Fletcher the Managing Director before committing to the largest capital investment in the machine shop to date.

Matt Sparkes continues. “The demonstrations from John Aspinall, XYZ’s Area Sales Manager, gave us the confidence that the RLX 780 was the right fit for us in terms of machine size and capacity. After seeing the ProtoTRAK^® RLX control, being used both manually and in CNC modes we knew it was the best solution for our workshop”.

With shafts and rotors increasing in size, Fletcher Moorland is already benefiting from the purchase of the XYZ RLX 780 with its 3-metre distance between centres.  By removing the gap of the bed, they can now produce end shields up to 1090mm in diameter. Additionally, the air ride assist feature makes moving the substantial tailstock easier, while the ability to hitch it to the saddle to move it backwards and forwards to the workpiece, simplifies the machinists’ workload.

Matt Sparkes also notes “The 160mm spindle bore has been advantageous, especially when we did a batch of conveyor rollers. The additional fixed steady we purchased has already proved its worth”.

A large rotor loaded into the XYZ RLX 780 at Fletcher Moorland ready for machining.

In a closing remark Matt Sparkes says “We really feel that the ProtoTRAK control is the way forward for us. Its ease of use and flexibility aligns with our processes, and going forward, we see it enabling us to produce one offs quickly and efficiently using the conversational format that the control provides”.

Alongside investment in the electronics repair and refurbishment sector, which supports all forms of industrial automation, the company has also established a dedicated workshop for servo motor repairs and continues to develop its reliability services division, which provides feedback to the user on plant conditions. Matt Fletcher emphasises that the machine shop remains a high priority for the management team. It will not only help move the company advance in the repair of rotating equipment but also provide new opportunities such as machining parts for the food and drink industry, where a quick turnaround on wear parts is essential.

For many subcontract machine shops, it’s a challenge to know which machines to purchase to handle the work that comes through the door. Sometimes, the type of work dictates the products needed, but on other occasions, it’s the development of the company to become more efficient and take on previously impossible work that drives purchases.

For Ian Gibson, Managing Director of Vision Precision Engineering, the latter scenario led to investments in XYZ products on their shop floor. Starting the business with his uncle, Dennis, after they were made redundant, they managed to bring the machines they used to their new business and set about finding work, a significant challenge.

Using existing contacts, they found an unlikely source of work making parts for coffee machines in Costa Coffee stores. “We were approached to make developments and improvements to the machines in the stores so that the Barista’s could not make mistakes in loading the cleaning products used in the machines,” says Mr. Gibson. This influx of work prompted the business to seek improvements in their manufacturing processes, leading them to XYZ for a solution to make parts faster than on their traditional milling machine. Mr Gibson continues, “Steve Cox, the XYZ Area Salesman regularly called in and, when the company needed to make an investment in new equipment, he helped us to select the right machine which was an XYZ 710 vertical machining centre complete with a 4th axis.”

This investment created a new dilemma for Mr. Gibson. Now, making parts faster created a bottleneck in the secondary operations needed on the parts. This led to further investment in a smaller machining centre from XYZ to handle the increase in demand.

The XYZ TC 320 LTY, dubbed ‘The Beast’ by Vision Precision Engineering.

“Even with the 2 machines and 4th axis fitted to the mill we were still falling behind in supplying parts to our customers so again we contacted XYZ to see how we could improve our manufacturing further,” comments Mr. Gibson. The answer this time was to invest in an XYZ TC 320 LTY driven tool lathe. “The ability to produce milled and drilled features on our turned parts was taking up capacity on the original mill, so it made sense to purchase a machine that could produce our parts in one hit which is why we decided to invest in the TC 320 LTY product.”

With the hardened box way built machine with its Y and C axis, along with driven tool capability in place, Vision Precision set about getting the most out of its latest purchase. “Now we have this machine available to us, we have been able to quote for work that previously we could not tackle,” observes Mr Gibson. This is partly due to the maximum turned diameter of 320mm and the maximum turning length of 550mm. With a bar capacity of 78mm, it also means that Vision can produce more parts from bar rather than billets, and with a barfeed purchased for the machine, lights-out machining has now become a regular occurrence.

The XYZ TC 320 LTY, set up with the 70mm drill.

“The machine just seems to tackle everything we throw at it.” Mr. Gibson states. “Big or small, it does it all, and the material removal rates are phenomenal. From 20mm depths of cut when turning, to drilling a 70mm diameter hole with a modular drill in super duplex material, is proper justification for us giving the machine its nickname of ‘The Beast’. When you consider we were only running at 200 rpm when performing the drilling and it was only using 25% of the available spindle power it’s a well-built machine with great power and it holds the tolerances we demand of it all day, every day”. 

Mr. Gibson also notes, “it’s not only the machine that’s important to me but the whole package I get from the company I buy my equipment from. From the sales process through to the installation, training and the ongoing support from XYZ’s customer support team, the whole experience has been second to none and that’s why I purchased a CT65 HD to support the work of ‘The Beast’ and, also produce some of the smaller parts we manufacture.”

Vision Precision Engineering is renowned as the home of ‘The Beast’.

Like in every fairy-tale story, ‘The Beast’ is able to open doors just by its presence. By posting on social media about the work it undertakes, Vision Precision Engineering has generated interest from companies looking to outsource their machining jobs. Business is growing, which has led to a recent move to new premises. From modifications to coffee machines, Vision is now attracting work from various sectors, including green energy, medical and defence. 

XYZ Area Sales Manager John Aspinall (left) presents Jason Worrall, Works Director at Image Wheels, with his winning cheque.

Tipton-based Image Wheels has emerged victorious in a prestigious competition hosted by XYZ Machine Tools at the recent MACH 2024 exhibition. The company received a generous £10,000 (plus VAT) discount on the purchase price of any new CNC machine in the XYZ range. This forward-thinking manufacturing business opted for a brand new Proturn RLX 555 gap-bed lathe with ProtoTRAK® control, aiming to boost capacity and counteract the current skills shortage. 

Founded in 1987, Image Wheels is now a leading UK manufacturer of alloy wheels to customers worldwide. The family-owned business produces both classic and modern high-grade alloy wheels to order, supplying over 50 styles in sizes ranging from 10-20” in diameter, with customisable widths and offsets. Applications include race cars, dragsters, classic cars, kit cars, trikes and offroad vehicles of diverse types. Keeping pace with the company’s busy order book requires ongoing investment in the latest manufacturing technologies. However, there is a notable industry challenge to navigate.  

“Finding CNC programmers, setters and operators who can hit the ground running is very difficult,” reveals Jason Worrall, Works Director at Image Wheels. “Instead, we are gradually upskilling our existing manual machine operators. We can make this task easier by tapping into the ease-of-use that comes with the ProtoTRAK® control.” 

Jason’s visit to MACH 2024 marked his first time at the exhibition, where he visited several stands to assess potential CNC turning machines.  

“I didn’t know about the competition to win a £10,000 discount on any XYZ machine until I got to their stand,” he says. “I filled out an entry form there and then. XYZ’s Area Sales Manager John Aspinall, who was familiar to us, phoned me a few days after the show and I could tell by the excitement in his voice that I had won. It was a great feeling.” 

The discount was applied to the popular Proturn RLX 555 gap-bed lathe, chosen for its sizable turning capacity, impressive versatility and user-friendly ProtoTRAK® control. The machine is already in situ at the company’s Tipton manufacturing facility. 

“We only really have one machine for producing large 20” diameter wheels, so with the RLX 555 we’ve effectively doubled our capacity for this type of work,” explains Jason. “Although it’s our first XYZ machine, we employed a new operator at the back end of 2023 who has a lot of experience with ProtoTRAK®, which means we can get the RLX 555 cutting metal and earning money straight away. At the same time, we’ll train one of our existing manual machine operators on the ProtoTRAK®. This strategy will help us negate the current lack of experienced CNC operators.” 

Proturn lathes with the RLX 15.6” touchscreen ProtoTRAK® control are ideal for one-off and low-volume production. As the simplest control on the market, machine shops can be making parts profitably in no time. Even an operator with no previous CNC experience will be producing complex parts within hours. 

The new XYZ Proturn RLX 555 will machine alloy wheels from castings, performing a range of turning, boring and profiling operations. Image Wheels produces its products from high-grade cast aluminium, typically in batches of two or four, and sometimes up to 20-off for a race team. The company, accredited to ISO 9001:2015, has manufactured components for record-breaking and championship-winning cars all over the world. 

Proturn RLX 555 machines offer a swing-over-bed of 560mm, a spindle bore of 104mm and come with a 315mm three-jaw chuck as standard. Image Wheels opted for the 1m bed version, though the Proturn RLX 555 is also available in a 1.75m model. The machine supplied to Image Wheels includes numerous advanced options, including the DXF File Converter. 

“Rather than using dimensioned drawings with complex profiles, we can simply output a DXF file, upload it into the machine, select the contour and away we go,” says Jason. “It will accelerate our process and ensure less opportunity for error.” 

Quality is paramount at this progressive manufacturing business. Image Wheels manufactures its products in accordance with British Standards, including BSAU 50 Part 2 Section 5C, BS ISO 4000-2 and BS ISO 16833. The company is a member of the British Standards Institute, and all wheel designs undergo tests by an independent company using FEA (finite element analysis). 

“Our main differentiator is our products, particularly their quality,” concludes Jason. “There are very few alloy wheel manufacturers worldwide who can compete in the same way. Sure enough, all of us in this industry have business challenges to overcome, with skills proving one of the most prominent. However, with a bit of fortune that arrived by winning the XYZ competition at MACH, we’ve found the perfect way forward.” 

XYZ Machine Tools will celebrate 40 years of product and service excellence by staging a showcase technology exhibition at its 100,000ft² headquarters and manufacturing facility in Burlescombe, Devon (EX16 7LL). Taking place on 9-10 July 2024 (09:00 to 15:00), this technological and commercial show of strength will demonstrate why the company has become the UK’s largest supplier of CNC machine tools.

“To celebrate 40 years of trading we’ll show our full product range, everything from manual machines, ProtoTRAK® mills and ProtoTRAK® lathes, through to a broad spread of other CNC machines that include five-axis machining centres and sub-spindle lathes,” explains Managing Director Nigel Atherton, who founded XYZ Machine Tools in 1984. “Also present will be 17 invited partner companies offering complementary products and services, making it a one-stop-shop for anyone looking to invest in the future of their business.”

Visitors to XYZ’s technology exhibition can expect a number of event highlights, including innovative machining demonstrations involving both ProtoTRAK® and Siemens controlled machines. Among the models taking the spotlight will be the new XYZ 65 LTY-S. This advanced sub-spindle turning centre automates the complete machining of parts requiring both turned and milled features. Supported by a robust box-way design, the machine can turn parts up to 520mm long and bar-feed diameters up to 66mm. With sub-spindle, live tooling, Y axis and C axis, the XYZ 65 LTY-S is able to perform turning and milling at both ends of the workpiece before dropping the finished component into the parts catcher. Machine shops therefore enjoy higher profitability by creating hours of unattended machining.

Among the star attractions will be the new XYZ 65 LTY-S twin/sub-spindle CNC turning centre.

Another model taking pride of place at the exhibition will be the XYZ UMC-5X simultaneous five-axis machining centre with 15,000 rpm spindle and 90 rpm high-torque table. This popular machine combines cutting-edge technology with the latest performance specifications, making it ideal for the high-speed, high-precision machining of complex components in a single set-up.

To support these machine tools and help progressive manufacturers take their operations to the next level, class-leading solutions from invited exhibitors will focus on technology areas that include metrology, cutting tools, oil mist extraction, tool holding, work holding, CADCAM software, CNC systems, barfeeds, sliding-head lathes, lubricants, digital readouts, EDM machines and more.

During the event, XYZ Machine Tools will also host two tours (AM and PM) of its state-of-the-art factory at Burlescombe, with more daily tours possible if demand is high. Visitors can see for themselves the levels of professional engineering and quality control applied to the company’s machines, thousands of which are currently in operation up and down the UK.

Renowned for its hospitality, XYZ Machine Tools will provide a hog roast lunch and a range of hot and cold beverages throughout the day. All visitors will also receive a complimentary goodie bag.

XYZ  40 years celebration.

When Nigel Atherton started XYZ in 1984 and imported and installed his first two XYZ machines in 1986, he could not have anticipated the achievements over the next 40 years.  Machine sales rapidly grew to over 50 every month but, the major change was the introduction of the ProtoTRAK® control in 1993, bridging the gap between manual machines and CNC. It set the benchmark for easy programming with machine tool sales growing from £3 million to £15 million over a five-year period. The introduction of VMCs, Turning Centres and its TMC range with ProtoTRAK® and Siemens ShopMill and ShopTurn options saw turnover more than double again. Now the company has over 25,000 machines in use in the UK.

Each one has been commissioned and tested at XYZ’s Burlescombe headquarters and is supported by its team of 16 Service Engineers located strategically around the country and its 7 in-house specialists dedicated to particular areas of technical expertise, such as software and control queries. Between them they have over 300 years of experience in XYZ machinery.

As part of its commitment to customer support, XYZ Machine Tools holds £2 million of spare parts which equates to around 20,000 different parts at its Head Office enabling it to supply the majority of spare parts off the shelf for both new and legacy machines achieving next day delivery for UK orders placed before 3pm.

Nigel Atherton Managing Director.

Around the country, XYZ Machine Tools has six showrooms and/or training centres. These are in Burlescombe, Slough, Nuneaton, Huddersfield, Livingston and Sheffield. A further five applications engineers work with the sales team to provide machine demonstrations and training either at one of these centres or on the customer’s site. With these regional facilities, customers from around the country can benefit from local training, support and technical assistance wherever they are located.

Managing Director Nigel Atherton says,

“Right from the start, when I was selling, installing and supporting the machines myself, the key factor for success was the provision of first-class customer service in a cost effective and affordable high quality machine tool package. That approach worked in 1984 and it still works today in an increasingly sophisticated engineering marketplace.”

He continues, “We are well known for precision machines which are reliable, easy to operate, simple to program and which can be delivered in a matter of days. Our objective is to fully understand the needs of our customers and provide a solution that meets those demands in a fair, transparent and ethical manner. 40 years is a major milestone, and we are looking forward to the next 40. Although I doubt that I will still be around!”

Gary Steele operates the XYZ RMX 4000.

XYZ Machine Tools is helping Handicare to maintain the accuracy, rigidity and quality of its stairlifts by machining the mating surfaces of its tubular components using an XYZ RMX 3500 for straight sections and an XYZ RMX 4000 for curved sections to achieve a perfect fit.

Handicare is a leader in its industry covering accessibility, patient handling and vehicle accessibility and can trace its roots back to 1886. Its objectives are to offer solutions and support to increase the independence of physically challenged or elderly people, and to enable them to live an active life on their terms as well as to facilitate work for their care providers and family.

Handicare’s headquarters are located in Stockholm, Sweden and it sells its products and solutions globally and is active in more than 40 countries. Of the Group’s total revenue in 2020, Europe accounted for 71%, North America for 28 % and the rest of the world 1%.

‘Nabil Mohamed operates the XYZ RMX 3500.

One of its UK manufacturing facilities is at Kingswinford, Birmingham where it designs and manufactures straight and curved stairlifts, producing more than 50 every day. Each stairlift is bespoke, designed to fit its customers’ individual stair configuration. The key element of each stairlift is a pair of tubular runners with gear racks welded to them. These support the seat and, with its pinion drive and rollers, allow it to transport the customer smoothly and safely between floors. Each set is unique and carefully designed to fit the stairwell.

During the design phase of each stairlift, consideration has to be given to handling the tube sections and accessibility for installation and assembly. This means that the set of tubes needs to be made in sections ready for assembly on site. Some shapes for curved stairlifts can be complex, for example moving the seat to a park position around a newel post, so these need particular care during manufacture.

Curved stairlift tubes on the XYZ RMX 4000.

Nabil Mohamed, Production Engineer at Handicare explains, “For straight stairlift sections the tubes and gear rack are robot welded together and they are then cut to length. We leave an excess of 0.5 mm which is then machined off on the XYZ RMX 3500. We do this to make sure that the gear profile on the rack is perfect when we join the tubes. If we didn’t do this and left a slight mismatch on the gear profile, the customer would feel an uncomfortable jolt every time the seat went over a joint.”

The XYZ RMX 3500 is dedicated to straight sections and has a set of fixtures on the bed each designed to lock into the gear profiles to position the tube in the exact position required to mill across the end and generate an accurate gear profile and perfect tube length. The open design of the bed mill makes it possible to work with long tube sections which overhang the bed. The machine’s ProtoTRAK® control has the different programs already prepared so that it is easy to select the one required for the fixtures being used.

For curved profile stairlifts, the process is similar with tube sections being machined on the XYZ RMX 4000. This has a larger bed 1474mm x 355mm and has fixtures loaded to suit the machining the ends of curved sections, again locating the tubes on the gear rack to ensure end machining is accurate.

Set of stairlift tubes finished and ready for shipping.

Further special purpose machinery cleans the burrs inside and outside the tubes, while etched marks on each component give reliable identification. To join tubes, straight sections can be connected with crimped inserts and cross drilled bolt holes, while curved sections are robot welded together with an internal collar. Special purpose machines clamp components together for these operations to ensure on site assembly goes smoothly before physical inspection and surface finishing.

Nabil Mohamed says, “Every component goes through one of the XYZ RMX machines, so they are a crucial part of the process, and their record of reliability is very important to us. Being able to accurately machine the ends of every tube and gear rack is a vital part of the quality, performance and reliability of our products.”