An XYZ Edge 1500 manual/CNC turret mill has recently been installed by Maycast-Nokes Precision Engineering to cut down the setting and run times for small batch work.

An XYZ Edge 1500 manual/CNC turret mill has recently been installed by Maycast-Nokes Precision Engineering to cut down the setting and run times for small batch work. Although it began life in 1971 as Evans Foundry Ltd, ISO 9002 accredited Maycast-Nokes Precision Engineering is today regarded as one of the UK's leading suppliers of fully machined castings. These castings are machined in one or other of two machine shops, where an impressive array of machine tools, from pallet-fed machining centres and CNC lathes to manual mills, lathes and drills, caters for large and small volume batch work, including one-offs and prototypes.

It is here, in Machine Shop 2, that an XYZ Edge 1500 manual/CNC turret mill with a 1066 mm by 228 mm table has recently been installed, primarily, says Phil Poulsom, Maycast-Nokes' Technical Director, 'to cut down the setting and run times for small batch work'.

Because this 3 hp variable speed (75-4200 rev/min) mill is equipped with the easy-to-learn Prototrak Edge control, it is also proving ideal for the company's ongoing training programme.

This entry-level, two-axis control combines two-axis CNC with three-axis digital readout, providing the perfect step up from manual machining and enabling new recruits to quickly and easily master the intricacies of creating, editing and storing part programs.

In fact, the company, which employs 130 people and has four apprentices on site, has been so impressed with the XYZ Edge 1500 that it is contemplating installing a second machine.

'There have been no problems at all,' says Phil Poulsom.

'Installation and training went smoothly and the machine's performance has been excellent.' Maycast-Nokes' Halstead, Essex site houses a fully equipped pattern shop that enables the sand foundry to produce a wide range of castings.

Precision investment castings are also manufactured in a variety of light aluminium alloys as well as stainless and low carbon steels and a range of copper-based alloys.

Gravity die castings produced using cast iron dies with steel cores are another speciality.

Whatever the casting process and however complex the machining, Phil Poulsom is adamant that component quality is the key to the company's success.

Co-operating with customers from the initial stages of design saves costs and, ultimately, reduces the lead time from prototype to production without sacrificing quality and reliability.

'We are an approved supplier to the world wide defence and aerospace markets,' he points out, 'and we apply the same rigorous standard of care to every customer's order.