A 'lights-out' mill-turn package giving an unmanned running capability secured a GBP 40,000/year contract that would not have been quoted for before the installation.
Committing to purchase his fifth Colchester Tornado in five years at MACH 2004 but this time a 'lights-out' package giving an unmanned running capability, managing director Roger Metcalfe of Cleveland Components, Skelton in Cleveland maintains for his progressive business build-up and for the type of parts he has to produce, he has not been able to find a better investment in turning machines. And, as a result of the exhibition purchase which for Cleveland Components proved to be very timely, Roger Metcalfe almost immediately secured a GBP 40,000 a year contract that he would not have been able to even quote for before the installation. With four Tornados already installed since the company was set up in March 1999 alongside four very different makes of vertical machining centre, Metcalfe admits to having deep concerns over 'comfort' buying.

'I went to MACH at the NEC in Birmingham with a completely open mind and carefully weighed up features and specifications of different lathes against the type of work we produce and the type of components we want to make in the future.

Always in mind, of course, is the installed price,' he insists but has to admit: 'No other machine tool supplier came close!' Adding to his concerns over the 'comfort' factor was that he strongly believed a lathe was for turning and a machining centre was for milling.

This gave his company the best flexibility for production and allowed most to be achieved from producing parts individually on each machine type.

However, Colchester Sales convinced him that he should think wider than two-axis turning and that for his type of parts he would never look back even though the Tornado 120M, in a 'Lights-out' unmanned mill/turn centre package, was more expensive than the two-axis machine he felt he was in the market for.

To which he now adds: 'We cannot believe the benefits of three-axis' and expresses his feelings by waving the GBP 40,000 contract purely won as a result of the Tornado 120M, that he would never have been competitive to bid for - let alone win.

Cleveland Components has grown from just two people to 13 in five years and had sales in 2003 of over GBP 700,000.

With the new Tornado 120M Metcalfe is now moving the business to create a machining cell giving unmanned running between shifts and at night.

To achieve this he can program the machine using ColCAM, the Colchester developed off-line programming software, set up the tooling, tool monitoring limits and production scheduling software, program the Renishaw probing routines, load the bar, press the button and let it go.

The company is very active and has developed a very loyal and 'live' customer list of over 100 companies.

At the day of the visit, 25 different customers had orders on the job list from automotive and motorsport, telecoms, aerospace, chemical and medical sectors in batches that varied between 10 and 5,000.

Originally business was generated locally and in the North East but as the company expanded customers are now based all over the UK and materials processed vary from steel and stainless steel, copper, brass and aluminium as well as the occasional exotic steel.

It was this background of customers, diverse parts and materials that helped Metcalfe follow his repeat purchases of Colchester machines.

He maintains: 'I identified the type of machine to give accuracy and repeatability but I had to be very aware of commercial pressures and with the Tornado the rate per hour I can charge is very competitive.' His progression of purchase started with a Tornado A50 and bar feed package in 1999.

After moving to the current premises when they were first built and within six months of setting up Cleveland Components, he added a second Tornado, this time a 100 chucker, followed by a Tornado A90 again with a bar feed package.

At that point in the expansion of the business he found enquiries and orders were beginning to be won from blue chip companies.

A larger capacity Tornado 200 was then installed which led to the Tornado 120 three-axis mill/turn 'lights-out' package machine decision at MACH 2004.

Metcalfe readily admits to it being a speculative purchase but has turned out to be one of the most rewarding made because of the opportunities it has opened up.

'It's my busiest machine and most importantly, a point I never considered when placing the order, is that it has completely changed the workload on the machining centres enabling us to take on further work for them.' Lead times have been dramatically reduced which has been helped by the ColCAM off-line programming package bought with the machine.

He now maintains: 'You would not believe how differently we work.

It is all down to the ability to mill and turn in the same cycle and being able to set and run parts without having to be involved except to oversee and prepare the next batch run.' The Tornado 120M 'Lights-out' package has a 52mm bar capacity and 12 driven tool positions and incorporates the Colchester patented Duo-stable polymer concrete base configuration that gives some 25 per cent improvement in damping.

This also enables the machine to reach running temperature faster and provides a much more stable cutting platform especially when mill/turning.

High stability is important with the all-driven turret being powered by a 3.7kW motor giving 5,000 rev/min and with the disc brake on the spindle to hold position.

This enables Roger Metcalfe's setter to take effective cuts without problems of vibration, chatter and movement when milling.

The 'lights-out' package with Fanuc 21i-Ta control includes the Colchester developed MBF bar feed system programmable at the control, a parts-catcher and integral swarf conveyor, axis torque monitoring, on-board production control software, the ColCAM on-machine graphics-based programming software and Renishaw's component probing system.

A typical part produced by Cleveland Components is a complex valve housing out of 25mm aluminium bar in batches of 250.

The part requires six driven tools, three applied axially and three radially.

The part has a 9 mm off-centre profiled boss of 7mm diameter which has a drilled and tapped M5 x 0.8 hole 7mm deep and a blended profile with a 6mm radius to the main component centre line.

A cross drilled hole of 2mm diameter also breaks into two centre bores which are 8mm and 5mm diameter which also have a further cross hole breaking through of 5mm diameter.

There are also grooves, radii and chamfers.

The part is turned and milled complete in under three minutes but as Roger Metcalfe admits, although he can machine 90 per cent of the part in one cycle, he still has to perform a second operation to finish the part- off face and drill and tap another hole in the end.

'I need a subspindle machine now and the new Tornado T6MS is going on the shopping list,' he insists.

'It's no longer lathes for turning, machining centres for milling - I want a part in one cycle.