One of the main factors for choosing a manual/CNC lathe was that it is very easy to learn to use and also very much quicker than manual lathes, says a subcontractor.
The speed, extra capability and performance of its Harrison Alpha 1400S manual/CNC lathe have powered Wolverhampton company, Shinton Engineering, into new market sectors, just weeks after acquiring the brand new machine from Harrisons main distributor, Datamach of Coventry. Formerly using entirely manual-type lathes, the firm in Ettingshall Road - established around 40 years ago by the current proprietor Tommy Shinton - became highly specialized in producing one-off replacement machine parts, especially for presses and other industrial machine tools. Now, Shinton Engineering, which has a staff of 12 people, is rapidly building on this core business by manufacturing medium-volume batches of small components, such as quality-finished castings for motor engines and other applications.

The company says the Alpha 1400S is perfectly suited to producing 50-100 items with very fast turnaround times and high precision results.

Shinton Engineering manager, Neil Whitaker said: 'One of the main factors for choosing the new machine was that it is very easy to learn to use and also very much quicker than manual lathes.

It will do things in a few minutes that would have taken us a couple of hours of heavy work to complete.

It is a lot quicker and we achieve much better finishes.' Shinton said the Alpha 1400S, which has a 400mm swing and 1.250cm between centres, has much more flexibility than traditional lathes and opens up new niche market areas: 'We are now realizing that there was a lot of work available for our company which we could not have taken on, from customers with a requirement for quantities of 50 or 100 items produced quickly and precisely.

We can now price these jobs competitively.' The 1400S is one of five Harrison Alpha models making up the Harrison S1000 lathe series: 1350S (350mm swing), 1400S (400mm swing), 1460S (460mm swing), 1550S (550mm swing) and 1800S (800mm swing).

All lathes incorporate the most advanced and easiest to use manual/CNC lathe control in the world - the Fanuc Colour Touchscreen control system, with a 10.4 inch wide touch panel with clear, colour step-by-step graphics, Alphanumeric keypad and system selection key to give operators the widest possible range of machining permutations.

From effortless manual turning to sophisticated semi-automatic and full CNC machining, the Alpha S1000 series delivers maximum flexibility to perfectly match the machining requirement, while a major new feature of the S1000's control capability is its Manual Guide System - a touchscreen accessible cutting programme enabling the full generation of simple cutting profiles and complex automatic programmes to be carried out directly at the machine.

The Alpha lathe's integral teach facility allows hand wheel-initiated moves to be recorded as a programme and re-run automatically after completion of the first component, while all new programmes generated can be stored to memory for later use or saved to the integral AlphaLink software.

Additionally, all programmes generated in this comprehensive 'Cycle Cutting' mode can be converted to a full CNC programme.

The Alpha range also incorporates a semi-automatic machining capability for stops, taper turning and automatic thread cutting, plus an off-line CAD/CAM machining facility.

Harrison's sales director, David Smith, said: 'The success being achieved by Shinton Engineering perfectly illustrates how the speed, ease-of-use and flexibility of Harrison Alpha lathes can exceed the expectations of customers and open doors to increased business in new market sectors.

'The latest generation of Alpha lathes are extremely technically advanced, highly equipped and superbly designed and constructed for maximum performance, excellent machining results time after time, very low maintenance and a long, trouble-free operating life.'