Body piercing may not be immediately associated with CNC sliding head automatics, but body jewellry and piercing equipment maker has bought six such machines for their high precision.
Grant Dempsey's decision to invest in six citizen cnc sliding headstock lathes and unmanned 'lights-out' production from NC Engineering of Watford, owes as much to the high precision and high quality surface finish he can obtain on very difficult to machine materials at the point of maximum support by the guide bush, as it does to productivity improvements and cost savings. A qualified electrician, Dempsey came to England from Melbourne several years ago and has since turned an abiding interest in body piercing - he is a member and former European secretary of the Association of Professional Piercers - into a thriving business. His Tottenham Hale-based company, Cold Steel International, is the hub of a wholesale operation that has a turnover in the UK alone of over GBP 2 and exports 70 per cent of production.
It was in 1996 that Cold Steel International began supplying everything from body jewellery to piercing equipment, as well as consumables such as sterilisation and after-care products, to distributors around the world.
The company is also a successful retailer with an outlet in London's Camden Town and two further outlets in San Francisco.
'This', says Dempsey, 'is the result of combining my piercing knowledge and experience with an absolute commitment to quality, whether in terms of the jewellery we design or the equipment used to manufacture it.' As business was growing fast all manufacture had been sub-contracted, which meant trusted suppliers were producing more and more of the standard range of jewellery in batches of as many as 50,000 parts.
'This also created problems for us because they were so busy and had no time or capacity to produce or try out new designs which come thick and fast.
For instance, last year some 230 new products were added to the range and our sub-contractors certainly did not relish the idea of loads of small batches of newly designed parts.' So, in late 2002, the decision was made to start manufacture in-house as well as through sub-contract.
This would enable new designs to be brought forward very quickly and under total control.
Given the relatively small sizes of body jewellery such as studs, rings and barbells, the reliance on difficult-to-machine materials such as surgical steel, titanium and niobium, and the overriding requirement for a surface finish free of any blemish that could pose a threat to the wearer's health, the decision to begin in-house manufacture was not taken lightly.
Explains Dempsey: 'It's a challenging combination of precision engineering and finishing to a goldsmith's standard or better.' He then set about researching the market for the most appropriate machines for his type of work.
'We contacted Citizen's UK agent, NC Engineering, emphasising our determination to be up and running as quickly as possible and as it was a new venture we explained we did have some budget constraints.
'NC Engineering resolved the problem by providing machines from its pre-owned stock of two Citizen B12s and larger L20 which gave us the flying start we needed and as they were warranted by NC Engineering, we were confident we could not only catch up with demand but could also begin creating a host of new designs.
Three months later we purchased another pre-owned B12, and as things were progressing so well we then decided that a new L20 and a new M32 were on the cards,' he says.
The top-of-the-range M32 is equipped with two opposed spindles and its multiple tool holding capability of up to 80 tools provides several options for quick setting and simultaneous front and back machining.
It combines the versatility of a machining centre with that of a lathe for complex parts up to 32mm diameter.
'However,' says Dempsey, 'by offering a range of machines from the low cost B-Series through to the sophisticated M-Series, Citizen has a model to suit every requirement and this enables us to benefit from common programming, setting technologies and tooling.' Although impressed with the performance of his Citizen machines, Dempsey has been equally impressed by their reliability.
'Two people set and run the machines during the day and we then run them unmanned through the night,' he says.
'It has been suggested that we are mad to do this given the type materials we work with, but we have never experienced a problem.
I look on unmanned running as a bonus rather than an absolute necessity because for us, quality is the driver.
Every part here is 100 per cent inspected and we now find defective parts are virtually non-existent.
This is crucial because hygiene and health considerations dictate that any returns must be destroyed.' Dempsey describes how a single design can have a lot of variants.
For instance, a barbell destined for an eyebrow piercing is offered in various materials and eight different lengths up to 12mm.
It has a 2mm or 3mm diameter securing which features a M1 or M2 internal thread with undercut.
Also, a matching degree of precision is required for seating semi-precious stones that can be pressure set into the barbell.
Ethnologists point out that body piercing has been a profound part of many cultures for thousands of years and such human needlepoint is now mainstream fashion.
And if anyone could persuade you to give it a try, it is Dempsey who, in his piercing days, had a broad clientele ranging from doctors to nurses, lawyers to policemen, and businessmen to punks.
'People who would not otherwise dream of talking to each other can always be found in our retail stores discussing their body piercings,' he says.
'It really is an across-the-board interest and with some, just like tattooing, it is something of an addiction.
