Turning
The other jobs were 70-off engine parts produced from steel bar in one hit rather than in two operations on a fixed-head lathe plus another on a mill; 3,000-off heritage railway carriage brass fixing pins; and another component for the industrial gases sector machined from 0.75-inch diameter CZ121. Mr Davies commented, “Although all the parts are relatively simple, some tolerances are tight. The bore on one of the components for industrial gases has to be held to 0.05 mm total and the engine shaft OD must be within 0.04 mm. “Despite the Cincom being 20 years old, provided we run it at sensible feeds and speeds we achieve this level of accuracy easily. “Not only that, but we have confidence leaving the machine running unattended to get
on with other tasks, as all dimensions repeat from part to part to within 15 microns.” He went on to mention that although the purchase price of the lathe was only about one quarter of the investment needed for a modern 20 mm capacity Cincom in the manufacturer’s L-series, he was treated by all Citizen Machinery UK staff as though he were purchasing a new L20. “They went above and beyond what would normally be expected for the sale of a used machine and the delivery, commissioning and training were exemplary,” he said. “I cannot sing their praises highly enough.” TAS Engineering is currently undergoing a metamorphosis whereby, while fabrications will continue to play a part in the business, in the future it will only be if they undergo prismatic
Machinery & Manufacturing 40
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