Subcontractor Uses One Hit Machining for Complex Work

Pro-Tek Engineering has used a Mori Seiki NMV3000 5-axis vertical machining center on its most difficult jobs during the past twelve months. The machine tool is already fully loaded and the company is thinking of purchasing another one.

Subcontractor Pro-Tek Engineering (Bidford-on-Avon, Warwickshire, UK) has had its Mori Seiki NMV3000 5-axis vertical machining center for twelve months. Already it is fully loaded and the company is thinking of purchasing an extra one. The company has built an enviable reputation in the defense, aerospace, mining, oil and gas and telecommunications industries, and is part of the SC21 initiative and has ISO 9001 certification.

Managing director Kevin Radbourne says, “More complex work drove us to look at 5-axis machining as the tolerances on these new jobs were so tight that we needed to finish parts in one operation. If we had tried to complete them with multiple setups it would have been virtually impossible to maintain sufficient accuracy.”

The NMV3000 has a built-in trunnion-style table that uses Driven at the Center of Gravity (DCG) technology. This rigid box-in-box construction controls vibration, the main factor preventing high speed and high precision positioning accuracy, by pushing structural components at their center of gravity with a twin drive using two ball screws. The ORC (Octagonal Ram Construction) insures high speed, high precision feed so that the machine can complete all cutting in one operation (except workholding surfaces). Rotation of the table in the B axis enables 180 deg in one direction and 160 deg in the other. The C axis rotates a full 360 deg. This machine tool is not only fast, it is strong as well.

“This machine tool is very solid and much sturdier than conventional machines that use rails,” adds Radbourne.”It is also provides true 5-axis  capabilities, not 3+2 indexing like some other VMCs that we researched. The 60 tools on the machine make it easier to complete parts in one hit. Up to now, the most tools we had available to us was 30. That’s not all. Installation of this equipment was straight forward: two to three days and we were up and running. Reliability has been great too, because we haven’t had a single problem.”

Pro-Tek customers are also impressed with the new machine. Radbourne notes that “our customers want to come and see the machine in action. It has already created extra work from our existing clients and we are being asked about additional capacity, so now we are looking at adding an extra shift and another machine. The quality of this system speaks for itself. Its accuracy and repeatability are fantastic and we anticipate pay back within two years. Without this 5-axis NMV3000, we could not have completed some of the new jobs we have won within the timescale, and to the required accuracy and finish.”