Dyson Diecastings has enhanced its CNC machining capabilities with the addition of a further new FANUC machining centre.
Founded almost 100 years ago, the Milton Keynes based company initially started as a casting business before moving into adding simple operations such as drilling and tapping holes in its castings
Paul Savage of Dyson Diecastings says: “As technology has evolved, so have customer demands and the capabilities of our company. We have moved from just drilling and tapping to adding a CNC machining department and we now conduct profile milling, facing and much more. In terms of value adding processes, we do painting, plating, polishing and more to offer a ‘fully finished’ product.”
As a business, the Buckinghamshire manufacturer also undertakes design for manufacture, project management, design optimisation, high pressure die-casting and CNC machining for high-profile brands such as Aston Martin, Jaguar, Siemens, TRW, Vent Axia, Turner Powertrain, Honeywell and many others.
Dyson Diecastings has two sites totalling 200,000sq/ft where work can range from 10-20 off components for prestige automotive customers through to a weekly output of 10,000+ on large volume projects such as automotive centre consoles, air and oil cooling assemblies, engine brackets and valve bodies through to hi-fi speakers and hand dryers for public conveniences.
The latest investment is a FANUC ROBODRILL B-Series D21LiB5 with an extended bed length that accommodates the variety of components that pass through the machine shop.
As Mr Savage continues: “Usually, we would go for a 1m bed length machine and also have a 600mm FANUC machine alongside, but this 800mm bed length FANUC is ideal for what we need.
“We purchased three machines last April and the order is already in for another three that will arrive in a matter of weeks.”
“We cut a lot of aluminium and only take cuts that can be as little as 0.2mm, the more we take off the more it costs us. We have one part on the machine that has been running for 12 years and it requires some long series drills and taps to avoid key features in the component. Additionally, we do some milling with 120mm diameter face mills, so machine tool rigidity is as critical as performance and precision. The surface finish has to be very good and the tolerances are quite tight, so a rigid platform is a must. This part is transferred to an electronics production line, so if any swarf falls out of holes, there is a major problem.”
The new machine has through spindle high pressure coolant that eradicates the issue and it ensures that nonconformance due to swarf issues has been eliminated.