A German-based medical OEM which had been getting a family of aluminium parts machined in the US has now placed them with Suffolk based CTPE.
The company was an existing customer of CTPE, wanted a single source of supply and was confident of the Suffolk subcontractor's capabilities.
Chris and Alex Taylor who run the business decided to invest in a new Brother 30-taper S700X1 3-axis machining centre with a 2-axis Nikken table as the best way to meet the customer’s requirements.
The work includes six different components, half of which are suited to 3-axis metalcutting while the others benefit from five-face machining in two operations using 3+2-axis cycles, as otherwise they would need eight set-ups on a three-axis machine.
Chris Taylor said, "We like the 3-axis Brother and 2-axis Nikken combination, as we are able to mount the compound table on one side, leaving the rest of the machine table free for fixturing a second component in a vice for three-axis machining.
"In that way, we can get two-operation components off complete each time we open the doors."
The company already had an identical Brother machine without the 2-axis table and believes the machines are especially appropriate for CTPE, which processes a lot of aluminium. One of the new medical parts is quite large for a 30-taper machine at 180 x 50 x 50 mm but the Brothers cope with it well, despite more than three-quarters of the billet's material being removed.
Accuracy achieved is down to ± 5 microns positional tolerance, better than is possible on many 40-taper machines. Chris Taylor pointed out that CTPE also produces components in steels including stainless on the S700X1s, although a 30-taper machine would not be appropriate if one is doing that all day.