Setting itself up to be in prime position for the expected manufacturing upturn, Skelmersdale subcontract Kirkham Engineering has invested in three new multi-axis turning/milling machines in the past 12 months.
The new machines include two Citizen sliding head turning centres – an L32-X 8-axis machine and an L20-VIII machine upgraded to 25mm. Both are fitted with Citizen’s LFV (Low Frequency Vibration) system to improve cutting performance and swarf control on difficult materials.
The third machine is a fixed head Nakamura AS200L MYSF twin-spindle single turret turning centre. This joins a similar AS200 that was purchased new in 2017.
Founded in 1955, Kirkham Engineering established its reputation as a specialist in the production of repetition turned parts on CNC fixed head and sliding head machines. With a focus on the oil and gas industries and petrochemical sectors it produces everything from simple to complex parts in material types from ferrous and non-ferrous metals through to exotic nickel alloys such as Duplex, Monel, Inconel, Hastelloy, Titanium and Stellite.
As well as investing in new machines, Kirkham has built up a fleet of high-quality, high technology used machines including 5 Nakamura WT250 twin-turret, twin-spindle machines, 7 Citizen sliding head machines, 6 Miyano turning centres, including twin-turret, sub-spindle machines, and two Traub TNC 42 DGY machines that came direct from Rolex in Switzerland.
Director Barry Lynam says that the company has invested over £1.8m in its turning capacity since 2012.
The two Citizen machines had been due to be demonstrators at MACH 2020, but when that didn’t go ahead Kirkham was able to purchase them at a very attractive price.
“The L20 hadn’t even been taken out of the wooden crate it was delivered in, so we jumped at the opportunity,” says Barry.
He adds that the LFV technology really does do everything that is claimed for it in terms of swarf control and machining quality. “You only have to look in the swarf bin to see the difference,” he says.
At the same time as these two sliding head machines, Kirkham also bought a used Miyano BNJ 42SY twin-spindle, twin-turret fixed head machine from Citizen. All three were delivered and installed within a week.
“We’ve built up quite a Miyano village over the past few years. We didn’t have any and now we have six,” says Barry.
The new Nakamura AS 200 will give Kirkham Engineering more flexibility and fast response times on low-volume, quick-turnaround parts.
Supplied as a complete package from Wellesbourne based ETG, the AS-200-LMYSF arrived complete with tooling, a Hydrafeed MSV-65 plus a BSU bar support unit to give 1.5m barfeed and swarf conveyor. The machine also had full fire suppression and an oil mist extraction system. It was also upgraded with a bigger sub-spindle chuck, giving 65mm capacity on both spindles.
Having got the new machine, Kirkham then set the first machine up with a similar configuration.
Barry Lynam says that apart from its compact footprint the AS 200 machine has a lot of similarities with the Nakamura WT 250 twin spindle, twin turret machines.
“It is very much like a WT 250 with one turret, and that is where it is really versatile. Sometimes using a twin-spindle, twin turret machine can be like using a sledgehammer to crack a nut. When we bought the first AS 200 our WT 250 machines were backing up with work and so we hived off some of the less complex components onto the single turret machine and that has proven to be very beneficial.
“The turret on the AS 200 is identical to the ones on the WT 250 so we can use the same tooling.”
Barry adds that thanks to the programming and simulation capabilities of the latest generation Nakamura software and Fanuc CNC the AS 200 machines are quicker to set up than the WT 250s.
“This allows us to be even more responsive to customer demands on low-volume, fast turnaround hobs,” says Barry.
He concludes: “We have invested a lot of money in our mill-turning capabilities for machining complex components in difficult materials, and now we want to shout about it. Oil and gas is a tough market and you have to be equipped with the right tools to survive and stay competitive.”