A 21-year-old Matsuura MC500 vertical machining centre is still going strong at Qualtronic, located 30 miles from Edinburgh.
The MC500 was originally supplied 21 years ago to machine aerospace components and is currently used to produce components for all Qualtronic’s main markets - including aerospace, medical, oil and gas, and electronics.
The machine is still tasked high accuracy work and is cutting for 60 hours per week, on average.
Still with its original ballscrews, the MC500 was released with an MX2 NC.The only major components to be changed over the last 21 years are the spindle (upgraded to current day Matsuura tolerances) and one axis drive board.
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