Aerospace workholding order

Six T-shaped brackets, with a total value of around £21,000, have now been delivered to Stoneswood Engineering, near Manchester, to be fixed to horizontal machining centres. Craftsman Tools is a long-standing customer of the Hyde Group, the parent company of Stoneswood, although in this instance it was Stoneswood’s client that specified the West Yorkshire engineer. Robert Johnson, Craftsman Tools’ managing director, said: “On this occasion the brackets were a bespoke design taken from Stoneswood’s dimensional requirements, to accept their own fixtures. “However, one of our areas of specialisation is our complete design and manufacture service for fixtures to suit any component during any stage of manufacture or inspection. “A Craftsman-designed fixture can significantly improve productivity by reducing set-up times, through purpose-built part location and quick-release clamping. In addition, parts can be mounted to allow maximum access, thereby reducing the number of machining set-ups. “Our fixtures also help increase rigidity at set-up to allow faster machining and improved accuracy.”