Leicester subcontractor says slider is twice as fast as fixed-head lathes

The managing director, Robert Suffolk, commented: "Cutting trials on some of our steel components up to 32 mm diameter showed a halving of cycle times, compared with our fixed-head, single-spindle mill-turning centres." He explained that his company produces parts for Caterpillar in high volumes, such as spacers and threaded rods, some of which are produced outside by sliding-head specialists. Bringing the work in-house will save on subcontract machining costs and give CNC (Direct) Engineering better control over quality and delivery times. The order from CNC (Direct) Engineering was one of four, valued at more than £400,000, taken on the Star GB stand during the show. Managing director Bob Hunt said: "This was a pleasing result considering the continued economic uncertainty, although I have to admit that we were hoping for a higher number." He went on to say that many manufacturers and subcontractors are profiting by adopting sliding-head mill-turning. Potential users broadly fall into two categories: cam auto users looking for greater accuracy and one-hit machining to reduce labour costs; and fixed-head CNC lathe users, like Direct Engineering, that have begun to realise that sliding-head cycles can be much faster. The range of Star machines was increased with the world premiere at MACH 2010 of the 12-axis CNC ST-38 for machining parts up to a nominal diameter of 38 mm. (Picture: Robert Suffolk (left), managing director of CNC (Direct) Engineering, with his son Samuel (centre), agreeing the SR-32J order with Star GB's midlands area sales manager, Mark Anson.)