The VMX42SRTi B-axis machine will be delivered at the end of May and will double the pattern and tool maker's 5-axis machining capacity, although the firm also operates four 3-axis VMCs.
Production of models and patterns for vehicle interiors are a particular specialism, accounting for two-thirds of turnover. Gauges, jigs, fixtures and tools for the automotive and aerospace supply chains are also to be found regularly on the shop floor.
Explains Summit Patternmaking director Duncan Willetts: "We carry out a lot of 5-axis machining of automotive replication gauges and also of Formula One race car parts. Apart from needing more capacity, we were looking for a bigger working volume to cope with larger parts and a more robust machine to process denser model boards as well as alloys."
He believes that the 7.5 tonne Hurco machining centre with its 35 kW / 119 Nm spindle is ideal for these applications. Provision of the fifth CNC axis via a ± 90 degree swivelling spindle head rather than a trunnion was favoured, as it provides a larger working volume, right up to 1,067 x 610 X 610 mm for 3-axis work.
Image Caption: Colin Brice, Sales, Hurco Europe; Duncan Willetts, Director, Summit Patternmaking; Carl Jukes, Dean White and Richard Smith, managers at Summit Patternmaking; David Waghorn, Managing Director, Hurco Europe.