Research and development is the lifeblood of the engineering and scientific technology company Renishaw; and backing this up are a number of small workshops that specialise in manufacturing one-off and low-volume prototype parts.

Most of these workshops are now equipped with machines from Burlescombe-based XYZ Machine Tools (www.xyzmachinetools.com), as the ProtoTrak control system suits Renishaw’s needs perfectly. The first workshop to convert to XYZ is at Renishaw’s New Mills (UK) headquarters and is managed by Tristan Dover.

He said: “When we started to get increased demand for machining, it was obvious that our old manual machines couldn’t cope, even though we were only ever asked to produce one or two parts at a time. I suggested that we look at CNC machinery, but when I saw XYZ’s ProtoTrak control at an exhibition, I liked what I saw.

“The combination of manual and CNC was the ideal solution, as some of the people running the machines in our workshops would take some convincing that CNC could produce parts as quickly as a manual turner/miller. The ProtoTrak control quickly converted these dyed-in-the-wool machinists to the benefits of CNC.”

Initially, Mr Dover was planning to buy just a Prototurn SLX 1630 lathe, but when he sat down and put together his purchase justification, it became apparent that the value for money presented by XYZ machines made it possible to replace both a lathe and mill, so an XYZ SMX 2500 bed mill was ordered at the same time as the lathe.

Both machines are equipped with the ProtoTrak control, which features simple, plain-English conversational programming that helped to make the step from purely manual machines to CNC very straightforward.

“We find the ProtoTrak control extremely efficient, especially on one-off parts, as we can save considerable time compared to manually machining them. We can program tapers, radii, and other forms, which totally eliminates the need for special form tools; and such is the control’s ease of use that even our most ardent manual machinists are now using the control to program parts.”

Word of the ease of use of these XYZ machines quickly spread, and now various machining workshops around Renishaw’s UK facilities have bought into the ProtoTrak way of working, with an additional six XYZ machines having been installed.

Greenpower initiative

As part of its corporate support for the Greenpower initiative, which combines the STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) with electric–powered car racing, Renishaw makes its workshop available to its engineers involved with the project.

At Renishaw, Greenpower is targeted at engineering students/apprentices aged between 18 and 24; the company also provides support from more-experienced engineers within the company. One of these is design engineer Jamie Boden, who makes regular use of the XYZ ProTurn SLX 1630 and SMX 2500 to manufacture parts for the cars.

The Renishaw Greenpower team makes full use of both machines’ capacity, which in the case of the SMX 2500 is a 2.2kW spindle with a speed range of 50-3,600rev/min over two speed ranges, and a 1,245 x 228mm table. Moreover, the spindle head can tilt up to 45deg either side of vertical.

The ProTurn SLX 1630 lathe has a swing over the bed of 400mm and 760mm between centres, while the 5.75kW 2,500rev/min spindle accommodates a 200mm three-jaw chuck. The ProtoTrak control systems fitted to both the turning and milling machines feature identical programming languages and systems. This makes switching from one machine to another a seamless operation.

Mr Boden says: “We work with our first-year apprentices, who are given real jobs to produce on the XYZ machines, the aim being to make the standard kit cars both faster and more efficient. The races are 1hr endurance events, and we have to maximise the available output of the standard battery we are given. We achieve this by designing and machining new parts.”

The parts made for the project are varied; they include intricate finned casings for the electric motor (pictured left), foam moulds for an aero-dynamic helmet fairing, and the car’s nose cone. All were left to be machined unmanned on the XYZ SMX 2500; a time-lapse video of the nose cone mould being machined is currently the featured video on Machinery Market’s Web site (www.machinery-market.co.uk).

Greenpower is designed to generate interest in manufacturing among pupils at primary and secondary schools, young apprentices and engineering students. Renishaw’s corporate entry not only supports the three racing cars under its name, but also provides support to other teams.

Mr Boden says: “We have a lot of high-end technology on site here at New Mills, but wherever possible, we try not to use advanced processes in developing our cars — processes that would not be available to other teams. This is where the XYZ machines play a part, as they are readily available to many colleges and other engineering companies. By using them ourselves we are keeping a balance in terms of technology.”

Renishaw entered three teams in the 2015 Greenpower challenge and was crowned F24+ champions; it also won the corporate challenge event. Three more cars will be entered this year, with on-going development work — much as in Formula One — taking place to try to maintain that competitive advantage. The XYZ machines will be at the forefront of ensuring all machined parts deliver improvements.