Northampton-based Scot Bennett Engineering Ltd — a sub-contract manufacturer serving the automotive, medical, nuclear and agricultural sectors — has invested in its fourth sliding-head turning centre from Star Micronics GB Ltd (www.stargb.com).

The SR-32J was delivered just before Christmas, so the commissioning and staff training took place at the start of this year.

Managing director Rob Bennett says: “We’ve always invested in equipment that will give us extra capacity on material and engineering capabilities. The 32mm machine we bought this time was installed with an extended guide-bush collet unit that allows us to machine stock bars of 35mm.

“We also specified high-pressure coolant, which allows us to work with difficult materials that cause swarf and chip problems, as well as deep-hole drilling issues.

“We are already using bars up to the 35mm capacity of the machine, and the high-pressure coolant is being used on softer materials that tend to be sticky and have historically caused the swarf to wrap around the tools and drills. By breaking the swarf and evacuating it from the work envelope, we can run extended production volumes hassle-free.”

One of the reasons for the machine purchase was the arrival of a job in EN3B steel — a material that has previously caused Scot Bennett Engineering problems through the breaking of swarf and its consequent evacuation.

This small component, which required external turning, grooving, internal drilling and threading, was suffering from a sub-standard surface finish created by the swarf removal issue, but the SR-32J has eradicated the problem.