Established over 60 years ago, Letchworth-based Ogle Models & Prototypes has built an enviable customer base over the decades, having undertaken special projects for the likes of Bentley, Virgin Atlantic, GSK, JLR and Lamborghini — to name a few (www.oglemodels.com).

Some of the company’s earlier work includes the Y-fighter and Luke Skywalker’s land cruiser from the original Star Wars film (made in 1976).

Ogle Models’ skills set includes expert model making and hand crafting; this is complemented by modern technology such as industrial 3-D printing, vacuum casting and CNC machining — recently extended by the addition of a Fanuc Robodrill D21LiA5 from Coventry-based Fanuc UK Ltd (www.fanuc.eu).

Talking about this machine, which was installed a year ago, Ogle Models’ managing director, Len Martin, said: “We bought the Robodrill because we are always endeavouring to make things faster and to a higher standard of quality.

“Prior to this machine, we were using what were essentially standard three-axis CNC machines, but we wanted to move our business forward, reduce lead times and be more competitive.”

Mr Martin says Ogle Models only manufactures prototypes and small quantities: “We don’t do production runs, it’s all one-offs and small-quantity work; you could say that production time is less relevant and efficiency is all down to programming.

“That said, the new machine runs faster and produces a better finish than most of our existing machines; and even if we did have a small batch of 20 parts, the Robodrill is at least twice as fast as our other machines
— and far more accurate.”

Primarily, the company machines model board on its CNCs, but the Robodrill has been tasked with machining everything from model board through to plastic, aluminium and steel.

Mr Martin said: “Just before installing the Robodrill, we started a project that involved making aluminium ‘paddles’ for a car fitted with plastic interior paddles as standard.

“The customer preferred the feel and look of a polished aluminium finish, and we started machining the job from solid aluminium billets on one of our older machines.

Halfway through the job, we took delivery of the new Robodrill and transferred the job to it. By doing so, we halved the machining time and achieved a far superior surface finish.”


Ian Taylor, a model engineer at Ogle Models, said: “When selecting the Fanuc machine, we wanted the largest version available, along with a fourth-axis capability. We wanted the largest-possible work area, as we knew we would lose some working volume to the fourth axis.

Moreover, the Robodrill is very easy to use. We undertake most of our programming off-line, yet the CNC system is extremely easy to use when operating the machine. When it comes to job set-up and tool off-sets, the controller leads
you through the process, making everything quite clear and easy.”

The BT30 Robodrill has a face-and-taper BBT spindle that combines speed with power and rigidity. “We need this combination of attributes, as we could be machining a very soft material like model board one day, then aluminium or brass — or even steel — the next day.

I need a large variety of options, and the Robodrill gives me these; the speed-control feature in particular gives me complete control when it comes to operations such as drilling and tapping, for instance.

“We often run very long programs with the machines unmanned overnight. Indeed, we frequently run 16hr machining jobs that will be set at the end of the shift to run unmanned overnight; and with an 850 x 410mm table, I can set up multiple parts, as a lot of the work we do is quite small. This means we can have a batch of parts produced overnight.”

The Robodrill accommodates 21 tools and it has a maximum spindle speed of 24,000rev/min, which Ogle Models often uses.

Mr Taylor says: “We regularly use 0.25 and 0.5mm-diameter cutting tools, and a lot of our more-detailed work requires tools with a diameter of just 0.1mm.

“With regard to machining at these high speeds, we have to run the tools at equally high feed rates; even though the tool is cutting, it is also rubbing against the part at the same time, so if I run the tool too slow, it will get too hot. Running at very high feeds gets the swarf out of the flutes and away from the part as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Highlighting the speeds and feeds used, Ogle Models refers to a series of parts that it recently manufactured from polyurethane model board, using a spindle speed of 20,000rev/min and a feed of 8m/min.

“This is as fast as we can run the machine on fine-detailed parts that have curved edges and intricate details, as the machine has a lot of decelerating and accelerating to undertake around the many features.”