In its 50th anniversary year, Hurco Europe Ltd (www.hurco.co.uk) took 34 machine tool orders valued at £2.5 million during MACH 2018, where the company showcased three new machines.

Appearing for the first time were the VC500i five-axis vertical machining centre, the new BX50i bridge-type three-axis machining centre, and a lathe from the upgraded XP range with Hurco Max5 control.

In total, 11 machines were demonstrated, including five different five-axis machining-centre configurations, each ideally suited to a different range of applications.

Managing director David Waghorn said: “We were delighted with the level of orders, which was undoubtedly helped by having 30% more visitors to our stand compared with two years ago.

“This is particularly pleasing, as the organisers reported a visitor increase to the show of only 5%. On its 50th birthday, the Hurco business is healthier than at any time in the past.”

On the second day of MACH, Hurco sold a five-axis machining centre to Summit Patternmaking (pictured).

When the VMX42SRTi B-axis machine was delivered at the end of May, it doubled the pattern and tool maker’s five-axis machining capacity (the firm also operates four three-axis VMCs).

Summit Patternmaking director Duncan Willetts said: “We carry out a lot of five-axis machining of automotive replication gauges and also of Formula One racing-car parts.

“Apart from needing more capacity, we were looking for a bigger working volume to cope with larger parts; we also needed a particularly robust machine to process dense model boards, as well as alloys.

“I believe that the 7.5-tonne Hurco machining centre with its 35kW 119Nm spindle will be ideal for these applications.”