The Cheltenham-based specialist honing equipment manufacturer Delapena (www.delapena.co.uk) has reported that its multiple launches at MACH 2014 were highly successful and should lead to significant business. The company had double the number of enquiries compared to the previous show, with over 50% of these entirely new contacts.

Managing director Martin Elliott said: “We had a lot of interest in the new EAS SpeedHone, which offers ease of use and many safety features. It has wide-ranging appeal and is suitable for one-off or batch production, so it is well suited to tool-rooms.

Also attracting much attention was the CalibreHone — E2000S-XL — which forms part of Delapena’s new suite of six electronically controlled machines. This was developed specifically for the gun industry and undertakes the honing of long straight or tapered bores.

Moreover, the first buyer of this machine visited us at the show to say that in production its CalibreHone is achieving tolerances of 3-5µm over a 1m-long gun barrel.”

Delapena not only attracted potential buyers at MACH 2014 but also had enquiries about representing it from companies in Russia, Mexico, the Middle East and Germany. This, says Martin Elliott, fits well with Delapena’s plans for rapid international expansion.