Solihull-based precision manufacturing specialist Midland Precision Equipment (MPE) has invested in a new Mikron HPM 450U high-performance five-axis machining centre from GF Machining Solutions (
www.gfms.co.uk).
This is the fifth Mikron five-axis machine to be acquired by MPE in the last seven years. It is being used to machine complex high-precision — and technically challenging — civil aero-engine components (such as housings, fuel-pump bodies and impellers) in small volumes from a range of materials, including aerospace steels and aluminium.
The machine was purchased to give MPE additional capacity when a number of aerospace customers (mainly OEMs) significantly increased their production requirements.
Managing director Adam Ormandy says: “Although we welcomed the new work, we knew that it would stretch our existing five-axis capacity. Rather than try to make do with what we had, we took the decision to invest in another five-axis machine.
“We have a good working relationship with GF, and we have always been impressed with their applications and technical support plus after-sales service, as well as the performance and reliability of their Mikron milling machines.
“It was important for the new machine to be equipped with the Heidenhain iTNC 530 control to enable programs and parts to be transferred between all our five-axis machines. In fact, MPE was keen to invest in a second Mikron Vario machine but was told that the Vario range had been superseded by the HPM 450U series. “That was not a problem per se.
"We were able to specify a high-performance HPM 450U equipped with a 20,000rev/min spindle, a 10-station integrated workpiece pallet changer, a large 170-position ATC, a through-spindle coolant capability and a tool breakage and measurement system.”