Talon Engineering is a second-generation business and a world leader in the manufacture of sprockets, hubs, wheels, clutch baskets and engine casings, predominantly for the off-road motorcycle community.
Through innovative manufacturing techniques, it has developed market-leading products that are now exported to over 35 countries.
Maybe less well known is the fact that Talon also operates a sub-contract machining operation alongside its mainstream motorcycle business. This is experiencing significant growth and has attracted customers from the agriculture, marine, aerospace, rail, motor-sport and nuclear industries.
Most recently though, it has been awarded ‘preferred machining supplier’ status by the Ariel Motor Co — an accolade that is leading to further growth in its sub-contract operation.
Ariel has a history dating back to 1870; and while in the modern era it is best known for the ‘face-contorting’ performance of the Ariel Atom sports car, it has now gone back to its roots by creating the Ariel Ace — the two-wheel equivalent of the Atom.
This innovative motorcycle takes certain design cues from the company’s sports car, especially the frame; and it was for the manufacture of the frame that Ariel turned to Talon for help in its manufacture.
Graham Alford, Talon’s operations director, said: “We were approached by Ariel in April 2014 and invited to machine a set of six frame components in order to get the bike ready for its official launch in June. As it happened, we ended up with a total of 23 parts to machine; and given their complexity, it was a challenge from a programming, machining and tooling perspective — especially with such a tight time-frame.”
Prompt deliveriesThis meant that Talon had to machine the parts as best it could. The main problem that it faced was tool reach, as the design of the ‘wing spars’ — the left- and right-hand halves of the frame — required extended tool set-ups.
These were accommodated using standard tools from Sheffield-based WNT (UK) Ltd (
www.wnt.com), along with the WNT Centro P tool-holding system.
Mr Alford says: “The big advantage we had in those early days was that we could go through the WNT catalogue and select what we wanted, knowing that it would be here the next morning. This allowed us to shorten the development time considerably.”
The success of the initial batch of machined parts was reflected by the fact that the Ariel Ace was well received at its launch, with 20 orders placed for the £20,000 motorcycle (although its typical selling price is nearer £40,000 when customers have worked through the options list).
Following the bike’s successful launch, Ariel asked Talon to add to the work it was doing for the company, increasing the number of parts across the Atom car and Ace motorcycle to 90.
The most challenging element of all this work remained the seven-piece frame assembly for the motorcycle, of which the main parts are the two ‘wing spars’. Machined from a 150kg billet of aluminium, each spar — once finished — weighs just 6.5kg, so efficient metal removal is vital.
Adding to the challenge were the forms that had to be machined on a three-axis YCM NSV102 machining centre.
The complexity of these forms is highlighted by the fact that the program for the second operation runs to almost a million lines of NC code. The programming was further complicated by the fact that Ariel wanted to retain ‘engineered’ machining marks on the finished part; this required ‘manual’ intervention in SolidWorks to create non-standard tool-paths.
Tooling package
To achieve the optimum tooling package, Talon process engineers Mark Webber and Sandy Bradley worked with WNT’s Ian Tattersall (technical sales engineer) and Vince Whitham (applications sales engineer) to rationalise the tooling and tool-holding, with new fixturing being designed and manufactured in-house at Talon.
Although Talon had got the basic machining process right on the initial pre-production batch using WNT’s W-HPC cutters, the team decided to switch over to a recently introduced range of WNT cutters designed specifically for machining aluminium.
The gentler cutting action of these tools was ideal for the ‘wing spars’ and associated parts, which due to their free-form shape had very few — and limited — clamping points, as well as thin-wall sections and lots of unsupported material.
The collaboration between Talon and WNT (UK) resulted in the cycle time for the ‘wing spars’ being cut to 50% of the original time. Tool life was also better controlled, due to management of the roughing process to leave even stock levels for the finishing cuts.
Meanwhile, the use of WNT Centro P tool-holders, with their inherent accuracy and high level of gripping power, was also beneficial, given the long tool overhangs required.
In order to maximise cutting data, three different tool lengths were used across the machining process to help keep extensions to a minimum; and once the process was proven, all of the tooling was ‘migrated’ to Talon’s two on-site WNT tool-vending units, thereby ensuring that the appropriate tooling was available at all times.
Return of an icon
The whole project has been one of partnership — a partnership that has seen the iconic British name of Ariel return to motorcycle manufacture, with Talon Engineering collaborating on both design and manufacture and WNT (UK) working alongside Talon to ensure optimum machining of these complex components.
Mr Alford said: “We worked closely with Ariel to develop the parts and — in effect — re-engineer them for ease of manufacture. This included developing a machined-lug system that held the parts together for welding. It was also important to review how we machined these parts to minimise cycle time. This was where our partnership with WNT came to the fore.
Indeed, without this collaboration, we could not have achieved the cycle-time savings and efficient machining process that we did.
Working in this way has helped the sub-contract side of the business grow by over 100% in the past two years; and with partnerships such as this with Ariel, we expect that positive trend to continue. Developing this side of the business is a major commitment of ours; we already have ISO 9001 and through our journey on the Fit For Nuclear programme, we will be adding ISO 14001 and 18001 to our credentials.”
The result of the Ariel project will be seen at
MACH 2016, where an Ariel Ace frame will take centre stage on the WNT stand, alongside the tools and tool-holding that helped to produce it.
Adrian Fitts, WNT (UK) business development manager, said: “What is really nice about this project is the fact that it highlights the depth of talent within British design and manufacturing. The cutting-edge design of the Ariel Ace and the highly intricate machining that had to be undertaken to deliver the machined frame and other parts to the exacting specification of Ariel are testament to the fact that British manufacturing remains a world leader.”