Bolton-based Velden Engineering — a precision sub-contractor — has embarked on a five-year plan to expand and upgrade its machining capabilities, supported by its cutting-tool partner Ceratizit UK & Ireland (
www.ceratizit.com).
As part of the plan, the company has invested in several new machine tools, including Okuma Multus U3000L and Nakamura WT150ii multi-axis turning centres, a DMG DMU 50 five-axis machining centre (with a PH150 pallet loading/
unloading system) and the latest arrival — a Star ST38 sliding-head lathe, which extends the company’s sliding-head capacity to 42mm diameter.
All these machines will be supplied with WNT tools from Ceratizit, as part of its on-going partnership with Velden. In addition, Clifford Bromilow, who has recently completed his apprenticeship, will be taking on responsibility for the Star ST38 as programmer, setter and operator.
Austin Kitchen, Velden’s managing director, said: “The arrival of the Star ST38 with its T565 bar feed will significantly enhance our sliding-head capacity, which up until now has been limited to 25mm diameter.
“It will allow us to provide one-hit machining and fill the gap between our smaller sliding-head machines and our fixed-head lathes.
"The design of the machine — with its turrets rather than platens for the tooling — will also help to reduce set-up times, which is a big advantage for the low- to medium-volume work that we currently undertake.
"Having Ceratizit support us with specific sliding-head tooling from WNT is also a major factor in improving productivity.
“We have developed a strong relationship with them across all of our machining activities.”