Squonker, Stumpy, Atty and Whistle-Tip sound like characters in fantasy novel; in fact, they are custom-made products from the world of vaping.

When Darren Lyons decided to give up cigarettes, vaping caught his attention, and he soon began designing and developing his own equipment.

His company — The Attysmith in County Down — is now five years old and offers over 300 products, including hand-crafted atomisers, hybrids and drip tips.

In 2014, the company invested in its first CNC machine; seven Haas CNC machines later (www.haas.co.uk), Mr Lyon is confident with his choice of brand.

“We manufacture small high-precision parts, and our tolerances are often as low as 30µm, as the parts need to be very smooth — the Haas machines are perfect for the job.

Each time we buy a new model, Haas salesman Chris Cole visits and walks us through the purchase — followed by full training from Haas engineer Scot Nicolson, who doesn’t leave until he knows we’re confident with the machine.”

Mr Lyon uses OneCNC to design most of his products, plus Mastercam for five-axis work. “We wanted a five-axis machine, because we do a lot of 360deg engraving.

We chose the VF-2, equipped with a Haas TR100 trunnion featuring a 100mm platter.

"We’re using fewer operations, which has cut our cycle times right down, and as we mainly do batch work, it has made a real difference.

“All we want to do is to keep expanding, improving our products and our range. We know that Haas will help us achieve our goals.”