Northants Precision Ltd, a leading motorsport precision sub-contract specialist based in Northampton, has invested in two new DN Solutions’ Lynx lathes sourced from
Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of DN Solutions’ and Zayer machine tools in the UK and Ireland.
The machines, a long-bed Lynx 2100LMB with 8in chuck and driven tooling and a two-axis Lynx 2100A with 6in chuck, were installed at the company’s modern and spacious 3,500ft
2 manufacturing facility in Kislingbury in January 2025 and June 2025 respectively.
The new additions have been positioned adjacent to the company’s four previously acquired Lynx lathes — a Lynx 2100B (2022), a Lynx 2100MB (2021), a Lynx 2100LMB (2021) and a 10-year-old Lynx 220LSY. Together, these six Fanuc-controlled machines, three of which have driven tooling capabilities, provide Northants Precision with a highly flexible in-house turning and milling resource, ready to meet the accuracy needs and fast turnround demands of its motorsport customers.
‘Straight into action’Since being installed, the latest Lynx lathes have gone ‘straight into action’ machining a range of small, complex and high-precision engine, chassis, sub-frame and gearbox components for a range of motorsport customers in Formula One (F1), the World Endurance Championships, the World Rally Championship and Supercars.
Components machined on the new Lynx lathes, include washers, nuts, bolts and top hats. Characterised by their closed, tight tolerances of +/-5µm on specific features and 0.01mm or 10µm flatness and by their stringent, super-fine surface finish requirements, both pre- and production parts are machined in small-to-medium batches from solid bar stock with heat-treated stainless steels (13-8PH and MP35N), titanium 6242/6246 alloys and aluminium being the predominant materials used.
Part cycle times are short, from just 2min up to 10min at the top end and, to ensure accuracy, concentricity, flatness and fast processing speeds, parts are held securely in position using
Hainbuch collet chucks.
Daniel Green, Northants Precision’s owner and managing director, said: “Machining and supplying hundreds and, sometimes, thousands of identical high-precision and performance-critical parts from hard and difficult-to-machine materials to exacting quality standards is common for us. But to do this all the time, every time, requires reliable, high-performance machines and proven and efficient CAD/CAM, machining and inspection processes — we have invested significant resources to ensure we have all of the above in place.”
Northants Precision regularly monitors and benchmarks it performance to identify actual and potential production pinch points and bottlenecks, and address them before they become problematic. The company’s continuing success in securing small-part machining contracts from new and existing customers, including recent contracts won directly with F1 racing teams, caused Northants Precision at the end of 2024, and again during the spring of this year, to review its in-house machining capacity and capabilities, and ultimately place orders for the two new machines.
Demanding and challenging sectorMr Green explained: “F1, and the motorsport sector in general, are demanding and challenging. You always have to be ‘on the top of your game’ and be able to constantly hit customers’ quality and lead time requirements from day one. Failure to do so quickly tarnishes your reputation and means that your days working as a supplier in the sector are numbered.
“Our previous positive experiences with DN Solutions’ (previously Doosan) Lynx 2100 lathes and Mills CNC’s pre- and after-sales services and support, meant that Mills CNC is always our ‘first port of call’, and we ultimately made the decision to invest in a Lynx 2100A and a Lynx 2100LMB. The new machines have significantly strengthened our in-house capacity and capabilities, making us more competitive and have allowed us to take on more work.”
A typical machined part is an engine housing washer component. Made from 10mm diameter pre-cut titanium bar stock supplied in 42in lengths, these parts are machined to completion in medium-size batches of 600-off using two of Northants Precision’s Lynx 2100 lathes that have been positioned opposite one another to create a flexible manufacturing cell, operated and controlled by one member of staff.
Front-end ID and OD turning operations are undertaken on a Lynx 2100 two-axis lathe where the use of an independently-sourced bar puller, located in the machine’s turret, helps deliver a reliable and repeatable process and ensures continuous production. Following first operations, which take approximately 2min per part to complete, the semi-finished parts are then individually and manually loaded into the Lynx 2100LM for back-end part processing; this effectively requires the machining of an angled groove/chamfer on each part, taking approximately 30sec to complete.
Striving for excellence across the boardDespite the small size of each component and relatively large batch numbers involved, all parts undergo rigorous inspection to ensure their accuracy and specification compliance. Mr Green said: “We strive for excellence across the board. Despite lots of moving parts, our machine shop works like a well-oiled machine. Everything we do, from our in-house CAD/CAM, machining and inspection operations through to any and all out-sourced pre- and post-machining processes we require, including heat treatment, thread rolling, EDM and surface treatments are integrated, and are carefully and meticulously planned and controlled.”
Lynx lathes are flexible, fast, accurate and reliable and are supplied equipped with powerful, high-torque spindles, servo-driven turrets, rigid roller-type LM guideways, hydraulic tailstocks and the advanced Fanuc iPlus control with a 15in touchscreen iHMI. The Lynx 2100A has a maximum turning diameter of 350mm and a maximum turning length of 330mm, and features a 15kW 6,000rev/min spindle and a 12-station turret. The machine was supplied to Northants Precision with an automatic tool setter and a Filtermist extraction unit.
Meanwhile, the Lynx 2100LMB has a maximum turning diameter of 300mm and being a long bed model, has a maximum turning length of 510mm. The machine is equipped with a 15kW 4,500rev/min spindle, a 12/24-station turret and 6,000rev/min driven tooling capabilities and, as part of the deal, was supplied with an automatic tool setter and an extraction unit.
In addition to investing in two new Lynx 2100 lathes, Northants Precision has further strengthened its in-house machining capabilities by acquiring a used sliding head lathe with an integrated bar feeder, a used three-axis machining centre and a 3-D printer for producing in-house fixtures and tooling.
Mr Green added: “The sliding head lathe is being used for high-volume part production, specifically for an automotive customer. Integrated with a bar feeder that enables it to run unattended, overnight and over the weekends, we can machine and supply the customer with up to 20,000-30,000 parts per month. The investment in the used milling machine was made to help out the company’s small turned-part processing operations. Having the ability to mill specific features on mill-turned parts using a dedicated machining centre is often more efficient and effective than machining them on one of our multi-tasking Lynx lathes. Having this flexibility was the rationale behind the three-axis milling machine investment.”
To be successful in the motorsport sector, production process efficiency — from quotation and stock control through to all aspects of production, packaging and invoicing — is critical. Northants Precision’s investment in a
PSL Datatrack modular production control system and, more recently, the introduction and use of a tool vending machine on the shopfloor, have significantly helped the company achieve real-time productivity gains and monitor its operations more effectively — increasing process efficiencies and reducing waste.
Northants Precision currently employs five members of staff - two of which are recent additions. All machine shop staff are experienced, multi-skilled and wear a number of hats. All operate and tend more than one machine with one staff member being also responsible for the company’s inspection operations.
Mr Green said: “We are a close knit team. We rely on each other and have the same ‘continuous improvement and commitment to quality’ mindset which has proved to be a winning formula.” Northants Precision completed its relocation to new premises in January 2025. The new facility is larger and, with its newly painted floor, recently constructed mezzanine and offices, and efficient machine shop layout with eight machine tools, certainly looks the part. The relocation occurred during one of the busiest motorsport periods (December to February) and for a time, while the new facility was being prepared and finished, the company was effectively operating from two sites.
Mr Green reflected: “It wasn’t ideal, but we just had to bite the bullet and get on with things.” The new facility is modern and spacious, and motorsport customers, new and old, cannot fail to be impressed with the great strides made by the sub-contractor. Motorsport is a demanding sector where quality and lead times are non-negotiable.
With the ability to multi-task being a key attribute and skill for any SME, let alone one that is focused on motorsport, Northants Precision has, over the last six months, simultaneously and successfully juggled a lot of balls - not only improving its in-house machining capacity and capabilities, but also completing a company relocation and increasing its headcount too. Mr Green concluded: “It has been a challenging time but we are out the the other side and it has definitely been worth it — everything we have done is now paying off.”