Westin Engineering began five years ago with one man and a lathe. Today a team of 13 has access to five CNC centres and variety of other specialist machines.

In planning our expansion, we turned to machine tool supplier XYZ, which carries a feature about the development of our business on its website.

Westin Engineering Director Fraser Lynch says in the article: 'Our investment is enabling us to cut lead times on work ... and working with XYZ Machine Tools has additional benefits through their close working relationships with other suppliers such as Open Mind and Ceratizit. 

​"Add to that the cost-benefit of the XYZ machines it all makes perfect sense.'

Our gear-cutting specialists were commissioned to manufacture a set of gears for the restoration of this 1912 Hispano Suiza Alfonso car.
 
They were reverse engineered from the originals, but the new ones were finely ground to ensure that they operated as quietly as possible.
 
The work involved turning and slotting the blanks – with spark erosion where necessary – cutting the gears, case hardening and final grinding.

And the car's owner was delighted with the quality of the job. He wrote: ‘Gears running beautifully. Thanks for all your efforts.'
 
This car was named after King Alfonso XIII of Spain who was so keen on it that at one point he had 30.

Westin Engineering continues to be first-choice supplier to an international subsea exploration product and service company.

Stems manufactured from Inconel and other exotic alloys are sent to us for the final manufacturing process: thread grinding the screw on the stem and machining nuts and collars to match.

Quick turnaround is usually required for what is extremely high-end precision engineering and we pride ourselves on being up to the challenge. Stem lengths range from 300mm to 1250mm.

Meanwhile, we are regularly asked by local manufacturing and processing businesses to repair or reverse engineer components from faulty or broken machines.

Because many companies no longer carry equipment spares, rapid response is almost always required. We usually oblige and are rewarded by regular repeat business.

Recent examples of our work include:

• Grinding a large damaged tapered shaft and machining a large bush to fit at the end
• Manufacturing new gears for a wood cutting machine
• Repairing and machining a small splined shaft and mating part

We are delighted that an established machine manufacturing business with a large export order book and time critical deadlines has started using us as their main component supplier.

Our new lathes with live tooling have enabled us to offer customers competitive pricing, outstanding quality and on-time delivery.

This output shaft from an old Radicon gearbox represents the biggest metal spraying repair our team has undertaken.

Weighing nearly quarter of a tonne, the seal position had become worn over the years. But the rest of it was in good order. 

It would have cost thousands of pounds to replace the shaft, so the customer opted for metal spraying.
​
This technique, regularly used in our workshops, can be a cost effective and rapid solution when the pressure is on.

​Machinist David Adams, centre, and apprentice Nathan King began training today on our new 5-axis machining centre. They were guided through its capabilities by Mark Higson from the supplier, XYZ Machine Tools.

Mark is the training and applications engineer for a wide range of CNC machines and has extensive experience of Siemens/ ProtoTRAK /Heidenhain controls.

So a steep learning curve? Mark says: "The lads are already familiar with the Open MInd's Hypermill software, which is in use on the other machines here, so they should pick this up pretty quickly."

We are pleased to announce the arrival of our latest investment: a new, high-precision, high-speed, simultaneous 5-axis universal machining centre. 

The XYZ UMC-5X combines cutting edge build technology with the latest performance specifications and is designed for complex and multi surface machining. 

​It will complement our two XYZ CT 65 CNC turning centres and CNC lathe, adding greater versatility and speed of production to our offering.

To further increase efficiency, Westin Engineering has invested a significant sum in world-leading Hypermill software from Open Mind.

Open Mind is one of the world’s most sought-after developers of powerful CAM/CAD software and two of our engineers have benefitted from its comprehensive training plan at Bicester.

The investment will enable us to:

• Maximise the efficiency and quality of components we can make for our customers.
• Offer a broader and more complex range of component manufacturing.
• Offer customers a high quality design and drawing service. 
• Maximise the use of the next investment in a simultaneous five-axis miller, to produce complex components and gears. 

​Customers can now come to us with an idea, which we can design, draw and manufacture all in house ensuring a competitive and timely service. 

Investment in new equipment to meet growing demand continues at Westin Engineering. Additional machines require extra space so  an area of the ground floor of the former textile mill in which we operate is being configured.

The block walls of an office have been demolished to make room for the new machinery, which includes a live tooling lathe with bar feeder. We are pleased that customers will benefit from the increased capacity through shorter delivery times.