J Parkinson and Son, Canal Ironworks, Shipley, where our machine was made. Right, the Keighley inventor Sam Sunderland Traditional and cutting-edge technologies exist side by side at CNC machining specialist, Westin Engineering. A few feet from our new 5-axis machining centre stands a Sunderland 'gear generating machine' built more than 60 years ago. It works on a principle established in the early 1900s by Keighley inventor Sam Sunderland. Gear cutting at the time was done mainly by rotary cutters on milling machines or by planing, methods that were slow and complicated. His conception of a straight side, rack-shaped cutter moving against a rotating blank proved to be revolutionary in speed and accuracy. J Parkinson & Son, the Shipley engineers who made our rare metric-calibrated machine, acquired the rights for producing and selling Sunderland's invention. Over time, its reliability was established and the first Shipley-built Sunderland Gear Planer was preserved in full working order for nearly 60 years. In our workshop we are proud to have a skilled and versatile team capable of operating this machine, its companion David Brown gear hobber and the XYZ 5-axis miller. Workshop manager Ryan Ainley says: 'The new machine calls for skills in programming whereas the old one needs to be set up manually. But there is a place for both.'
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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:
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. This small batch of bronze valve bodies arrived at Westin Engineering as raw castings supplied by the customer, a long-established national manufacturer. All three orifices were machined and threaded in a four-jaw chuck on a CNC lathe. This batch of complex machined components, weighing 3kg each, was produced from SAE660 bronze by precision turning and four-axis milling. Six of the diverter valve bodies are used on one big assembly at the Yorkshire headquarters of a national manufacturer of equipment for the water and other industries. These parts can also be produced from stainless steel occasionally for certain applications. Having recently ordered a five-axis milling machine, we hope to be able to produce these sort of components in fewer operations, providing benefits to the customer with price and lead times. These two valve retaining rings are part of a large batch made in our workshops for an engineering company in West Yorkshire. In previous years, the high tensile brass rings were manufactured using both a CNC lathe and a four-axis milling machine. At Westin Engineering they are being batch produced to an exceptional standard with speed and efficiency on one machine, a live tooling turning centre. A batch order from a customer in the automotive industry enabled our engineers to put the new XYZ turning centre through its paces for the first time. The request was for a batch of zinc-plated flange couplers and – in the hands of our CNC specialists – the machine performed flawlessly. Batch work is a speciality at Westin Engineering, so please watch this space for news of further investment in high quality machinery to serve our customers – and a growing order book.
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