Since 2008, when JCF Engineering was founded as a subcontract machining business by John Felton, the company has invested in XYZ machines of various types to allow for the manufacture of a wide range of components. Such has been the success of the business that they now have 2 sites, one located in Scunthorpe and a second facility in Norfolk. It’s at the Scunthorpe location that the latest acquisitions of a XYZ 750 LR VMC and a 65 LTY-S, a sub spindle turning centre are located, to handle the growing demand on the company to produce among other items sub-sea parts.
When John saw that XYZ had launched a sub-spindle lathe, it had him thinking about how he could reduce set-up and handling times on parts that were getting ever more complicated, especially as there are only 2 members of staff on site.
“We were spending a lot of time here at JCF doing set ups for the 2nd or 3rd operations when taking parts from the single spindle lathes to the machining centres fitted with 4th axis. We saw the opportunity that by investing in the XYZ 65 LTY-S that we could reduce this non-productive time and create extra capacity on the existing machines and produce additional work”, states John.
The 65 LTY-S purchase has certainly achieved the aims that JCF had. It has allowed JCF to produce parts that have an ever increasing complexity but also allow increases in capacity as he comments “Since the investment in the 65 LTY-S, our turnover has grown substantially and it was only after we had got into the swing of using the machine that we fully appreciated the gains that were being provided”.
John continues with the observation “There are a number of areas that this machine excels for the work we do. Firstly, the fact that the machining features are all aligned between first operation in the 65mm bar capacity spindle and the 45mm capacity sub spindle, with the sub-spindle coming across and clamping on the part before parting off ensures the machine never loses where the part is during the manufacturing process. This is aided by the easy-to-use Siemens 828D control, fitted with Shopturn software. We have yet to find a job we cannot program through the Shopturn software and reduces any need for CAM in the office. In fact, programming transfer of the part from main to sub spindle was covered by XYZ in a matter of minutes. Secondly the BMT65 turret has real benefits for us. The holding of a number of static or driven tools in each station has proven to be a massive advantage. With the Y axis having 100mm of travel (50mm above and below centre height), the flexibility to move tools off centre for not only milling, drilling and tapping, but also the turning style tools has opened up capability and reduced set-ups, as most of the time the tools we require are already in the turret and set. Finally, the machines motorised spindles offer masses of power (22kW main spindle and 15kW sub-spindle) for the main material we machine which is 316 stainless steel but having driven tools running up to 5000rpm is helpful when machining material such as PEEK”.
Since the formation of the business, JCF have continued to purchase XYZ products from the Devon-based company in many different formats. John closes by commenting “XYZ’s products have provided us with the perfect machining platform for the work we produce, and the LTY-S has been no exception. The support has been excellent and if the Service team visit, they know the products well and provide a fast and efficient service. This, mated with the controls that XYZ fit, namely ProtoTRAK and Siemens using conversational software, ensures the machines are a perfect match for our business”.
