Making CNC sliding head autos ’sing’
March 16th 2009
Young engineer makes six CNC sliding head autos almost sing when producing a variety of general engineering components and occasional high value parts out of platinum.
Ben Vasquez is just 21 but following in Dad’s footsteps at Addmore Engineering he can make the six Citizen CNC sliding head autos almost sing producing components for hydraulic, medical, autosport, lock and garden equipment sectors and even the occasional high value parts out of precious materials such as platinum.
Vasquez’s father Frank Vasquez is well known in the sliding head subcontracting business having been a very successful service engineer with a strong production engineering background with Citizen’s UK agency NC Engineering of Watford, UK, for some 14 years before setting up his own subcontracting business.
And while being a target for other companies selling sliding head machines, that are competitors of his former employer to boost installations at his Stewartby factory just outside Bedford, Vasquez senior has progressively followed the Citizen marque when upgrading.
In fact, altogether 18 Citizens have progressively passed through his hands over the years, as new machines have been developed.
“There’s no loyalty involved,” Vasquez Senior maintains, “Having worked on Citizens for years I understand the machines, know their strengths and what I need in support”.
“But what I have found is that keeping up with the rate of change in the technology means I can always be very competitive and there are always new benefits I can pass onto my customers”.
“To maintain a high level of competitiveness you must keep up to date, that is why I have just traded in two Citizen B12s for two of the latest Citizen C16s to join M20s and M12s on my plant listing.” Vasquez Senior is certainly proud of his son’s interest in the business and believes as an industry more youngsters must be involved with machining.
He says: “I am sure when they see what computer technology allows you to do, they can not help but be fascinated”.
“These young people are our future, they are very quick to learn and are not hampered with the old traditions such as: we have to do it this way because that’s the way it is done.” He points to his apprentice who was changing over one of the new C16 sliding head machines”.
“”He is 18 and learning fast! He will have knowledge that will be very valuable in years to come and it is our job to pass on what we know and let the young ones move it forward.” Vasquez Senior employs 14 people and the company works 106h/week on two shifts.
Some machining is performed unmanned between, say, 4 pm and 8 pm or occasionally over a weekend.
However, normally there is always someone in attendance”.
“”You really need an operator around, and especially so with difficult jobs or materials”.
“We machine everything from nimonics, stainless steel, brass, aluminium and plastics and with 14 CNC machines, there is always something for someone to be doing, such as preparing the next tool set or programming off-line,” he said.
In selecting the C16 Vasquez Senior was looking for a larger capacity than the two B12s that were being replaced”.
“”Our M20 was always a bottleneck for work due to its flexibility and high productivity capability so we needed to relieve the situation”.
“This enables it to be used for special components for the likes of the medical industry and our sister business Kelgate Engineering Services in Bedford which manufactures braking systems for go-karts,” he said.
In reflecting back to his service engineering career Vasquez Senior comments on the rigidity of the C-Series frame”.
“He says: “It is made on the larger M-Series casting platform giving plenty of room to set the tools”.
“Also because of the high stiffness of the structure, we had no qualms about spending another GBP 1,000 on the 18mm spindle option over the 16mm standard specification”.
“This gave us a greater bar size capacity at a price well below the more complex top of the range Citizen M-Series and because it has the same basic control as the M, we have common programming techniques which help everyone.” The C-Series machine uses a two axis yoke style tooling arrangement set around the spindle.
This short movement, fast positioning design incorporates a gang toolpost able to hold six turning tools, three driven tools and a high precision, four station toolpost.
The toolpost can present up to eight tools enabling higher productivity simultaneous machining at both the main and secondary spindle.
With a new high speed processor in the CNC control system, the C16 machines at Addmore can easily lop some 20% from a cycle time of Vasquez Senior’s previous B12 sliding head machines.
And that is without taking any advantage of the extra tools or rigidity available from the machine design.
Typical components now produced by Addmore are special threaded nuts used in spinal implants for an American medical customer.
This contract forms part of the 20% of turnover exported by the company to Europe and the US.
Vasquez Senior’s operation at Stewartby has adopted thread whirling techniques for other medical products and is even stopping the spindle and broaching slots in-cycle as part of his ‘one-hit’ machining philosophy.
Further medical projects which frequently pass through the works are the production of a special tool for eye surgery produced out of titanium for slitting and folding back the lens in the eye”.
“”We certainly mastered that one,” he explains and points to other very intricate components such as firearm components, motorcycle shock absorber parts and very complicated special locks.
Vasquez Senior reflects: “We have come a long way from first setting up with used machines in a rented barn on a Watford farm producing the type of parts no one else wanted to machine or pass downs from other subcontractors that could never make the job pay”.
“Gradually our business grew on the back of a continuous investment policy that has kept us ahead of the subcontracting pack of small turned part producers.” He then recounts how he started his career as an apprentice with Rolls Royce and his wife Siobhan, who was a fully qualified engineering metallurgist at the same blue chip company”.
“”That’s why we are so keen to bring along youngsters to learn the skills and appreciate how fascinating machining can be”.
“It is very satisfying when you work out a new set up, push the button and think: ‘I have just done that!’”.