High performance, flexibility and reliability are key features of IEMCA’s new Elite bar feeders. The most compact on the market for feeding bar up to 3.7 metres, the unit is over one metre shorter than some other manufacturers’ models and is available in two versions, designated 112 and 220. Maximum feed and return speeds are […]

Omicron UHV Technik is a specialist manufacturing company within the Oxford Instruments PLC group, focusing mainly on producing ultra-high vacuum chambers as well as high precision components and subassemblies for the scientific instrument industry. The company works mainly in 304 and 316 stainless steel plus a small range of copper and aluminium alloys. Batch sizes […]

PAUL SWANN, owner and managing director of Chick Workholding Solutions, explains how an innovative approach to clamping can raise productivity and accuracy, sometimes dramatically. Sole UK agent for the US-made products is 1st Machine Tool Accessories, Salisbury. Machinists tend to be highly talented people, but rather conservative when it comes to exploiting workholding technology to […]

The range of work holding products offered by 1st Machine Tool Accessories has been significantly expanded following an agency agreement with BEST GmbH, Filderstadt, Germany. The company is a leading manufacturer of low-profile, centric (self-centring) vices that are particularly suited to clamping components undergoing multi-axis metal cutting applications on machining centres. There are similar products […]

Turning productivity raised by 30% and labour costs cut One of the top two hydraulic adaptor manufacturers in the UK, Gemac Hydraulics in Stanwell Moor, near London Heathrow Airport, has standardised on IEMCA short bar magazines for feeding hexagonal (hex) mild steel stock into its turning machines. The Italian-built, all-electric bar feeders, of which two […]

A machine tool is only as good as the other equipment used with it, as tooling suppliers often say, but the same is true of workholding. It can take a long time to wind the movable jaw on an old-fashioned vice to clamp a component and sometimes it can work loose, resulting in loss of […]

Rather than continually send worn twist drills out for refurbishment, instrument manufacturer Bailey & Mackey has bought a drill sharpening machine for its Birmingham factory. The savings will result in the investment of less than £3,000 being repaid within 18 months, according to the company’s production engineer, Alan Boylin. Made in the USA by Darex, […]

1ST MTA TO HIGHLIGHT PRODUCTIVITY ENHANCEMENT OPPORTUNITIES Workholding, drill sharpening and automation equipment specialist, 1st Machine Tool Accessories (1st MTA), will show its extensive range of products for raising production output and maximising return on investment from machine tools. As a special promotion at this year’s MACH exhibition, visitors to the stand will receive discount […]

Chick Workholding‘s One-Lok vices for CNC machine tools represent an evolution in workholding technology in terms of speed, productivity, flexibility and accuracy. The products are available through 1st MTA, UK agent for the US manufacturer. Unlike traditional knee mill vices, which require up to 70 complete revolutions of the handle from fully opened to closed, […]

Companies developing and building lathes with a spindle speed of up to 5,600rpm have the option of fitting a new, hydraulically actuated, rotary chuck cylinder that typically consumes 1.5 kilowatt-hours over a daily shift, compared with 36 kilowatt-hours for a conventional cylinder. The reduction is nearly 96 per cent and equates to a saving of […]