Heavy-duty solution

Since moving to the new facility, the precision engineering company has purchased a Dugard HD1886B machining centre to increase its machining capacity and versatility.

The family business that is now based in Hellaby on the outskirts of the South Yorkshire town famed for its coal mining and steel production, is delighted with its purchase from the Hove, East Sussex-based machine tool company.

Commenting on the purchase, the company’s Tim Atwell said: “We bought Dugard because it was a very competitive package with box guideways and a BT50 taper, which makes it a very rigid machine.

“Before making the purchase, we visited one of Dugard’s customers and they were very pleased with the machine. A third party endorsement is always the best type of recommendation and the testimonial gave us the confidence to make the investment.

“Whilst many companies go for high rpm with a low depth of cut, at ENS we believe in using as much of the carbide as you can, going for bigger depths of cut. This is why we go for BT50 taper machines because they always have the grunt to push the carbide.”

He adds: “We had no reservations buying our first Dugard machine. They’re a long-established company and are very honourable people.”

Commenting on the new installation at ENS Precision Engineering, machine shop operator and past apprentice Josh Hipwell says: “We recently installed the machine and the main reason for the purchase was that our old machine was getting a little tired. We wanted a machining centre that could do all the work that our previous machine could do and more.”

But as a machine shop with a variety of brands across the shopfloor, the company picked the Dugard HD1886B for a multitude of reasons: “As a company, we had a set budget that we wanted to stay within,” Mr Hipwell explains. “The Dugard machine not only came within that budget, but it was the most robust and rigid machine in that price bracket.

“The majority of jobs we are processing on this machine are from mild steel, not harder materials. However, our aim is to reduce machining times and increase productivity so we’re taking very heavy cuts at relatively high speed to reduce our cycle times.”

Looking specifically at the footprint of the machine that has a bed capacity of 1,800 x 860 x 700mm in X-, Y- and Z-axes, he adds: “The Dugard machine has one of the biggest ranges in Y and X-axis of any of our machines, but the overall footprint is very compact.

“Furthermore, the axes are flipped on this machine where the Y-axis is on top of the X-axis, which makes the construction a lot more rigid for harder and heavier-duty cutting. The working envelope is very useful.”

He concludes: “The HD1886B is also versatile. At the moment, we’re cutting some light fabrication work, but we have also machined some very heavy workpieces, taking 10 to 12mm depths of cut for sustained periods. The machine is definitely up to the task. Also, the Fanuc 0i-MF Plus Series CNC is as easy to programme as any machine on our shopfloor.”

Dugard www.dugard.com

ENS Precision Engineering www.ens-precision.co.uk