With the first order secured, Shaun gave his local Haas sales manager a call: “We’d all worked on Haas machines before,” he explains, “so we knew what we were getting. We really like the Haas control because it’s so user friendly and identical on each machine; it makes the work so much easier to have that continuity.”
With its first investment GZero purchased two Modular Mini Mills, a VF-2SS Super Speed vertical machining centre with 5-axis trunnion rotary table and an ST-10 lathe. These were followed a few months later with a second VF-2SS, purchased to open their working envelope without the need to remove the trunnion.
The VF-2SS has a 12,000rpm spindle and high-speed 24+1 side mount tool changer. The Modular Mini Mill packs a 40-taper spindle into a small footprint, with a range of bolt-on production enhancing modules.
“The machines are the perfect size,” enthuses Shaun. “We don’t want to machine anything larger than handling size, so they fit everything we want to do and they’re fast.
“The ST-10 is a lovely machine to use. We were all novices when it came to turning, but we’ve come a long way in a short space of time. Haas allowed us to bank our training so when we were ready the engineer came to us for three days and guided us step by step. As we were already familiar with the Haas control, we found the lathe easy to program.”
GZero’s customers are mainly from the automotive industry, including the two-wheeled variety such as CCM Motorcycles. “We have our own design house, so we start by producing a prototype before moving on to making batches, typically around 100. Our most recent design is a set of jigs and fixtures for Bentley Motors, Shaun adds.
“Everything is designed using Edgecam’s CAD/CAM software package. Parts are pre-machined using 3-axis before finishing on the 5-axis VF-2SS. We can machine anything using the trunnion. We use a zero-point clamping mechanism which goes to precisely the same place every time. We can rely on it.”
Looking to build on the growth of the company, the team had recently taken on an apprentice Callum Skidmore: “He hadn’t worked in engineering before, but he was keen,” says Shaun. “Haas came back in to give him some training and we got some great feedback from them. Callum has made a real difference with our increasing workload. He is working directly on the machines, operating and tool setting, and has now started programming using VPS (Visual Programming System) on the Haas control.
“We’re very pleased to have brought Haas into our factory. We always wanted to buy new to guarantee the accuracy of the machines. The price was right and the aftersales support has been excellent.”
Haas www.haas.co.uk
GZero www.g-zero.co.uk