Exemplary service and support clinches turning centre investment

Established in 2008, Rubitec Engineering has invested in a variety of machine tools to undertake everything from CNC milling and turning to 3D modelling, gear cutting, anodising and more.

To meet the ever diversifying demands of its customer base, the subcontract manufacturer has recently purchased a Victor Vturn NP20 CNC turning centre from GM CNC Machine Tools.

With a facility near the centre of Hull, Rubitec has 28 machines but the new Vturn is the company’s first Victor. Commenting upon the acquisition, Andy Shores, Rubitec’s managing director comments: “We are very pleased with the acquisition from GM CNC. The machine has significantly reduced our cycle times and it’s reassuring to have a level of support that ensures we have everything we need just by picking up the phone.”

The new Vturn NP20 may be the first Victor machine on the shopfloor at Rubitec Engineering, but it’s not the first model purchased from GM CNC: “We have a history of buying used equipment from GM CNC and this definitely influenced our decision to buy the Victor machine.

“As soon as I found out that GM CNC was supplying Victor machines, there was no question who I would contact when it was time to get a new CNC lathe. The company offers excellent support and service and are really easy to deal with. In particular, their maintenance contracts are very competitively priced compared to other companies.”

Commenting on laying the foundations for the business, Mr Shores says: “We started off with a 600ft² unit, a CNC mill and a lathe and within five to six years we had expanded into four units. In 2015, we looked to bring it all under one roof and we acquired our current facility. We now have a complete machine shop that enables us to service the needs of customers in the oil and gas, military and white goods sectors. As a subcontract manufacturer, we do a lot of work for the offshore industry and this means we machine a lot of exotic and difficult materials.”

The Victor Vturn NP20 has a 52mm through spindle bar capacity – however with the innovative design and the slant bed construction, the machine offers 650mm swing over the bed and 320mm maximum turning diameter. When combined with the 520mm distance between centres, the compact NP20 packs a punch, especially with the main spindle that generates 7.5/11/15kW of power. This compact machine with a spacious envelope is ideal for manufacturers that are challenged by floor area issues.

“It's difficult to believe, but the Victor Vturn NP20 is 1.5m shorter in length than the old machine with the same work envelope,” Mr Shores explains. “The previous machine had a lot of wasted space on the Z-axis and a bulky spindle head. The NP20 has the same Z-axis and more power from a smaller footprint.

“While we didn’t purchase the machine with a bar feed, we have just won several contracts that require batch quantities high enough to justify one. The floorspace being saved by the NP20 means that we can easily add a bar feed to this machine for running longer batches.”

Despite the compact area, the Victor NP20 has a total weight of four tonnes with a single piece meehanite casting that demonstrates its potential for improving precision levels and surface finishes for end users. Furthermore, the platform provides the opportunity for heavy material removal rates that can further enhance productivity levels as well as high levels of torque.

Rubitec regularly uses the machine to process Duplex, stainless steel, Inconel and Hastelloy. Its compact width of just 1,930mm appealed to the subcontractor along with a specification that includes a single spindle design with C-axis capability and driven tools on a robust BMT tool turret with 12 mounted tooling stations that can index in less than a second to reduce non cutting times. The driven tooling has a spindle speed of 4,200rpm as standard with up to 6,000rpm and 2kW of power as an option.

The Fanuc controlled Vturn NP20 machine also offers milling capabilities: “We mill a lot of flats, hexagons, PCDs and other standard milling operations - and the machine is ideal for this type of work,” Mr Shores affirms.

“Its stability and kinematics have increased productivity by at least 20% compared to our other machines. Another major benefit is the improved tool life – on turning and milling – by more than 30%.”

As standard the Victor NP20 is supplied with three-step warning light, hydraulic chuck and soft jaws, chip conveyor, tool holders, and coolant flush on the Z-axis with fully enclosed splash guarding.

Options include a manual tailstock with power quill, manual or automatic tool presetter, part catcher, power chuck, air conditioning for electrical cabinets, high-pressure coolant, oil skimmer, and oil mist collector.

Rubitec Engineering www.rubitec.co.uk

GM CNC www.gm-cnc.com