Harper and Simmons

News archive

Spring 2007

We have taken a major step forward with the purchase of two new machines tools.

ESAB flame cutting machine

New ESAB flame cutting machine

Our ESAB flame cutting machine hosts next generation technology - full cnc control with cnc gas control, automatic height control and ‘cooljet nozzle technology’ producing the highest quality flame cut blanks.

A 15 x 5 metre bed enables us to ‘stock’ the machine with all the general thicknesses. Cutting between 300 – 500mm per minute has resulted in any required plate taking approximately 5–10 minutes to cut. Networked direct to our cad cam server, design to component time reduced from generally 5 days to ‘while you wait’!!!

Various technical problems have had to be overcome by the purchase of a 5.5 ton forklift, a 7 ton remote control lifting magnet, a second crane and bridge and a second Lumsden grinder at 60 inch diameter to assist in supporting.

New Plate Saw

New Plate Saw

Our new Plate Saw, capable of cutting toolsteel at 700 x 500mm now allows us to stock 700 x 4000mm wide plate. This size covers a large percentage of our toolsteel requirements and allows us to cut plate immediately reducing current toolsteel leadtimes from 7 days to 15 minutes. The saw is bristling with technology – blade monitoring sensors, hydraulic clamping, blade tension and up and down feed, swarf management, laser positioning and invertor speed control. We like the proper solution so also had material rollers with hydraulic lift and drive rollers, a fantastic solution when you have a 700 x 4000 x 80mm plate to position.

The two machines now enable us to produce steel requirements direct from stock in the next few minutes. This ability combined with our high speed, 90 tool machining centre has produced a very rapid design to heat treatment solution.

A very busy 2006, we have nearly completed 12 months in our fantastic new 18000 sq ft building which has enabled us to become radically more efficient from a superior working environment and investments in these latest machine tools.

Please call in for our now famous coffee and to view our new facilities and discuss all aspects of press tools, prototype manufacture and special machining requirements.

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