Cwmbran-based subcontractor, James Brown Industries, receives two-thirds of its business from companies in the oil and gas sector. Earlier this year, one customer significantly increased the volume of stainless steel and nickel alloy components it was ordering for daily Kanban delivery in boxes containing anything from 8- to more than 600-off. In addition, new component […]

NEW KITAGAWA PRODUCTS FROM 1ST MTA Chucks, rotary tables, vices and other accessories manufactured by the Japanese company, Kitagawa, are major product lines within the range of workholding equipment supplied by 1st Machine Tool Accessories. At MACH 2014, there will be three products new to the UK. WORLD’S THINNEST ROTARY TABLE At just 99 mm […]

Higher production, greater accuracy, less scrap, lower operating costs More and more companies are experiencing big increases in production without having to invest in new machine tools simply by upgrading to Chick Workholding, which enables more components to be presented to the spindle at each set-up. The US-made clamping systems are supplied in the UK […]

Malvern subcontractor, Insight Precision, has cut floor-to-floor times and increased production output using two clamping systems from 1st Machine Tool Accessories, a One-Lok and a Qwik-Lok, both manufactured by Chick Workholding in the USA. Insight Precision was established in the 1980s as a general contract machine shop. Currently, work is carried out mainly for the […]

Availability of Kitagawa’s latest evolution of front-mounting, air-operated, 3-jaw chucks is announced by UK agent, 1st Machine Tool Accessories. Designated UPR range, the chucks feature fast gripping times and added stability. Offering an increase of up to 50 per cent in the size of the through-hole compared with earlier UBR models, as well as better […]

‘Unbelievably quick’ is how 1st MTA describes the new Kitagawa RK200 rotary table. The NC unit indexes through 90 degrees in 0.31 sec and achieves a maximum speed of 100 rpm. A maintenance-free roller gear cam reducer, rather than traditional gear sets, decreases the motor rpm to the table’s rotational speed. This improves positioning accuracy, […]

Modern CNC lathes and tooling permit high cutting speeds and feeds, leading to increased machine efficiency and productivity. To ensure operator safety, however, European Norm EN 1550 states that the gripping force of chucks should be checked regularly. To this end, Kitagawa has introduced the KGFM series of wireless grip force meters, designed to measure […]

At just 99 mm deep, the body of the new Kitagawa CK160 rotary table has a smaller footprint than any other model on the market. The ultra-compact 4th axis is suited to mounting on the table of a BT30-taper machining centre and provides manufacturers with a larger machining envelope on any size of machine. The […]

A large amount of machining is required to produce the pneumatic cylinders, valve assembles and other automation equipment manufactured by Univer at its Bradford factory. Many components are awkwardly shaped and difficult to secure for metalcutting, so the company relies on Chick Workholding equipment from 1st Machine Tool Accessories to ensure rigid clamping as well […]

There are a number of purpose-built 5-axis / 5-sided machining centres on the market, including types with a 4th axis rotary table and either a trunnion support or a swivelling B-axis head to provide the fifth CNC axis. Various companies supply such machines, but none of the configurations suited Brunswick Tooling, Brighouse, a manufacturer and […]