Dugard VMC delivers the goods like no other when machining hard materials
Thursday August 21 2014
With a team of over 1400 personnel, The Score Group provide a range of services worldwide from design and repair to engineering and manufacturing.
Founded over 29 years ago they have a wealth of experience within the engineering sector. After years of expansion The Score Group have successfully managed to build up a global network of companies. Recently the repair shop within the business was having some difficulty machining parts from their core product, the DLE Pre Mixer. These parts start as billets typically 15 inches in length and 7 inches in width and require substantial metal removal. From the outset it was clear that this was not going to be an easy task as the material is Haynes grade 556. For this reason, Engineering Manager – Eric West was tasked with finding a machine tool that could handle the machining of this difficult material.
Eric heads up the repair arm machine shop within the Score Energy Group, which is equipped with two VMCs and several centre lathes. The sole purpose of this machine shop is to repair engine parts for the company products, which are mainly turbines.
After much research and investigation into possible machine tool solutions, Eric ordered a new VMC 1000 from Dugard which he was confident would be capable of machining such hard, brittle metals.
Eric advised, “We searched hard for a reliable solution that would last for many years in a difficult machining environment. The focus for us was to ensure accuracy, surface finish and reduce machining cycle times. The new Dugard VMC 1000 is fabulous; we can perform plunge cuts in order to remove excess material from the initial billet, something we have never been able to do before.”
Equipped with a box guide way construction, the Dugard VMC 1000 has a heavy-duty base and a high torque spindle, all necessary requirements when looking for a machine that can achieve efficient results in cutting this type of steel. Having looked at the market and compared many other models and manufacturers, Eric decided the Dugard VMC 1000 ticked all the boxes. He goes on to say “The machine doesn’t vibrate or seem under any stress when performing milling operations on this grade 556 steel, the parts are accurate every time and the machine hasn’t missed a beat.” For The Score Group, this purchase has been crucial in maintaining their competitive edge of being the best in their industry and providing the highest quality of standards to their customers.