As a precision subcontract company based in Airdrie, Zeus Engineering has increased its machining capacity and capabilities by investing in a new DN Solutions’ VT 1100M vertical turning lathe from Mills CNC. Mills CNC, the exclusive distributor of DN Solutions’ and Zayer machine tools, has recently supplied Zeus Engineering Ltd with the first CNC vertical turning lathe acquired by the company in its 57-year history.
Installed at Zeus Engineering’s 12,000sq/ft facility in November 2022, the machine is being used to machine large, heavy and often awkward-shaped components such as rings, discs, pump housings, flange couplings, bearing carriers, valves and differentials from a range of castings, forgings, solid billets and plates.
The cast, mild and stainless steel parts machined by Zeus Engineering are characterised by their long cycle times that often extend beyond 6 hours, their geometric tolerances of +/-10microns and their exacting surface finishes. Parts are machined in a variety of batch sizes from one and two-off through to large volumes beyond 1000-off for customers in the rail, off-road vehicle, oil and gas, power generation, food and renewables sectors. Being part of the AGZ Group, the company can also provide its high-quality design and machining services, where appropriate, to the two other associate companies in the Group, Argon Engineering and Gillrick Metalwork.
Discussing the company Scott McHutcheson, Zeus Engineering’s Operations Director says: “We are always looking to improve our in-house machining capacity and capabilities, and regularly review and analyse our performance to ensure we exceed our customer’s expectations. We strive to ‘be the best we can be’, and are committed to providing our customers with high-quality machined components backed by exemplary customer service.”
In recent years the company has increasingly invested in new Doosan machine tools from Mills CNC. The acquisition of the VT 1100M lathe means that over the last 14 years, Zeus Engineering has invested in five new Doosan machines from Mills CNC. These machines, almost all large-capacity, heavy-duty models, include a Mynx 7500/50 box guideway vertical machining centre acquired in 2011, a NHM 8000 twin-pallet, box guideway horizontal machining centre acquired in 2013, and a Puma 700LM long-bed, box guideway lathe with driven tooling acquired in 2019. To machine smaller, higher volume turned parts, the company has also invested in a 15” chuck Puma GT3100M equipped with driven tools that was installed in 2019.
Explains Scott McHutcheson: “We have a good relationship with Mills CNC, and we like their proactive, value-added business approach, which to all intents purposes, is very similar to our own. The Doosan machine tools they sell and support, like the VT 1000M, are reliable and deliver excellent cutting performance. Unsurprisingly, when we decided to invest in a vertical turning lathe – Mills CNC was our first and only port of call.”
The 32” chuck VT1100M is a rigid design heavy-duty vertical turning lathe equipped with box guideways, a powerful, high-torque 55kW/850rpm spindle, a 12-station indexable turret and 11kW/3000rpm driven tooling capabilities. The FANUC controlled machine also boasts 20m/min rapids and was supplied to Zeus with an HC 40G Samchully closed-centre hydraulic chuck and an HPRA removable tool setter for improved flexibility and process reliability.
Says Scott McHutcheson: “The VT 1000M is ideal for machining large diameter and heavy workpieces made from tough and difficult-to-machine materials. We invested in the VT 1100M to help free-up and take pressure off, our Puma 700LM lathe and our two manual vertical borers which, up until that point, were struggling to cope with a wide variety of jobs such as machining long shaft-type parts and large diameter ‘chucking’ workpieces. With the arrival of the VT 1000M, the chucking work has been re-directed to this machine and has helped to reduce bottlenecks, increase throughput and improve productivity.”
