Ian Broadbent, CNC programmer at
GTR, operating the Hermle
C 400 5-axis ‘dry’ machining centre
equipped with dust extraction
Maintaining the pace
Global Technologies Racing chooses Hermle for metals and carbon fi bre; Kadel Engineering opts for Baty
to get the better measure of parts; Autosport International in brief
Global Technologies Racing is using
Hermle machining centres to cut both
metal and carbon composite
components. The company is a leading
manufacturer of laminated carbon bre
components for the motorsport sector in the
UK, supplying most of the Formula One
teams, while metallic components are
produced for all parts of a race car – chassis,
transmission and engine. GTR caters for
everything from concept and design through
patterns and moulds, to complete
assemblies.
Founded in 2003 jointly by John
Biddlecombe and Simon Kingdon-Butcher,
prior to starting the subcontract machining
rm, the two directors owned G Force, which
designed and built racing cars for various
motorsport series, including IndyCar, Formula
Nippon and Le Mans Prototype sports cars.
Another notable success was the
construction of Thrust SSC, which holds the
current land speed record of 763 mph, set on
15 October 1997.
Moving from its original site at
Easthampnett, West Sussex, at the beginning
of 2018 to nearby Bognor Regis, due to rising
demand for its services, a pair of Hermle
C 400 machining centres was ordered from
UK agent Kingsbury (https://is.gd/exevoc) to
boost its for 5-axis machining capability. In
fact, the move also took in the takeover of an
existing rm that already had Hermle
technology.
Both machines have a working envelope of
850 by 700 by 500 mm. The rst, with a
coolant tank for ‘wet’ machining and an
additional 50-pocket tool magazine to
supplement the standard 38 cutters, was
delivered in mid-2018. It was followed in
February 2019 by a second model, this one
equipped with dust extraction for ‘dry’
machining of composite materials without
coolant. Both machines have a trunnionmounted
table that provides the fourth and
fth CNC axes.
Explains Kingdon-Butcher: “Wherever
possible, we avoid wet cutting carbon bre,
but some of the components produced at our
Fontwell factory have aluminium or titanium
inserts within their structure, depending on
the customer’s speci cations.
“In those cases, we have to cut in the
presence of coolant to avoid the heat that
would be generated if we were to machine
metals without coolant. This ensures that the
structural properties of the adjacent areas of
composite are not affected.”
Although 95% of the ISO 9001:2008 and
AS 9100-approved subcontractor’s turnover
is derived from motorsport projects, there is a
growing need to machine metallic parts for
road-going supercars, as well as for other
industrial sectors, such as defence,
aerospace, medical and offshore. The Hermle
machining centre with coolant is ideal for
ful lling those contracts.
The ‘dry’ machining centre, which is
preferred for producing a majority of the
carbon bre parts, is linked to a Hermle-built
external extraction unit by a large diameter,
exible hose that is normally connected to a
port on the side of the guarding, so that
composite dust generated during machining
is continuously sucked away from the working
area. However, to remove residual dust that
can collect inside the machine, the operator
can remove the hose nozzle from its mount
and use it as a portable vacuum to clean the
machine base, trunnion table and other
surfaces.
30 www.machinery.co.uk @MachineryTweets December 2019
/exevoc)
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