Buyers' guide identified miller refurbisher

Edited by the Manufacturingtalk editorial team Dec 16, 2004

Tool and gauge maker found a company through the GTMA's Buyers' Guide to refurbish three Bridgeport turret millers on a machine-by-machine basis.

"As good as new" That's what John Philips, managing director of Newcastle Tool and Gauge, thinks of his three Bridgeport turret mills now they have been completely refurbished by fellow GTMA-member Braithwaite Re-Build.

Newcastle Tool and Gauge maintains its position as one of the country's leading designers and manufacturers of press tools, jigs, fixtures and high precision components through an on-going programme of investment in production technology - it's a policy that requires constant vigilance and attention to detail.

"Some months ago I realized my trusty Bridgeport turret mills had seen better days," explains Philips, "but they were essential to the business - I couldn't lose one, let alone three, while they were taken off-site to be refitted." Using the GTMA Buyer's Guide, Philips quickly found the solution to his dilemma, by contacting Terry Braithwaite, whose Bridlington-based company specialises in providing exactly the services he was looking for.

When Braithwaite came to take the first Bridgeport turret mill away, he brought with him a replacement machine, which, having already been refurbished, provided Newcastle Tool and Gauge with an immediate productivity improvement.

That replacement machine remained on site and working throughout the entire operation as, one by one, each of the three machines was taken away for refurbishment; the temporary substitute only being removed when the last machine was delivered, in all its pristine glory, back to the factory.

The whole process took just under four months.

Each machine has been stripped right back to the carcass and rebuilt to the manufacturer's original specification, including new DRO, refurbished spindles and pulleys and finished off by being given a gleaming new coat of paint.

As Philips puts it, "I'm ecstatic," and from a 'Geordie toolmaker' that's high praise indeed.

(For foreign site visitors: 'Geordie' - people in NE England - Newcastle-Sunderland areas - are known as 'Geordies' and have a reputation for being factual and tough - Ed).